In shock and confused!

[Alibu]

Hi all!

I can't even believe I am on this forum right now!  I asked my doctor to run a Celiac Disease Panel to rule it out after dealing with so many digestive and systemic issues for years now.  I never in my life expected it to come back positive, but the results are a little confusing and I keep finding conflicting info online.  Any help is appreciated!  

I do have hypothyroidism and have for about 10 years now.  My levels have been well controlled on medication for years and years.  My father has discoid lupus (it's lupus that affects only the skin, not the internal organs), so there is some autoimmune history in our family.

My lab tests are as follows:

F	TISSUE TRANSGLUTAMINASE AB, IGA	11  H	(U/mL)
-
- Value Interpretation
- ----- --------------
- <4 No Antibody Detected
- > or = 4 Antibody Detected
F	INTERPRETATION	SEE NOTE
-
- tTG IgA positive by ELISA is consistent with celiac
- disease, but not confirmed by EMA IFA.
-
- Recommend correlation with clinical, radiographic and
- endoscopic findings.

 

F

IMMUNOGLOBULIN A

226

81-463 (mg/dL)

 

F

ENDOMYSIAL ANTIBODY SCR (IGA) W/REFL TO TITER

Negative

 

I have a biopsy scheduled for this Thursday.  Given the fact that I have thyroid issues, and the EMA was negative, is it still likely that it's Celiac, or is it more likely that my autoimmune thyroid is throwing off the result?  Also, it's my understanding that a positive EMA is indicative of intestinal damage, so if mine is negative, does that mean that it's more likely to show a negative biopsy?

 

Thank you all so much for any insight, I feel so blindsided with this!

[cyclinglady]

1 minute ago, Alibu said:

Hi all!

I can't even believe I am on this forum right now!  I asked my doctor to run a Celiac Disease Panel to rule it out after dealing with so many digestive and systemic issues for years now.  I never in my life expected it to come back positive, but the results are a little confusing and I keep finding conflicting info online.  Any help is appreciated!  

I do have hypothyroidism and have for about 10 years now.  My levels have been well controlled on medication for years and years.  My father has discoid lupus (it's lupus that affects only the skin, not the internal organs), so there is some autoimmune history in our family.

My lab tests are as follows:

F	TISSUE TRANSGLUTAMINASE AB, IGA	11  H	(U/mL)
-
- Value Interpretation
- ----- --------------
- <4 No Antibody Detected
- > or = 4 Antibody Detected
F	INTERPRETATION	SEE NOTE
-
- tTG IgA positive by ELISA is consistent with celiac
- disease, but not confirmed by EMA IFA.
-
- Recommend correlation with clinical, radiographic and
- endoscopic findings.

 

F

IMMUNOGLOBULIN A

226

81-463 (mg/dL)

 

F

ENDOMYSIAL ANTIBODY SCR (IGA) W/REFL TO TITER

Negative

 

I have a biopsy scheduled for this Thursday.  Given the fact that I have thyroid issues, and the EMA was negative, is it still likely that it's Celiac, or is it more likely that my autoimmune thyroid is throwing off the result?  Also, it's my understanding that a positive EMA is indicative of intestinal damage, so if mine is negative, does that mean that it's more likely to show a negative biopsy?

 

Thank you all so much for any insight, I feel so blindsided with this!

Hard to say.  You have a positive TTG and you are not IgA deficient.  The TTG is pretty high, so I would say autoimmune thyroid is not tweaking your result, but I am NOT a doctor.   You only need one positive on the panel to move forward with the endoscopy.  Personally, I have Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, only a positive on the DGP IgA (negative EMA and TTG tests) and my biopsies revealed moderate to severe patches of villi damage.  

You should be checked for lupus as you can have several autoimmune issues simultaneously.  

Keep us posted.  Keep eating gluten until all testing is done!

[Alibu]

1 hour ago, cyclinglady said:

Hard to say.  You have a positive TTG and you are not IgA deficient.  The TTG is pretty high, so I would say autoimmune thyroid is not tweaking your result, but I am NOT a doctor.   You only need one positive on the panel to move forward with the endoscopy.  Personally, I have Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, only a positive on the DGP IgA (negative EMA and TTG tests) and my biopsies revealed moderate to severe patches of villi damage.  

You should be checked for lupus as you can have several autoimmune issues simultaneously.  

Keep us posted.  Keep eating gluten until all testing is done!

Thank you for your response!  I guess I'm trying to cling on to the hope that it's a false positive with the negative EMA, LOL.  

I have been checked for lupus a few times and it's always negative, so that's good.  I really didn't expect this to come back positive at all.

And yes, I'm eating ALL the gluten while I still can!!