Antigen Tests

[deco2339]

Hi

I was just diagnosed with Celiac. I have a history of ulcers from NSAID intake and was recently iron deficient anemic and we thought it was due to a bleeding ulcer. I asked my doc to also check for celiac upon a co-workers recommendation and it turns out I had severe damage of the villi and a very high antigen count.

I'm curious as to what other peoples antigen counts were and from the doctors curious as to what you consider a severe antigen count.

BTW, I have never had ulcer pain in my life, stomach pain or constipation or diarrhea which is why my doc was surprised to find I had celiac.

I've cut out wheat, oats and milk and have been taking iron. I'm no longer anemic but don't really notice any other differences due to the fact that I don't have symptoms to begin with. Its been about 2 weeks since I changed my diet..

thank you

[nikki-uk]

Hi,welcome to the board!

I cannot help you with antigen tests as my husband(who's the coeliac) scored a negative-(coeliac was diagnosed by biopsy).

Just wanted to point out that to be totally gluten free(which you definitely need to be as you have a dx of coeliac)you need to not only cut out Wheat and Oats but Barley and Rye too.

Alot of coeliacs do also cut out dairy initially going gluten-free (as my husband did)-but you may find that once you've been gluten-free a while you may be able to up your intake of dairy products.Try it and see,so far as the dairy.

By the time my husband was dx he was very ill,but he'd never suffered from some of the stomach troubles others do.He had alot of the other symptoms though-so I understand that your doc found it a shock.We're all different

My husband also was refererred to the gastro doc as it was thought he had ulcers caused by taking NSAIDS for arthritis,-he was also anaemic.

No ulcers!but docs found villous atrophy from the biopsy.

Can you tolerate NSAID's anymore?

My husband has had to stop them as they cause him to get blood in his stools.

Anyway-good luck with the diet!!

[celiachap]

Hi

I was just diagnosed with Celiac. I have a history of ulcers from NSAID intake and was recently iron deficient anemic and we thought it was due to a bleeding ulcer. I asked my doc to also check for celiac upon a co-workers recommendation and it turns out I had severe damage of the villi and a very high antigen count. I'm curious as to what other peoples antigen counts were and from the doctors curious as to what you consider a severe antigen count. BTW, I have never had ulcer pain in my life, stomach pain or constipation or diarrhea which is why my doc was surprised to find I had celiac. I've cut out wheat, oats and milk and have been taking iron. I'm no longer anemic but don't really notice any other differences due to the fact that I don't have symptoms to begin with. Its been about 2 weeks since I changed my diet..thank you

I cannot help you with your question about antigen count, as I do not have my info available, and some new test results, from two days ago, will not be available until next week.

Welcome aboard. Although I have not yet read it, I would like to recommend the new book by Dr. Peter H.R. Green, CELIAC DISEASE: A HIDDEN EPIDEMIC, which is coming out in Feb. That should give you all the information you need to start living a healthy life with this condition, and it's author, Celiac Specialist Dr. Green, is the head of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University in NYC, and one of our best advocates. In the meantime, this website has plenty of resources for the newly diagnosed celiac patient.

[TinaB]

Wow! You guys are just like me. I have a bad back and was constantly taking NSAIDs. I came up anemic again 8/05 and had 2 pts blood to help. positive for h-pylori and was treated for that then. had stomach pain after that (was not terribly bothered with anything but constipation before). went to GI Dec 19th, who said I had classic ulser symptoms. did an endoscope w/biopsy on 12/22. he still didin't know about celiac. said I had gastritis, hiatal hernia (that was a shock) but no apparent ulcer. The biopsy came back positive blunting of villi and blood test (last week) since verified anitgens (haven't seen that test yet) He told me NEVER to take NSAIDs again. What do you do for the inflamation now? I hate my ortho but I guess I'll have to contact him again. My 'gut' is more messed up now than before diagnosis but maybe not as bad this morning. been gluten-free for 1 week. Guess I'm just transitioning. We look like we're just about the same time table so I'd be interested to know how you progress.

Tina, Arkansas