Testing For Siblings/parents

[momandgirls]

Hopefully someone can answer this question for me - my daughter's in the process of being diagnosed for Celiac (positive antibodies, "borderline" biopsy and positive CeliaGene). I'm not happy with her current GI doc and am in the process of making an appointment for a second opinion with someone else. If she does have Celiac (which I'm thinking she probably does), should my other daughter also be tested? She has no GI symptoms at all. If she does need tested, does she need to go through the biopsy also or can she be diagnosed just from the bloodwork? Then, as her mom, would I be tested also? (her father and I are divorced and we have had no contact with him in many, many years). How many generations back gets tested, if she's positive? No one else has ever been diagnosed with Celiac though many of us have our share of GI issues - mostly IBS. Thanks!

[VydorScope]

  momandgirls said:

Hopefully someone can answer this question for me - my daughter's in the process of being diagnosed for Celiac (positive antibodies, "borderline" biopsy and positive CeliaGene). I'm not happy with her current GI doc and am in the process of making an appointment for a second opinion with someone else. If she does have Celiac (which I'm thinking she probably does), should my other daughter also be tested? She has no GI symptoms at all. If she does need tested, does she need to go through the biopsy also or can she be diagnosed just from the bloodwork? Then, as her mom, would I be tested also? (her father and I are divorced and we have had no contact with him in many, many years). How many generations back gets tested, if she's positive? No one else has ever been diagnosed with Celiac though many of us have our share of GI issues - mostly IBS. Thanks!

IBS is one of the more popular things that celiac disease is mistaken for.

YES, you should all get tested. My reading says that all direct blood relatives of your daughter have a 30% chance of devolping celiac disease. celiac disease is gentic, so someone in your family passed it down to her, and probably others. Now just becuase you have the gene does not mean you will get celiac disease, but with out testing you know.

As for your daugter, you siad she has postive blood work? Stop testing then and get her gluten free. No futher testing is needed. I am not a medical doctor, nor pretend to be one, but you already have your answer. Put her on the gluten-free diet and get the rest of your family tested. Do not go gluten free before testing as it will effect the results of the test.

[chrissy]

hi---one of our girls tested positive on a blood test and her biopsy was iffy. her twin had had a biopsy a few months before (for reflux), but her biopsy was negative for celiac (although they weren't looking for it either) i had most of my children, and my husband and myself, tested with a blood test. the twin with a negative biopsy tested positive and one of my other girls tested positive. the ped gi did NOT do a biopsy an the youngest one. i guess with 3 people in the family with positive blood work it was a no-brainer, so he told us to put all 3 on a gluten free diet. i have another child that is IgA deficient, so we have to do some different blood work on him. the doc tells us the IgA deficicancy goes along with celiac sometimes. i would definitely test your other daughter and yourself.

christine