Endoscopy

[alexbecka]

I have just had blood tests to test if I have Celiac, and I have been doing my research. Should they come back and I need to have an endoscopy should i have eaten gluten and wheat so I am all blown up and uncomfortable for it to have the best effect and pick up whether I am celiac or not?

I have been monitoring my intake over past few days and have realised after eliminating gluten and wheat, barley etc, my stomach has not blown up and I haven't had the discomfort I have had after eating products with gluten or emulcifiers etc present.

Just wondering if I need to intake some glutenous products prior to having endoscopy or if I can stay off it and feel normal once again and it be able to do the same job???

Assistance and advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Simon]

Hi, I am not a doctor but can advise on what my wife was told to do after her bloods came back high. The consultant would not do the scope unless she had been having a normal gluten diet for at least 2 weeks before the examination. Her bloods were very high so its possible others may be advised to eat gluten for longer. What she did do however was have gluten but reduce the total volume taken.

She had been advised to have more fibre before the test as her condition was simply put down to IBS so she cut out the bread but carried on eating the pasta, cakes etc. This did reduce the amount of bloating a little.

She was also very lucky as the consultant kindly got her scoped within a few weeks of the bloods comming back. hope that helps a little, any questions drop us a line and I can always get Angela to give you some fist hand answers.

Simon

I have just had blood tests to test if I have Celiac, and I have been doing my research. Should they come back and I need to have an endoscopy should i have eaten gluten and wheat so I am all blown up and uncomfortable for it to have the best effect and pick up whether I am celiac or not?

I have been monitoring my intake over past few days and have realised after eliminating gluten and wheat, barley etc, my stomach has not blown up and I haven't had the discomfort I have had after eating products with gluten or emulcifiers etc present.

Just wondering if I need to intake some glutenous products prior to having endoscopy or if I can stay off it and feel normal once again and it be able to do the same job???

Assistance and advice would be greatly appreciated.

[eKatherine]

Hi, I am not a doctor but can advise on what my wife was told to do after her bloods came back high. The consultant would not do the scope unless she had been having a normal gluten diet for at least 2 weeks before the examination. Her bloods were very high so its possible others may be advised to eat gluten for longer. What she did do however was have gluten but reduce the total volume taken.

She had been advised to have more fibre before the test as her condition was simply put down to IBS so she cut out the bread but carried on eating the pasta, cakes etc. This did reduce the amount of bloating a little.

She was also very lucky as the consultant kindly got her scoped within a few weeks of the bloods comming back.

Two weeks is not long enough to be eating gluten to get a positive biopsy if you've been off gluten for a while. Even if a person has been eating gluten continuously, their biopsy may appear negative. If a person's blood tests are positive, they have the disease, and shouldn't need a biopsy.

The biopsy is only positive if you are in the end stages of the disease. Would a cardiologist induce a heart attack before accepting a diagnosis of heart disease?

[BostonCeliac]

Hi -- I'm in the same boat as you basically, just got back positive blood results and am waiting to meet with my Gastro DR & get an endoscopy. Of course the wait is painful because I want to STOP eating gluten, but my DR told me to keep eating it as normal until AFTER the endoscoopy...

Wish I didn't have to - but I've been cutting down a little on the amount I intake until then.

Good luck!

[Guest nini]

I wish that these Dr.s would stop recommending the outdated methodology of the biopsy to dx Celiac...as ekatherine stated, the biopsy ONLY catches damage in the final stages of the disease and it doesn't make sense to wait until there is damage before implementing preventative measures. If the blood work is positive you absolutely have it. You can only get false negatives, but never ever false positives from blood work, and the biopsy only can confirm the dx, it can never ever ever rule it out, and according to several Celiac experts, AND MY DR. the biopsy is no longer the Gold Standard as the blood tests are becoming more sensitive AND they are recognizing that positive dietary response is THE MOST valid diagnostic tool.

We are NOT at the mercy of these Dr.s, We do NOT have to have their permission to be on the gluten-free diet, and if your blood work is positive, you absolutely have this, so why wait to get better? I like the analogy of a Dr. waiting for a heart attack to dx heart disease. That is what these GI's are doing when they are demanding that there be confirmed damage from a biopsy before they will dx. Celiac.

My opinion is to forego the biopsy and get on to the business of being healthy. My Dr. did not put me through a biopsy, he said that since my bloodwork was so positive, it was not neccessary. He wanted me to go on the diet immedieately and I haven't looked back... I do not think back and wish I'd had the biopsy, why risk an invasive procedure just to satisfy a Dr.s morbid curiousity? Or is it cos they don't make any profit when the patient doesn't do the biopsy and just starts the diet because they want to get on with feeling better sooner? It's your call.