Thoughts on Lab Results/ Diagnosis

[AnnaG]

Hi All- 

I wanted to get some opinions on a potential Celiac diagnosis. I have pretty frequent lower abdominal pain, and recently broke out in a SUPER itchy rash on my wrist that my doc diagnosed as Dermatitis Herpetiformis. 

Blood results: 

abnormal but weak IGE (true allergy) to wheat 

AntiGliadin IgG @ 15 (low, but exist)

Tested positive for both DQ2 & DQ8

I think I clearly need to avoid gluten, but how do I know if I have celiac? A slight gluten allergy and celiac require totally different lifestyle changes... 

Thanks! 

 

[cyclinglady]

An endoscopy to obtain small intestinal biopsies or a skin punch biopsy are the gold standards for obtaining a celiac disease diagnosis.  Your blood test result is not common and just having the celiac genes is used to rule out but not diagnose celiac disease.  That is because 30% (that is a ton of people) carries the genes but only a few of those go on to develop celiac disease or DH.  Allergy testing is iffy.  Did you also have the TTG IgA, TTG IgG and DGP IgA tests?  Did they test your Immunoglobulin A?  

I think you need a second opinion and more research.  It is obvious that you are not sold on this diagnosis.  Get to a dermatologist or Gastroenterologist.  If you decide to go this route, stay on gluten.  This is critical as all celiac disease testing, even the skin biopsies, require you to be on a full gluten diet.  

Start here to learn more:

https://celiac.org/about-celiac-disease/related-conditions/dermatitis-herpetiformis/

https://celiac.org/about-celiac-disease/screening-and-diagnosis/screening/

https://celiac.org/about-celiac-disease/screening-and-diagnosis/diagnosis/

https://www.healthline.com/health/allergies/rast-test-vs-skin-test#when-to-seek-help

Edited May 10, 2020 by cyclinglady