Do My Tests Point Towards Celiac Disease?

[naomimoore]

Hi Everyone, 

 

I am sure that this question has been asked multiple times but I am new to this forum as well as the Celiac world. I haven't been feeling like myself health-wise for a couple years now, with my stomach always being bloated, crampy, irritated, and just plain old not feeling well. I am a 20 year old nursing student so I had not had the time to focus on what the issue may be but I finally decided that I wanted to figure it out. I love pasta, but every time I ate it my stomach would expand to the size of a 5 month old pregnant woman and become rock solid  I got tested for gluten sensitivity and the test came back as having high allergen gluten IgG levels. It says that the normal amount is less than 2.0 mcg/mL and my results read 6.4 mcg/mL. The doctor at my school said the only way to determine if this is Celiac is to get a biopsy and see a GI doctor. It's not easy for me to do that as I am a busy student, out of state. I was wondering if anyone knew if this was a good indication of Celiac or non-celiac gluten sensitivity. I know it is hard to determine from that one test but I'm looking for all the help I can get. Thank you! 

 

- Naomi Moore 

[Ennis-TX]

2 hours ago, naomimoore said:

Hi Everyone, 

 

I am sure that this question has been asked multiple times but I am new to this forum as well as the Celiac world. I haven't been feeling like myself health-wise for a couple years now, with my stomach always being bloated, crampy, irritated, and just plain old not feeling well. I am a 20 year old nursing student so I had not had the time to focus on what the issue may be but I finally decided that I wanted to figure it out. I love pasta, but every time I ate it my stomach would expand to the size of a 5 month old pregnant woman and become rock solid  I got tested for gluten sensitivity and the test came back as having high allergen gluten IgG levels. It says that the normal amount is less than 2.0 mcg/mL and my results read 6.4 mcg/mL. The doctor at my school said the only way to determine if this is Celiac is to get a biopsy and see a GI doctor. It's not easy for me to do that as I am a busy student, out of state. I was wondering if anyone knew if this was a good indication of Celiac or non-celiac gluten sensitivity. I know it is hard to determine from that one test but I'm looking for all the help I can get. Thank you! 

 

- Naomi Moore 

There is a bit more comprehensive full celiac panel for screening then they confirm diagnosis with the biopsy of the small intestine via endoscope. You have to be eating gluten daily for the testing to be accurate I will post a link to read up on it, and some more comprehensive ones if you wish. You can go and get the blood test down now and perhaps see about getting a GI consult and endoscope scheduled for this upcoming spring break if your lucky. Your intial test results and the distention make me think you probably have it. IF confirmed we can help you out more with dealing with this. PS tons of gluten free pasta options so no loss there, heck I even found carb free pasta to help me with my extra restrictions from my additional AI disease. Open Original Shared Link
 

[cyclinglady]

7 hours ago, naomimoore said:

Hi Everyone, 

 

I am sure that this question has been asked multiple times but I am new to this forum as well as the Celiac world. I haven't been feeling like myself health-wise for a couple years now, with my stomach always being bloated, crampy, irritated, and just plain old not feeling well. I am a 20 year old nursing student so I had not had the time to focus on what the issue may be but I finally decided that I wanted to figure it out. I love pasta, but every time I ate it my stomach would expand to the size of a 5 month old pregnant woman and become rock solid  I got tested for gluten sensitivity and the test came back as having high allergen gluten IgG levels. It says that the normal amount is less than 2.0 mcg/mL and my results read 6.4 mcg/mL. The doctor at my school said the only way to determine if this is Celiac is to get a biopsy and see a GI doctor. It's not easy for me to do that as I am a busy student, out of state. I was wondering if anyone knew if this was a good indication of Celiac or non-celiac gluten sensitivity. I know it is hard to determine from that one test but I'm looking for all the help I can get. Thank you! 

 

- Naomi Moore 

Well.....as a nurse, you better get used to taking orders from a doctor.  Fortunately, your school doctor gave you excellent advice.  You will need to see a GI.  What to do now?  Confirm that you took the appropriate test for antibodies (autoimmune).  It sounds like you took a food allergy test (IgG) and that is not the same.    If you can, post the actual verbage  from the test. These are the actual celiac antibodies tests (as Ennis pointed out):

Open Original Shared Link

Igg antibody versions in celiac testing are often ordered when an IgA deficiency is suspected.  If you just had some blood allergy testing (which is not super accurate for anything (e.g. cat dander, trees, peanuts), ask your school doctor to run the celiac panel.  Any medical doctor can do this.  After confirming you took the proper tests and/or get a positive on the celiac panel,  set up a GI appointment today at home after school is out or considering Spring Break.  Doctors offices may be willing to work around your schedule.   After all, you are a nursing student (you are in the club now).  

Getting  a celiac disease diagnosis can be complicated, especially in your situation.  Please research (college students are good at this) so that you can make an informed decision.   Best bet, is to simply start with the celiac antibodies blood panel.  

[naomimoore]

On 2/21/2018 at 8:31 PM, cyclinglady said:

Well.....as a nurse, you better get used to taking orders from a doctor.  Fortunately, your school doctor gave you excellent advice.  You will need to see a GI.  What to do now?  Confirm that you took the appropriate test for antibodies (autoimmune).  It sounds like you took a food allergy test (IgG) and that is not the same.    If you can, post the actual verbage  from the test. These are the actual celiac antibodies tests (as Ennis pointed out):

Open Original Shared Link

Igg antibody versions in celiac testing are often ordered when an IgA deficiency is suspected.  If you just had some blood allergy testing (which is not super accurate for anything (e.g. cat dander, trees, peanuts), ask your school doctor to run the celiac panel.  Any medical doctor can do this.  After confirming you took the proper tests and/or get a positive on the celiac panel,  set up a GI appointment today at home after school is out or considering Spring Break.  Doctors offices may be willing to work around your schedule.   After all, you are a nursing student (you are in the club now).  

Getting  a celiac disease diagnosis can be complicated, especially in your situation.  Please research (college students are good at this) so that you can make an informed decision.   Best bet, is to simply start with the celiac antibodies blood panel.  

Thank you for your help! 

 

So if my blood test was simply for the blood allergy testing but came back positive for having high gluten allergen levels what would this mean? That I am at least sensitive to gluten? Or could it mean nothing at all? I have an appointment in a few weeks to see my primary care doctor and get a referral to a GI doctor. I have stopped eating gluten as best I can since the results came back and I feel a little better lately with more energy but I want definite answers before I decide to completely eliminate gluten from my diet full time. However, even if I am non-celiac gluten sensitive I will still want to take gluten out of my diet. Thank you for all of your help! 

[kareng]

25 minutes ago, naomimoore said:

Thank you for your help! 

 

So if my blood test was simply for the blood allergy testing but came back positive for having high gluten allergen levels what would this mean? That I am at least sensitive to gluten? Or could it mean nothing at all? I have an appointment in a few weeks to see my primary care doctor and get a referral to a GI doctor. I have stopped eating gluten as best I can since the results came back and I feel a little better lately with more energy but I want definite answers before I decide to completely eliminate gluten from my diet full time. However, even if I am non-celiac gluten sensitive I will still want to take gluten out of my diet. Thank you for all of your help! 

If you want accurate tests for Celiac do NOT go gluten free until all testing is complete.  Blood allergy tests don’t seem to be very accurate for food allergies and do not test for Celiac.