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Anemia + High ANA?

Celiac's Wifey

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Celiac's Wifey Explorer
Celiac's Wifey
Posted

Hi-

So asking for friend.

Daughter is seven - family history autoimmune  (mom is hashimoto's + adopted gfd almost three years ago and never looked back, even though she herself was never formally tested).

Daughter has been having chronic stomach pain + nausea for several months

She was just tested  - celiac antibodies came back negative but she had low blood count (anemia) and really elevated ANA (antinuclear antibody test). Did anyone else test this way at first or have a kid later diagnosed that tested this way? 

(Pediatrician wants mom to follow up with rheumatologist, and she is planning to, but appointment is two and half months out. In the meantime, she really feels like her daughters symptoms are all GI, so she keeps circling back to wondering if celiac and/or ncgs is effectively precluded or not. She asked me what I thought, and I straight up told her I don't think I have any objectivity about gluten right now. But I thought I would ask the board if anyone else showed up w/ their gluten problems this way first....)

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Victoria1234 Experienced
Victoria1234
Posted
6 hours ago, Celiac's Wifey said:

Hi-

So asking for friend.

Daughter is seven - family history autoimmune  (mom is hashimoto's + adopted gfd almost three years ago and never looked back, even though she herself was never formally tested).

Daughter has been having chronic stomach pain + nausea for several months

She was just tested  - celiac antibodies came back negative but she had low blood count (anemia) and really elevated ANA (antinuclear antibody test). Did anyone else test this way at first or have a kid later diagnosed that tested this way? 

(Pediatrician wants mom to follow up with rheumatologist, and she is planning to, but appointment is two and half months out. In the meantime, she really feels like her daughters symptoms are all GI, so she keeps circling back to wondering if celiac and/or ncgs is effectively precluded or not. She asked me what I thought, and I straight up told her I don't think I have any objectivity about gluten right now. But I thought I would ask the board if anyone else showed up w/ their gluten problems this way first....)

Friend should get on the cancellation list. And call frequently to get a sooner appt.

Any reason why it took several months for your friend to take her daughter to the doctor? 

Sorry, no idea about whether or not she's presenting with celiac. I imagine she could try the gluten-free diet to see if it helps?

Gluten-free-01 Enthusiast
Gluten-free-01
Posted

I think, in general, anemia can be related to celiac. There are many types of anemia, though. So probably not all of them can be related to c. Since celiac interferes with nutrient absorption, I'd say that at least iron deficiency a. and B12 a. can be caused by celiac. This thread came to my mind:

AmyHauchtest and cyclinglady both said they had iron def. a. when they were diagnosed with c.

Chronic stomach pain and nausea are typical celiac/ncgs symptoms, of course.

As for the ANA test, the positive result doesn't indicate a specific condition, right? So further testing is needed. I'm wondering if the ANA test could be positive because of the anemia.

'A positive ANA test may be caused by:

Autoimmune connective tissue diseases. Examples include:

Rheumatoid arthritis. More than one-third of people with rheumatoid arthritis have a positive ANA test.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Almost all people with SLE have a positive ANA test. But most people with a positive ANA test do not have SLE.

Scleroderma.

Sjögren's syndrome.

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Polymyositis.

Raynaud's syndrome.

Autoimmune diseases of other organs. Examples include:

Addison's disease.

Diseases of the blood cells, such as vitamin B12 deficiency, idiopathic thrombocytopenia (ITP), and hemolytic anemia.

Liver disease, such as hepatitis.

Thyroid disease, such as Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

Medicines, such as those used to treat high blood pressure, heart disease, and tuberculosis (TB).

Viral infections.'

Open Original Shared Link

You can also look at this thread:

Posterboy gives a useful link to an article - there is a whole section on Anemia.

'Anemia is a frequent finding in patients with celiac disease and may be the presenting feature.13,14 The anemia may be the only abnormality identified.14,15 Anemia was particularly common in patients with untreated celiac disease in the past but is still frequently encountered in undiagnosed adults.15,16 The anemia is usually hypoproliferative, reflecting impaired absorption of essential nutrients like iron and various vitamins. The prevalence of anemia varies greatly according to different reports and has been found in 12% to 69% of newly diagnosed patients with celiac disease.14–18 DH has also been associated with anemia that can be secondary to malabsorption of iron or vitamins or related to the pharmacologic management of DH, especially therapy with dapsone.'

Open Original Shared Link

 

cyclinglady Grand Master
cyclinglady
Posted

Anemia can be present in several autoimmune disorders like Crohn's besides celiac disease.  Ask your friend if her daughter was given a complete celiac panel.  Because the mother was on a gluten-free diet, was the child Gluten Free or light?  That might have impacted the celiac tests.  

Celiac's Wifey Explorer
Celiac's Wifey
Posted
  • Author
16 hours ago, Victoria1234 said:

Any reason why it took several months for your friend to take her daughter to the doctor? 

She actually has gone to the pediatrician (maybe three times? I don't know...) At first, thought was that it was from a virus going around. Then when it still seemed persistent they thought it was because she had been milk allergic as a toddler, but they had reintroduced and it had been fine for a couple years. So the thought was that milk protein was bothering her again, so they actually removed that next, but it didn't get better. So that is why the celiac tests + blood count + ANA test. I think it was the TTG and DGP tests so those are pretty good, so it should shift suspicion away, but since it is only GI bothering her and friend knows I have been obsessively reading all thing celiac....

Meanwhile because I have been reading all things celiac, I do not think I am the best friend to ask, unless my friend wanted confirmation bias. I (only sorta kiddingly) actively think everything wrong with the universe right now is probably somehow glutens fault.... (like bad fruit salads? probably because an undiagnosed unwitting celiac who is having the memory symptoms completely forgot that they hadn't washed the fruit....or their hands....after their home fecal transplant.....GLUTEN is to blame!!!):blink: 

16 hours ago, Gluten_free_01 said:

probably not all of them can be related to c

Ha...see above. I am sure that's true....but am still slightly suspicious. Thanks for the good quotes and links. I'll mention a bit more about it to her and will be curious what the rheumatologist eventually says....

Victoria1234 Experienced
Victoria1234
Posted
6 hours ago, Celiac's Wifey said:

like bad fruit salads? probably because an undiagnosed unwitting celiac who is having the memory symptoms completely forgot that they hadn't washed the fruit....or their hands....after their home fecal transplant.....GLUTEN is to blame!!!)

Exactly!

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