Need help understanding bloodwork...

[Ljones]

Hello, we are in the US. My 16 year old daughter has been on a long journey. We were initially concerned about knee/hip pain and fatigue. Also has TMJ and back pain. Orthopedic doctors encouraged us to look into a systemic issue. Six months later, we received bloodwork from the rheumatologist that hinted at celiac. The doctor wants to retest in 2 months. I convinced her to retest in 6 weeks since we are in desperate need for answers and healing. My hope is that she can work on relieving her joint pain and have a great senior year next year as a varsity swimmer. She could barely swim this past season due to the pain.

Deficient in iron , Vitamin D, and potassium. Protein, total and Albumin slightly in high range. Creatine Kinase and SED Rate slightly higher.

Tissue Transglutaminase AB, IGA was 15.1. (Normal range 15 or lower.) Is this the "weak positive" people are talking about?

Tissue Transglutaminase AB, IGG;  Gliadin AB (IGA); Gliadin AB (IGG); and Immunoglobulin A all NORMAL.

The doctor wants to retest since she was on the low end of positive. 

According to our lab, she is only .1 in the positive range for celiac. Other blood tests in the panel are normal.

Has anyone had a .1 over normal range and tested positive? Could this be indicative of sensitivity? Retest is scheduled for six weeks. I've already made a GI appointment for the following week in case tests again show in the positive range. We are also getting an MRI of her knees so that we can rule out any arthritis behind the knee cap. Doesn't seem to have digestive issues. Eats a lot of gluten since she is a carbaholic vegetarian. 

Any suggestions or similar experiences would be appreciated.

Lynn

[trents]

Welcome to the forum, Ljones!

Yes, she is a weak positive in the celiac antibody blood work. Her iron deficiency could be explained by celiac disease or by the fact that she is a vegetarian since it is unlikely she would be getting sufficient B12 without animal sources in her diet (or B12 supplementation) and because plant-based iron is not nearly as assimilable as is heme iron (iron from animal sources). B12 is essential in the uptake of iron from the diet.

It may be advisable to look into an endoscopy with biopsy of the small bowel lining to check for damage to the villi, which is the hallmark of celiac disease and the gold standard of celiac diagnosis, though for some reason some who actually do have celiac disease do not have damaged villi, at least not at the time of the procedure.

Of some concern is the elevated creatine kinase (kidney function) and SED rate (rheumatoid marker).

Putting all this together makes me wonder if she is genetically susceptible to autoimmune disorders.

Edited March 15, 2023 by trents

[Wheatwacked]

On 3/15/2023 at 11:34 AM, Ljones said:

Eats a lot of gluten since she is a carbaholic vegetarian. 

All of my joint and muscle pain went away Gluten Free. Also, no more protein buldup on my contacts. It is like the gluten turns into little grains that imbed themselves as irritants in various tissues. The DV for potassium in the US is 4700 mg a day, something that on the western diet is very hard to achieve because we fill up on carbs. In addition to the vitamin and mineral deficiencies caused by Celiac Disease a vegetarian diet is not good nutritionally. As a swimmer her vitamin D is probably good and that is helping to protect her. A study of Israeli lifeguards in August all had 70 to 90 ng/ml. Most Americans have low D.

Micronutrient Inadequacies in the US Population: an Overview

Find foods that are low in omega 6. Potatoes are low. Sweet potatoes are high. It causes inflammation. Studies indicate the SAD diet has a ratio of up to 20:1 ratio of omega 6 to 3. Wheat flour is 22:1. Pasture fed milk is 1:1. Regular whole milk is 5:1, Organic milk 3:1. The optimum is 1:1.

You can find the nutritional value of many foods here: Nutrition Data divide omega 6 by omega 3.

• [Sweetpotato] Nutrition Facts & Calories
• (103/6.8 = 15:1)
• Total Omega-3 fatty acids 6.8 mg
• Total Omega-6 fatty acids 103mg

• Beef Brisket: 65.5/25.8 = 2.5:1
• Total Omega-3 fatty acids 25.8mg
• Total Omega-6 fatty acids 65.5mg