Weak Positive/Negative

[Hallowbean]

Hi all! I’m brand new here and brand new to learning about celiac. 
 

I’ve had tum issues for a number of years, but they amplified after my first pregnancy (5 years) and then after my second pregnancy (2 years ago) my health really took a hit. Diarrhea, constipation, bloating, canker sores, headaches, joint pain, the works. 
 

My GP decided to do two celiac tests. The TTG and the deamidated giladin IgA/IgG. My TTG came back at 3 and anything below 4 is considered normal. My IgA came back at 21 and anything from 20-30 is considered weak positive. My IgG came back at 11 which is considered negative. All signs point to no celiac disease? Of course my doctor probably won’t comment for the weekend now and I’m gonna be left wondering, but would could elevate the IgA? I’ve tried researching and researching to no avail. 

[trents]

Which IGA measure do you refer to that has the score of 21? There is more than one IGA test that can be run when checking for celiac disease. Can you repost the results exactly as they appear on the report, along with ranges? Here is a primer that outlines the tests that can be run when checking for celiac disease: 

Was there a result for Total Serum IGA? The tTG-IGA is the most common test ordered by physicians. There is also an EMA test which is the most specific for celiac disease. And then there are DGP and IGG tests as well. It is also possible that you have NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity) which shares many of the same symptoms with celiac disease and also requires a lifelong commitment to gluten free eating. There is no test for NCGS. Celiac disease must first be ruled out. NCGS is 10x more common than celiac disease.

[Hallowbean]

 

TISSUE TRANSGLUTAMINASE ANTIBODY, IGA

View trends

Normal range: 0 - 3 U/mL

My level: 3 

 

 

Deamidated Gliadin Peptide Ab, IgA

View trends

Normal range: 0 - 19 Units
 

My level: 21 

 

Deamidated Gliadin Peptide Ab, IgG

View trends

Normal range: 0 - 19 Units
 

My level: 11

[trents]

So, you've had:

tTG-IGA - normal

DGP-IGA - weak positive

DGP-IGg - negative

I would suggest you ask your physician to order a total IGA test. If total IGA is low, it can push individual IGA scores down toward negative.

The next round of diagnostic work would be an endoscopy with biopsy of the small bowel villous lining. Typically, celiac disease inflammation "blunts" the villi that line the small bowel. This does not happen with NCGS. Has your physician talked to you about getting an endoscopy/biopsy done?

[Hallowbean]

I have not! I just got these results back and like I said, he hasn’t commented on the DGP results yet, but he did see the tTG-IgA and told me everything looks normal. I don’t think he’ll reply until Monday now. 

[trents]

The weak positive DGP could mean celiac disease but there are other possible causes. It is so close to normal that if you were retested it might be negative on any given day. Nonetheless, I would as for a total IGA test to be ordered.

[Scott Adams]

I would still view ISSUE TRANSGLUTAMINASE ANTIBODY, IGA at 3 as another weak positive if the scale is positive is over 3. Normal people would not score a 3, and that combined with a positive DGP tells me that you are definitely having an issue with gluten. 

Were you eating at least 2 slices of wheat bread daily before the blood tests? You should have been. If not, your levels would likely have been higher. Many doctors do not follow the protocol and inform their patients to eat lots of gluten in the weeks leading up to the tests.

And I agree 100% with @trents that there should have been a total IGA test included in your screening.

[Hallowbean]

I actually don’t think I ate any gluten that day. My appt wasn’t until 3:30 pm, didn’t get my blood drawn until 4:30 and I had been running around all day long and didn’t eat much of anything that day. I was actually wondering if that had anything to do with my results or not. Over the weekend I had a sandwich with rye bread and I was not okay after that lol. My doctor did get back to me though and wants to follow through with some other stool sample tests and then possibly do more gluten related testing after that. 

[trents]

8 minutes ago, Hallowbean said:

I actually don’t think I ate any gluten that day. My appt wasn’t until 3:30 pm, didn’t get my blood drawn until 4:30 and I had been running around all day long and didn’t eat much of anything that day. I was actually wondering if that had anything to do with my results or not. Over the weekend I had a sandwich with rye bread and I was not okay after that lol. My doctor did get back to me though and wants to follow through with some other stool sample tests and then possibly do more gluten related testing after that. 

Missing one day of gluten would not materially affect the test results. The tests aren't measuring serum gluten levels but antibodies produced by inflammation to the small bowel villous lining produced by gluten consumption over weeks/months for those with celiac disease.

[Hallowbean]

Good to know, thanks!