Advice for Drs appointment for 3 year old

[HelenL]

Hello,

I'm looking for advice ahead of a Dr's appointment for my 3 year old daughter.

She has constant exhaustion, which is getting worse, and constipation (though probiotics help). No growth issues, but constantly grumpy due to exhaustion. She was tested one year ago, when she was 2 for Celiac, results below. We have a history of celiac in the family (but not direct, my uncle and my cousin's daughter). She had her iron tested last year as well and her serum ferritin was fine, but she had slightly low red and white blood cell count.

Should I be pushing for a re-test for celiac? She was regularly consuming gluten before last year's test, and still is.

Last year's results:

Tissu transglutaminase IgA lev: < 0.2 u/mL (Normal range:0 to 10.9 (u/mL))

IgA: 0.36 g/L (Normal range: 0.3 to 1.3 (g/L))

Many thanks

[trents]

Ask for a more complete celiac panel that includes more than IGA antibody tests. Young children have immune systems that are immature and they often don't respond the same way to IGA antibody testing as adults do and so it can be valuable to check for IGG antibodies. Ask for:

Total IgA

TTG-IGA

DGP-IGA

DGP-IGG

It is also possible she has NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity) which shares many of the same symptoms with celiac disease but for which there are no tests yet. Celiac disease must first be ruled out. Some experts believe NCGS can be a precursor to developing celiac disease. It is 10x mor common than celiac disease and also demands avoiding gluten.

Edited September 17, 2024 by trents

[Scott Adams]

I agree with @trents, and this article might be helpful. It breaks down each type of test:

 

 

[HelenL]

Many thanks to you both, really helpful 

[Scott Adams]

Please let us know how things turn out, and good luck!