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Weak positive tTg-IgA

MadelineNY
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MadelineNY Newbie
MadelineNY
Posted

Hello! Found this forum after receiving surprise bloodwork results from my GP. I’m 29 and have been dealing with weird symptoms for about a year, mostly unintentional weight loss. Prior to this, I didn’t have any health issues. My doctor decided to run a celiac disease profile on a whim without telling me and I got my results back and have been a bit confused. I had a weak positive on the tTg-IGa (6U/mL and normal range is listed as 0-3). All the other tests in the panel were normal. Prior to the test, I wasn’t eating a whole lot of gluten but mostly because I haven’t been eating much in general. I haven’t had much of an appetite for a year and when I do eat, I get full almost right away. The only other abnormal blood work this month was a low co2 level, whatever the heck that means!
 

My doctor is not a specialist in GI conditions and he interpreted the weak positive tTg-iGa to mean “potentially a mild gluten sensitivity”. That doesn’t seem to line up with anything I’ve read online and I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be doing. For the last week, I’ve been having lower stomach pain/cramping almost all day, which is a new thing. I don’t know anything about celiac disease and I’m certainly hoping I do not have it. This forum seems to be filled with a lot of really knowledgeable and helpful folks so I was just hoping to get some feedback on what it all means. Thanks in advance, I appreciate any help.

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Onegiantcrunchie Contributor
Onegiantcrunchie
Posted
1 hour ago, MadelineNY said:

Hello! Found this forum after receiving surprise bloodwork results from my GP. I’m 29 and have been dealing with weird symptoms for about a year, mostly unintentional weight loss. Prior to this, I didn’t have any health issues. My doctor decided to run a celiac disease profile on a whim without telling me and I got my results back and have been a bit confused. I had a weak positive on the tTg-IGa (6U/mL and normal range is listed as 0-3). All the other tests in the panel were normal. Prior to the test, I wasn’t eating a whole lot of gluten but mostly because I haven’t been eating much in general. I haven’t had much of an appetite for a year and when I do eat, I get full almost right away. The only other abnormal blood work this month was a low co2 level, whatever the heck that means!
 

My doctor is not a specialist in GI conditions and he interpreted the weak positive tTg-iGa to mean “potentially a mild gluten sensitivity”. That doesn’t seem to line up with anything I’ve read online and I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be doing. For the last week, I’ve been having lower stomach pain/cramping almost all day, which is a new thing. I don’t know anything about celiac disease and I’m certainly hoping I do not have it. This forum seems to be filled with a lot of really knowledgeable and helpful folks so I was just hoping to get some feedback on what it all means. Thanks in advance, I appreciate any help.

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Hi there! Your story sounds a lot like mine, I'm no expert but here's my two cents...

I'm sure what you describe is positive antibodies, which 95% of the time indicate coeliac disease. As far as I know, that's what makes it distinct from non-coeliac gluten sensitivity, which isn't an autoimmune condition and therefore wouldn't produce antibodies (again I'm not an expert so I may stand corrected). That "weak positive" may be more likely to mean you're not eating much gluten anyway, so you naturally have less antibodies to it.

But your doctor should have lined up an endoscopy (camera down your throat into your intestine) to check your villi for damage. If they find signs of coeliac that makes the diagnosis definitive I think. But a positive blood test is a positive nonetheless, so it does sound like you have it in my opinion.

I'd recommend cutting out all gluten for the timebeing and seeing how you get on, and also talking again to your doctor, maybe getting a second opinion on the interpretation of that positive test.

Hope this helps!

Scott Adams Grand Master
Scott Adams
Posted

Yes, it does look like your tTG results are high, which is positive for celiac disease. Be sure to keep eating gluten until all testing is completed. Your doctor may refer you for an endoscopy to confirm this, and if you go gluten-free before then those results could be tainted.

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