Confused by Results

[DebbieJ]

I'm new here and already have a list of illnesses already that travel with me through life:

Rheumatiod Arthritis 

Sjogrens Syndrome 

Fibromyalgia

Diverticulitis 

 

2020 was a very scary time with 19 days in hospital for diverticulitis and sepsis. Then antibiotics caused CDiff infection as well as ulcerative colitis. I was given a very expensive course of antibiotics for this and told that I may need some bowl removal going forward!  Luckily it all settled down on the most part (eating what I thought was a healthy diet fresh fruit veg and meats avoided processed food) but if I was out and eat a burger or KFC I needed a loo fast!! So stopped that 😵‍💫

Fast forward to this March and a subtle but increasingly worse different change to previous bowl issues but I just tried to control them with a low residue diet thinking DD so white bread instead of my wholemeal but they didn’t go they just got worse. 
Finally I saw my GP who agreed with me it’s not DD and did blood tests. Most tests have come back but some tests will not be ready till 7th June but due rang yesterday to say possibly IBS however I disagreed. I’m on Prednisone and this can give a false negative, I have a dermatitis herpetiformis buttocks rash. I’ve eliminated Gluten and I don’t have dairy anyway.

I’m very aware that sjogrens and Coeliac are related. 
My GP was just not sure and said ‘well it could be’ 

Ive been gluten free for two weeks nearly and dropped a dress size, bloating gone! My bowls are much better.

I would love some feedback on the IBS/COELIAC debate (sorry for the long post!)

 

 

 

 

[trents]

6 hours ago, DebbieJ said:

I'm new here and already have a list of illnesses already that travel with me through life:

Rheumatiod Arthritis 

Sjogrens Syndrome 

Fibromyalgia

Diverticulitis 

 

2020 was a very scary time with 19 days in hospital for diverticulitis and sepsis. Then antibiotics caused CDiff infection as well as ulcerative colitis. I was given a very expensive course of antibiotics for this and told that I may need some bowl removal going forward!  Luckily it all settled down on the most part (eating what I thought was a healthy diet fresh fruit veg and meats avoided processed food) but if I was out and eat a burger or KFC I needed a loo fast!! So stopped that 😵‍💫

Fast forward to this March and a subtle but increasingly worse different change to previous bowl issues but I just tried to control them with a low residue diet thinking DD so white bread instead of my wholemeal but they didn’t go they just got worse. 
Finally I saw my GP who agreed with me it’s not DD and did blood tests. Most tests have come back but some tests will not be ready till 7th June but due rang yesterday to say possibly IBS however I disagreed. I’m on Prednisone and this can give a false negative, I have a dermatitis herpetiformis buttocks rash. I’ve eliminated Gluten and I don’t have dairy anyway.

I’m very aware that sjogrens and Coeliac are related. 
My GP was just not sure and said ‘well it could be’ 

Ive been gluten free for two weeks nearly and dropped a dress size, bloating gone! My bowls are much better.

I would love some feedback on the IBS/COELIAC debate (sorry for the long post!)

 

 

 

 

Welcome to the forum, DebbieJ! What tests have not yet come back? There are specific tests designed to detect celaic disease antibodies that are not normally run when getting labs done. Do you know if these were run and if these are the ones you are waiting on?

[DebbieJ]

1 hour ago, trents said:

Welcome to the forum, DebbieJ! What tests have not yet come back? There are specific tests designed to detect celaic disease antibodies that are not normally run when getting labs done. Do you know if these were run and if these are the ones you are waiting on?

Hi

Thank you for your reply.

Not sure which ones are specific but please see below 

 

Results that came back are:

IGA/AB 0.2 (normal range 0-10) but Prednisone can give a false negative so could be wrong.

Vitamin B12 618ng/l (normal range 180-640)

Tests I’m waiting till June 7th:

Creatinine, 

Potassium

sodium

non HDL Cholesterol 

LDL Cholesterol 

Cholesterol HDL ratio

Cholestrol

Triglyceride 

hopefully one or two are specific to Coeliac? 

 

 

 

 

[trents]

The IGA/AB looks like it could be for celiac disease diagnosis but there is more than one IGA parameter that can be checked for celiac disease. The most common test physicians run for diagnosing celiac disease is the tTG-IGA and just judging by the magnitude of the range given in your post I would guess the IGA/AB might be referring to that one. But, I can't be sure. How that one is expressed in your results is different than I'm use to seeing it. Low B12 can also be an indicator of celaic disease because the damage to the small bowel villous lining caused by the inflammation results in inefficient vitamin and mineral absorption. All the other lab tests in your list are common ones that typically get run at an annual wellness checkup.

You are correct in that prednisone can suppress antibody levels so I would ask your physician for: 1. a "total serum IGA" test, 2. tTG-IGA, and 3. Deamidated gliadin peptide (DGP IgA and IgG). This would be a more complete "celiac panel". Here is a primer for blood tests that can be run for celaic disease: https://celiac.org/about-celiac-disease/screening-and-diagnosis/screening/

How long will you be on predinsone? Testing should be delayed until the prednisone is out of your system and a gluten free trial diet should not be begun until after all testing for celiac disease is complete.

 

Edited May 17, 2023 by trents

[Scott Adams]

It doesn't look like a full celiac disease blood panel was done, perhaps ask your doctor for this? Do you eat gluten daily? To be tested for celiac disease you need to continue eating gluten daily for a couple of months before the test.