Doc said they could test for Celiac after going gluten-free?

[jeszra]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum, I've read a lot throughout the years, but finally signed up :).

I'm unfortunately one of those who went gluten free (almost 10 years ago) before being tested for Celiac. I've had some new symptoms and went to the doc to get tested for other digestive issues, but she said she would test me for Celiac as well (via blood test).

I asked if that was possible since I've been gluten free so long, and she said yes. Is this a thing they can do now? Or I'm wondering if she may have misunderstood that I've been gluten free for a long time and that it's not a new development.

Thanks!

[trents]

Your doctor is totally wrong. All testing for celiac disease is designed to detect damage done to the lining of the small bowel from the inflammation that accompanies gluten ingestion. If you remove the gluten from your diet, healing of the damage begins to take place and that will compromise the testing.

We get this same report from people joining the forum all the time. To be honest, most doctors are pretty ignorant about celiac disease. The best practice for you as a patient is to do your own research and go armed with information and even handouts to give the doctor to guide their thinking.

The Mayo clinic guidelines for the pretest gluten challenge in the case where people have already gone gluten free is:

1. For the serum antibody test, consume daily the equivalent amount of gluten found in two slices of wheat bread for 6-8 weeks before testing.

2. For the endoscopy/biopsy test, consume daily the equivalent amount of gluten found in two slices of wheat bread for 2 weeks before testing.

[jeszra]

Thanks so much @trents! That definitely was my understanding but I thought I'd check here in case there had been some new development or I missed something. I can't bring myself to do a gluten challenge  but now I've been having some symptoms indicating there may be something else going on, so we shall see if I get any other info. This appointment was with my regular GP, I'm seeing the GI in a couple weeks. Thanks again!