Dr. Suggests Ingesting Gluten Prior To Biopsy

[mcalister14]

My husband was dx through a blood test with celiac about 1 month ago. We completely changed our diet and got rid of all gluten ( as much as humanly possible). Today he had his first appointment with the GI Dr. He says 3 out the 4 blood panels were negative and 1 very positive and suggests a biopsy. This will be done at the end of the month. He wants my husband to begin eating a regular diet with gluten until then. I am scared to death about this. He is already so sick. I just wanted to ask if this is normal procedure. I have read that it takes months for damage to begin healing and I was confused at how eating gluten for 1 or 2 weeks more will make a difference for the biopsy.

Also, should my husband do the Enterolab? I'm not really sure what it is but i've read about it on this site. And is it necessary to be tested for caesin (sp?) antibodies?

Thank you for any advise. We are just very confused. And to add to this my husband doesn't think his doctor is very experienced in this area.

Stacy

[gf4life]

His doctor probably is not very experienced in this area, most aren't. Even in the GI field.

If your husband has been gluten free for a month, it might take longer than a month back on gluten to show damage in his intestines. The lining of the intestines heals rather quickly for most people, even though the symptoms may last longer, since most are related to nutritional deficiencies. It is suggested by Dr. Peter Green (one of the top Celiac doctors in the US) in an article here at Celiac.com

( https://www.celiac.com/st_prod.html?p_prodi...-41104189220.0e ) that a person go back on gluten for 3-6 months in preparation for a biopsy. For some people this is not possible, since they just get too darn sick! You need to figure out if the biopsy is necessary in your husbands case. Discuss it with his doctor and bring in some information with you for the doctor so he can see where you are getting your information.

Enterolab is an option that is available to you, and your husband would not need to go back on gluten for the testing, but the results may not be accepted by the doctor. They are still relatively new tests and have not been accepted into the mainstream medical field yet. But you can learn more about the tests at: Open Original Shared Link

God bless,

Mariann

[mcalister14]

Thank you for leading me to that article. I understand it more now. This is all so new and crazy still!

Stacy