Question On Blood Test Results And Cheating

[Guest missyflanders]

I went the a new doctor a couple weeks ago. My IGG, IGA and TTG are now all negative, supposedly because of my strict gluten free diet. The thing is, I have cheated on a fairly regular basis, either purposely or on accident. In fact, I went a whole week at the end of April eating whatever I wanted (after a visit to a very bad GI). I had a biopsy last September which was positive at that time but the new doctor commented that she would have preferred to see it.

So my question is, is it now possible that I do not have celiac and the diagonosis was wrong? I do feel sick sometimes after ingesting gluten, but was not sick before the diagonosis. My mom was diagonosed and therefore I had the blood test. I was however extremely sick and hospitalized when I was pregnant about 6 months before the blood work. Could I be causing damage anyway, with bloodwork being OK?

Very confused and any feedback would be appreciated.

[tarnalberry]

You could absolutely be causing damage without having a positive blood test result. You don't get antibodies in the blood stream until you've done enough damamge to the intestines that the antibodies can pass through. And some people react more strongly than others, doing damage without having a lot of symptoms. A biopsy is the classic method of diagnosis, and I'm unaware of any false positives on a biopsy. I would say you are celiac, and to reduce your risk of complications, should stop cheating. ;-) (But you knew I'd say that. ;-) )

[Guest gillian502]

I've always sort of questioned this myself, wondering about a possible false positive of celiac disease. My blood and biopsy were both positive, but I have many health problems that do not relate to celiac disease and have often wondered if it was in fact another disease. You can't have a false positive biopsy, either your villi are damaged or they aren't, however, I imagine there are conditions we as non-doctors are not familiar with, that could cause your villi to be damaged like that. If your Mother has celiac disease, though, and you did test positive as well, then I'd guess you do have this disease.

[tarnalberry]

I'm not sure that false positives exist for blood tests either - not when taken as a whole panel. Gliandin is the protein in wheat, and if you're forming anti-gliandin antibodies, the only thing you could be reacting to is gliandin, the protein in wheat. ;-)

[flagbabyds]

It takes months for the blood to raise and lower enough to be shown in a blood test. I really don't think you can have a false posotive in any sort of way. Also if you feel better on the diet then you most likely have it.

[strack2004]

I have had digestive problems since early childhood, am now approaching age 76. I have been diagnosed with ibs, lactose intolerance, Nerd-Gerd (Nerd is a form of Gerd that does not cause serious damage to the esophagus, or at least hasn't yet). I had my gallbladder removed in Feb, Continue to have same burning up and down digestive tract esophagus to rectum as before. Burning pain centers in upper abdomen under my right center rib cage. I have alternating problems with constipation and diarrhea. Had alot of constipation as a chld and teenager. Use of enemas, medications to start bowel action and stop it. Now I am having stools with the diarrhea episodes that start with little tiny hard bits of stool and progress to large amounts of "squiggles", stooles that make me think they come directly from my smallintestine. The burning mentioned above does go towared my right shoulder . I have had the blood tests for celiac which were taken at my local clinic and sent to Mayos for evaluation. All the results came back negative, in fact very low on the scale. Could give you the exact numbers, but forgot to put the paper back in my purse before coming to the library. My doctor thinks that Mayos probably won't consider doing a biopsy with such low numbers . I think the gliadin

was 2 out of 25. I told him I plan to go on a celiac diet anyway and he suggested I see the clinic dietician. I saw her yesterday and got a third celiac diet list I think that is from Minnesota's State health association. I also have the Celiac Diet list from this board and one from an Elaine on USA Sillyaks. We agreed that I would start with the Minnesota diet list which is somewhat more liberal than the other two and proceed from there if I don''t feel better , that is go to the stricter diets. The dietician's last comment was that it would be nice to have a diagnosis before going on one of the stricter diets /. I am continuing to eat some wheat products daily, bought a loaf of rye bread which is something I almost never eat otherwise. My digestion definitely doesn't like it. I wonder if the time of day, or the amount of gluten I ate at the meal just preceding the blood tests could have influenced them? I hate to continue eating gluten for the length of time it seems to take to be seen at Mayos and I guess I would like a diagnosis. I have been eating 2-3 slices of wheat bread a day, spaghetti, oatmeal, whole wheat macaroni. I rarely bake or make desserts . This evening the burning is extending across my whole upper ab under my right ribs. Perhaps I am just allergic to wheat and don't actually have celiac? The above messages bring this thought to mind. Thanks for input. Maybe I just have to write a letter to the gastro people at Mayos. I have seen several Drs there before but they always have said "ibs" . I guess this could also be something connected with post gallbladder problems/. there were no stones in the gallbladder, but apparently it was not functioning properly. Was enlarged with thick bile . I wonder why I have thick bile and if it is continuing to be thick enough to block the tubes so it can't flowinto the small intestine like it's supposed to. My stools are brown, though on the dark brown side. Any ideas would be appreciated.

strack2004

[celiacfreeman]

I understood that this can be like cancer in remission. Only this will always come back!