Just got my test results back, not sure how to interpret

[morsey]

Hello all first time poster here.

Since it's early where I am, I have to wait a bit until I get an e-mail from my doctor, so I will ask you all in the meantime your opinions. I took the tTG-IgA test yesterday and got my results just this morning on my iPhone:

"

TTG IGA ANTIBODY	4.7	<20
TTG IGA INTERPRETATION	Negative	Negative

A negative result indicates no tTG IgA antibody or the 
antibody concentration is below the negative cut-off
of the assay."

So I know it's saying negative, but the comment is throwing me off for some reason. Worth to point out that on the mayo clinic's website they have 4.0-10.0 range as "weak positive."

Additionally, they also took an IgA test (not sure the purpose of this test), and my IgA Serum is higher than the normal range. The normal range, according to my hospitals website, is 82 - 453 mg/dL, mine is 516 mg/dL and is flagged as high in my test report.

I do also have to point out, every work day I would spend most of the day "gluten-free" (paleo) but would eat gluten after work when I get home. I did this because I would develop unpleasant symptoms whenever I ate a gluten product, like a sandwich at lunch, and would try to avoid that as much as possible since I was at work. I don't know if this may have had contributed to possibly giving a false negative. At any rate, look forward to your thoughts.

Edited July 16, 2019 by morsey

[kareng]

1 hour ago, morsey said:

Hello all first time poster here.

Since it's early where I am, I have to wait a bit until I get an e-mail from my doctor, so I will ask you all in the meantime your opinions. I took the tTG-IgA test yesterday and got my results just this morning on my iPhone:

"

TTG IGA ANTIBODY	4.7	<20
TTG IGA INTERPRETATION	Negative	Negative

A negative result indicates no tTG IgA antibody or the 
antibody concentration is below the negative cut-off
of the assay."

So I know it's saying negative, but the comment is throwing me off for some reason. Worth to point out that on the mayo clinic's website they have 4.0-10.0 range as "weak positive."

Additionally, they also took an IgA test (not sure the purpose of this test), and my IgA Serum is higher than the normal range. The normal range, according to my hospitals website, is 82 - 453 mg/dL, mine is 516 mg/dL and is flagged as high in my test report.

I do also have to point out, every work day I would spend most of the day "gluten-free" (paleo) but would eat gluten after work when I get home. I did this because I would develop unpleasant symptoms whenever I ate a gluten product, like a sandwich at lunch, and would try to avoid that as much as possible since I was at work. I don't know if this may have had contributed to possibly giving a false negative. At any rate, look forward to your thoughts.

Sometimes, the different labs have a slightly different test or testing equipment.  So the ranges for this type of test can be slightly different. 

The total IGA test is done to validate the ttg IGA test.  A simple explanation is that it tests to see if you are able to make enough IGAs to do a ttg IGA test.  A few people do not make them , so they would need a different test.  

[cyclinglady]

Hi!  Some celiacs, like ME, never get a positive on the TTG IgA, even when given repeatedly.  I only test positive to the DGP IgA.  I am biopsy-confirmed and have healed based on repeat biopsies.  I also have an elevated IgA which is attributed to autoimmune disease or other rare things that I personally do not worry about.  

You could have been gluten light.  You might see if you can get the entire celiac panel.  Do you have other autoimmune disorders or biomarkers like anemia that caused you to to suspect celiac disease?  I ask because I think my doctor ordered a complete panel because I had anemia and was already diagnosed with autoimmune thyroiditis and I did not suffer from GI issues at the time.   Thank goodness he did!  

[RMJ]

Each manufacturer of the TTG IgA test sets their own units and their own range - so your result was negative.  However, some people who have celiac disease are negative on the TTG but positive on the DGP (deamidated gliadin peptide) antibody test.  Since you get symptoms you might ask your doctor for that one too.

[morsey]

9 minutes ago, cyclinglady said:

Hi!  Some celiacs, like ME, never get a positive on the TTG IgA, even when given repeatedly.  I only test positive to the DGP IgA.  I am biopsy-confirmed and have healed based on repeat biopsies.  I also have an elevated IgA which is attributed to autoimmune disease or other rare things that I personally do not worry about.  

You could have been gluten light.  You might see if you can get the entire celiac panel.  Do you have other autoimmune disorders or biomarkers like anemia that caused you to to suspect celiac disease?  I ask because I think my doctor ordered a complete panel because I had anemia and was already diagnosed with autoimmune thyroiditis and I did not suffer from GI issues at the time.   Thank goodness he did!  

I do have anemia, but that it due to my thalessmia. It is interesting to know whether or not my genetic thalessimia could be concealing thalessimia due to celiac? And what do you mean by gluten light? As in I didn't eat enough gluten before the test? I think I ate a pretty reasonable amount, especially on the weekends. As far as I know, I don't have any autoimmune issues that I am aware of. My primary symptoms have been digestion related, with joint pain (knees), and brain fog as secondary.

Edited July 16, 2019 by morsey

[morsey]

3 minutes ago, RMJ said:

Each manufacturer of the TTG IgA test sets their own units and their own range - so your result was negative.  However, some people who have celiac disease are negative on the TTG but positive on the DGP (deamidated gliadin peptide) antibody test.  Since you get symptoms you might ask your doctor for that one too.

That's a good point, I wasn't aware of that. I don't know why, I get shy to keep making requests - like I'm a bother or they may feel like I'm transgressing my limits by telling them what tests to run when they didn't recommend it. But I will ask the doc. I want to make sure I am covered from all sides.

[cyclinglady]

16 minutes ago, morsey said:

I do have anemia, but that it due to my thalessmia. It is interesting to know whether or not my genetic thalessimia could be concealing thalessimia due to celiac? And what do you mean by gluten light? As in I didn't eat enough gluten before the test? I think I ate a pretty reasonable amount, especially on the weekends. As far as I know, I don't have any autoimmune issues that I am aware of. My primary symptoms have been digestion related, with joint pain (knees), and brain fog as secondary.

Wow!  I also have Thalassemia which masked my iron-deficiency anemia (“oh, your hemoglobin is low because of your Thalassemia” or “your periods must be heavy”.  So, you can have more than one type of anemia.  Your doctor should check your iron levels (how you process iron) and iron stores (ferritin).  B-12 should be checked because despite your having tiny blood cells (B-12 deficiency usually cause large blood cells), you can be low in B-12.   Celiac disease usually damages the intestinal villi making it difficult to absorb nutrients like iron and vitamins. 

You only need to be consuming 1 to 2 slices of bread per day or equivalent.  

Your symptoms could be celiac disease or something else like Crohn’s.  Be sure to get throughly evaluated.  Be persistent.  Something is wrong!  

[morsey]

3 hours ago, cyclinglady said:

Wow!  I also have Thalassemia which masked my iron-deficiency anemia (“oh, your hemoglobin is low because of your Thalassemia” or “your periods must be heavy”.  So, you can have more than one type of anemia.  Your doctor should check your iron levels (how you process iron) and iron stores (ferritin).  B-12 should be checked because despite your having tiny blood cells (B-12 deficiency usually cause large blood cells), you can be low in B-12.   Celiac disease usually damages the intestinal villi making it difficult to absorb nutrients like iron and vitamins. 

You only need to be consuming 1 to 2 slices of bread per day or equivalent.  

Your symptoms could be celiac disease or something else like Crohn’s.  Be sure to get throughly evaluated.  Be persistent.  Something is wrong!  

Thank you! I will look into it!