Antibodies went up

[Barcino]

Hello, 

I cant get my daughter's TTG IGA antibodies to drop into the normal range. A bit of the backstory : both my kids were diagnosed in July of 2023. Both were >250 at diagnosis. 

My son went from >250 July 2023  to 33 Nov 2023  to 15.7 July 2024. With <15 being negative. He is almost there. 

My daughter went >250 July 2023 to 66.3 Dec 2023 to 31.7 July 2024 to now back up to 35.6. 

We are a fully gluten free house and we do not eat out AT ALL in any restaurants other than one dedicated gluten-free bakery. We don't eat any oats. She takes anti epileptic drugs / vitamins so we are double checking all medications and supplements. One medication says they should be gluten free but cant guarantee excipients aren't contaminated so we will be changing that one to a different manufacturer.  
Feeling a little worried that her levels are worse and we cant get her into the normal range. We are thinking about cutting dairy or doing the Fasano diet. She doesnt eat a crazy amount of processed food and what she has in gluten free certified and not made in shared lines but maybe we should cut it all out until her levels drop? Any other advice? We will check all personal products also, but we believe everything is gluten free. My son is away at school so trying to figure out what she does and eats that he doesn't. Chickpeas (canned), dairy (he doesn't eat much dairy due to acne) and of course her medications.
 

Thank you for any input you may have.

[Barcino]

FASANO DIET - not Dasani. For some reason, it is not allowing me to edit my post. 

[Scott Adams]

You are correct in looking closer at her diet, as there may still be trace amounts of gluten, even from a gluten-free bakery (are their ingredient suppliers certified gluten-free?).

You can search this site for prescriptions medications, but will need to know the manufacturer/maker if there is more than one, especially if you use a generic version of the medication:

To see the ingredients you will need to click on the correct version of the medication and maker in the results, then scroll down to "Ingredients and Appearance" and click it, and then look at "Inactive Ingredients," as any gluten ingredients would likely appear there, rather than in the Active Ingredients area.

• https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/ 

For people with celiac disease hidden gluten in their diets is the main cause of elevated Tissue Transglutaminase IgA Antibodies (tTG-IgA), but there are other conditions, including cow's milk/casein intolerance, that can also cause this, and here is an article about the other possible causes:

 

 

[knitty kitty]

@Barcino,

Yes, do try cutting out dairy.  About half of people with Celiac Disease react to the protein in dairy, Casein, the same as to gluten because of similar protein segments.  Others have Lactose intolerance because their damaged intestinal lining, the villi, are damaged and can't produce the enzyme lactase which breaks down the sugar in dairy, Lactose.  

Also, cut out processed gluten free foods.  Many gluten free processed foods use corn.  Some people with celiac disease react to corn the same as to the protein gluten because of similar-to-gluten protein segments of maize, the protein in corn.   Processed foods containing corn may also utilize microbial transglutinaminase to bind corn proteins together to improve texture.  Microbial transglutaminase is also used in dairy products like yogurt and ice cream to bind dairy protein casein together to improve texture.  Microbial transglutinaminase is not required to be listed as an ingredient because it is an enzyme considered to be part of the manufacturing process.  The increasing usage over the past couple of decades of microbial transglutaminase to cross link gluten proteins together in wheat containing products is suspected to be a trigger of Celiac genes, hence the increased numbers of people being diagnosed with celiac disease recently.

Do consider supplementing with Benfotiamine, a form of Thiamin Vitamin B One, that has been shown in scientific studies to promote intestinal healing.  It also helps acne along with Niacin Vitamin B 3.  Vitamin D helps lower inflammation, and Vitamin C helps rebuild and repair damage.   

I've had great improvement following the Autoimmune Protocol diet.  The AIP diet has been scientifically shown to improve intestinal health, too.  Developed by Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, a Celiac for her Celiac children.  It really does work quickly to reduce inflammation.  Although terribly strict,  improvement happens within a few weeks.  

Hope this helps.  Keep us posted on your progress!

[Beverage]

Sounds like you're very careful with food.  Any possible airborne or non-eating exposures?

One time I got really sick from feeding my neighbor's chickens, the feed would get kicked up and I'd inhale the dust, read the ingredients, yup gluten. Another time we were doing some home remodeling, removed some old plaster, probably gluten in that. Anything like that?  Anybody lip kissing gluten eaters?  Any contact with pets that are eating gluten?  Body products like shampoo and lotions?