Newly Diagnosed

[morganclan]

HI. I have been having pelvic pain and internal abdominal itching for 6 months. A doctor finally had me do a stool test at enterolab. I was a 30 on the IgA. Can anyone explain what that means? Has anyone else out there had internal itching from gluten sensitivity? Thanks!

[CMCM]

HI. I have been having pelvic pain and internal abdominal itching for 6 months. A doctor finally had me do a stool test at enterolab. I was a 30 on the IgA. Can anyone explain what that means? Has anyone else out there had internal itching from gluten sensitivity? Thanks!

WOW...you have a doctor who had you do an Enterolab test!! I'm impressed that he knew about it! However, he loses his brownie points because he couldn't explain your test to you!!!

Didn't Enterolab send you an email with results? Basically, with just the IgA test (and not the full panel), anthing less than 10 is "normal", so you are showing a definite antibody immune reaction.

Here's the general info that Enterolab sent me with my IgA part of the test:

Interpretation of Fecal IgA to Gliadin and Other Food Antigens: Levels of

fecal IgA antibody to a food antigen greater than or equal to 10 are

indicative of an immune reaction, and hence immunologic "sensitivity" to

that food. For any elevated fecal antibody level, it is recommended to

remove that food from your diet.

The numeric value of an antibody is not a measure of clinical

severity. Values of 10 Units can be associated with the same reactions as

the maximum values we measure (200-300). Most positive reactions are

between 20 and 80 Units. An analogy would be trying to use the level of

antibodies to penicillin in a person who has had an allergic reaction to

penicillin to determine if it would be safe for them to take penicillin

again. This obviously is not done because those with demonstrated

penicillin allergy could not take penicillin without the risk of suffering

severe health consequences. Although gluten sensitivity is not a true

allergy like penicillin allergy, the concept is the same.

[morganclan]

I am REALLY new to this. Does this mean that I need additional tests or is this one suficient. Is the enterolab diagnosis accepted by most doctors as a valid test? My doctor I am sure will know all of this I just don't go see her until next week and am anxious to start things now if it will help.

Thanks!

[CMCM]

I am REALLY new to this. Does this mean that I need additional tests or is this one suficient. Is the enterolab diagnosis accepted by most doctors as a valid test? My doctor I am sure will know all of this I just don't go see her until next week and am anxious to start things now if it will help.

Thanks!

No, most doctors you encounter would not know a thing about Enterolab. Doctors study specific, recognized methods of testing in medical school in their 10 minutes on celiac disease, and Enterolab is NEW. Generally, if a doctor doesn't know about something it's not valid in his/her mind.

Enterolab is cutting edge, but getting more and more recognition from those who follow celiac closely (which 99% of doctors do NOT). Enterolab stool tests pick up antibodies in cases where the blood test will not. You can go to www.enterolab.com and read all the information about the whys and wherefores of stool testing. Enterolab and Dr. Fine (who runs this lab) are mentioned in a number of worthy books on celiac disease, so he's not a quack. The simple truth is, your doctor knows about the existence of something called celiac disease, but relatively speaking, she still doesn't know much. IF you get a few quite cheap books and read them, you will be more educated about celiac than most doctors you would meet. Really learning all you can about celiac disease is the BEST thing you can do for yourself. Here's the list:

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CELIAC/GLUTEN READING LIST

Recommended reading on Celiac Disease w/links on Amazon. You can go to each book listing and read the book review as well as reader reviews to get an idea about them. I read all of these front to back and found them all very useful in different ways. I think “Dangerous Grains” was probably the most eye-opening. I can recommend them ALL because they all contribute to your overall knowledge and understanding of celiac disease. If you got all of these, you would spend slightly less than $55 including shipping (free over $25). The best $$$ you could spend!

1. Dangerous Grains by James Braly and James Hoggan $9.72

Open Original Shared Link

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2. Going Against the Grain: How Reducing and Avoiding Grains Can Revitalize

Your Health, by Melissa Diane Smith $9.72

Open Original Shared Link

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3. Wheat Free, Worry Free—The Art of Happy, Healthy Gluten Free Living

by Dana Korn $9.72

Open Original Shared Link

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4. A Personal Touch On.....Celiac Disease (The #1 Diagnosed Intestinal Disorder)

] by Peter R. Berlin & Jerry Stone $9.72

Open Original Shared Link

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5. Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic by Peter H.R. Green (just published) $14.92

Open Original Shared Link

To make finding most of these easier, just go to amazon and in the search box put the words "Dangerous Grains", and a page will come up with most of them on it. I think you have to search for the new one (Green’s book) separately if you don’t want to paste in the direct link. Also "Personal Touch" doesn't show up easily either.

[morganclan]

Thanks for replying, like I said I am totally new to this. My doctor added this to some tests because of some unexpainable pelvic pain, internal abdominal itching, burning feet and constipation. My symptoms have been so weird and I seem not to fit into any diagnosis. I don't think these symptoms really sound like gluten sensitivity but I am TOTALLY willing to try and go gluten free to see if it works. You sound very knowledgable...off hand do some of these symptoms sound gluten sensitivity to you?

Thanks! Stacy