Jump to content
  • You are not alone. Join Celiac.com for trusted gluten-free answers and forum support.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

Not Celiac


mike2184

Recommended Posts

mike2184 Rookie

I just received my blood tests back - all the antibody levels were 1's. I also tested negative for both of the celiac genes. To further confirm, I had a sandwich last night and a slice of pizza today - none of the symptoms that I had determined to be gluten-related occurred.

I am starting a food diary. The only time I have had what I considered to be a gluten reaction is after eating mexican food. Any ideas there? I also know that I have stomach issues with coffee and alcohol - but not sodas.

So much had improved since going gluten free - I guess I thought I had my answer. Now I am back to the drawing board. I am wondering if the change to a healthier diet has made the differences. I have no more dizziness, brain fog, back pain, and my overall health has been much better. The neuropathies have also improved, although they have not gone completely away.

I am really at a loss from where to go from here. I have had complete bloodwork and and MRI done prior to going gluten free. I am definitely going to keep on a similar diet, although it will be nice not to have to stress about being glutened when eating out.


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



CarlaB Enthusiast

My blood tests were also negative, but I had two gluten intolerant genes and no celiac genes. You can see my Enterolab test results below. The blood tests can have a false negative, and it sure seems around here that for non-celiac gluten intolerants they usually are negative. You could still have a gluten problem!

If you get sick after Mexican food (I do, too, err, did), my guess is the dairy is a problem for you. I found I was casein intolerant.

When I got back on gluten for testing, and same with some others around here, it didn't bother me for a few days. At first, there was no reaction.

Keeping a food diary is a good idea. You may want to try Enterolab as their tests are more sensitive.

Nantzie Collaborator

The food diary is an excellent idea. That's what I suggest to people who find that gluten doesn't seem to be a problem.

I also had negative blood tests, negative biopsy and my genes came back gluten intolerant, not celiac. Read my sig line for more. Keep in mind that symptoms of being "glutened' arent' limited to gastro problems. Headaches, tiredness and irritability are what I usually get now.

Nancy

Guest nini

try enterolab, that can help you narrow down other intolerances if they are there, and has been stated, gluten symptoms aren't always digestive in nature... so gluten may be PART of the bigger picture, so a food diary is a very wise thing to do to help you find patterns

AndreaB Contributor

You could still have a gluten sensitivity. Enterolab is much more sensitive than blood draws as the intestines produce the antibodies and I assume after so much damage go to the bloodstream.

Enterolab tests for celiac as well as gluten sensitive genes. I would hate to see you not worry about getting glutened when you go out or start eating it occasionally and doing yourself more harm.

Enterolabs website is Open Original Shared Link

eKatherine Apprentice

Enterolab has found that many people who test negative but go gluten-free find health improvements.

mike2184 Rookie

Thanks everyone for the advice. I will continue keeping a food diary and look into ordering one or more of the tests from Enterolab.

In the meantime, it won't be too difficult to know if gluten is my problem. My health has gotten consistently better in the 10+ weeks of being gluten-free. So if it regresses, I have my answer with or without a diagnosis.


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



Susan123 Rookie

I was told by the Celiac Research Center in Baltimore that if you don't have the genes for Celiac that you can rule it out with 99.9% accuracy. That is pretty strong. I would look into other food allergies maybe. Have you gotten the food allergy testing done?

AndreaB Contributor

Just because you don't have the genes for celiac doesn't mean that you don't have what has been labeled non celiac gluten sensitivity. They have also labeled genes that tend toward that.

KaitiUSA Enthusiast

A food diary is a great idea. I hope you find out what is causing it. You could have a sensitivity or intolerance of some kind that is causing it. Also, msg causes many problems so it could be an additive like that.

You may not be celiac but you may still have a problem with gluten.. Have you looked into doing an Enterolab?

mike2184 Rookie

In reviewing my celiac panel, I noticed that my immunoglobulin score is high. Could this be indicative of a food allergy?

Thanks.

corinne Apprentice

Casein (a protein in dairy) intolerance can cause very similar symptoms to gluten - GI/brain fog etc. Might be worthwhile looking into.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):
  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      134,187
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      10,442

    Dennis E. Schertz
    Newest Member
    Dennis E. Schertz
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):
  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.7k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):
  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • CC90
      Hi Cristiana   Yes I've had the biopsy results showing normal villi and intestinal mucosa.  The repeat endoscopy (requested by the gastro doc) would be to take samples from further into the intestine than the previous endoscopy reached.      
    • Wheatwacked
      Transglutaminase IgA is the gold-standard blood test for celiac disease. Sensitivity of over 90% and specificity of 95–99%. It rarely produces false positives.  An elevated level means your immune system is reacting to gluten.  Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS) does not typically cause high levels of tTG-IgA. Unfortunately the protocols for a diagnosis of Celiac Disease are aimed at proving you don't have it, leaving you twisting in the wind. Genetic testing and improvement on a trial gluten free diet, also avoiding milk protein, will likely show improvement in short order if it is Celiac; but will that satisfy the medical system for a diagnosis? If you do end up scheduling a repeat endoscopy, be sure to eat up to 10 grams of gluten for 8 - 12 weeks.  You want  to create maximum damage. Not a medical opinion, but my vote is yes.
    • trents
      Cristiana asks a very relevant question. What looks normal to the naked eye may not look normal under the microscope.
    • cristiana
      Hello @CC90 Can I just ask a question: have you actually been told that your biopsy were normal, or just that your stomach, duodenum and small intestine looked normal? The reason I ask is that when I had my endoscopy, I was told everything looked normal.  My TTG score was completely through the roof at the time, greater than 100 which was then the cut off max. for my local lab.  Yet when my biopsy results came back, I was told I was stage 3 on the Marsh scale.  I've come across the same thing with at least one other person on this forum who was told everything looked normal, but the report was not talking about the actual biopsy samples, which had to be looked at through a microscope and came back abnormal.
    • trents
      My bad. I should have reread your first post as for some reason I was thinking your TTG was within normal range. While we are talking about celiac antibody blood work, you might not realize that there is not yet an industry standard rating scale in use for those blood tests so just having a raw number with out the reference scale can be less than helpful, especially when the test results are marginal. But a result of 87.4 is probably out of the normal range and into the positive range for any lab's scale. But back to the question of why your endoscopy/biopsy didn't show damage despite significantly positive TTG. Because they took the trouble to take seven samples, it is not likely they missed damage because of it being patchy. The other possibility is that there hasn't been time for the damage to show up. How long have you been experiencing the symptoms you describe in your first post? Having said all that, there are other medical conditions that can cause elevated TTG-IGA values and sometimes they are transient issues. I think it would be wise to ask for another TTG-IGA before the repeat endoscopy to see if it is still high.  Knitty kitty's suggestion of getting genetic testing done is also something to think about. About 35% of the general population will have one or both genes that are markers for the potential to develop active celiac disease but only about 1% of the population actually develop celiac disease. So, having a celiac potential gene cannot be used to definitively diagnose celiac disease but it can be realistically used to rule it out if you don't have either of the genes. If your symptoms persist, and all testing is complete and the follow-up endoscopy/biopsy still shows no damage, you should consider trialing a gluten free diet for a few months to see if symptoms improve. If not celiac disease, you could have NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity). 
×
×
  • Create New...