Endomysial Antibodies - Iga Screening

[jprod30]

Any help is greatly appreciated.

I have been having upper abdominal pain since 2000. Upper endoscopy revealed inflammation of the duodenum. Kept having pain. They eventually removed my gallbladder. Upper abdominal pain continued, off and on. Bouts with diarrhea and constipation. Got especially bad starting in October 2005. This was accompanied by pressure and fullness in the upper right abdominal area. It was also accompanied by constipation. I started eating a high fiber diet, with breakfast consisting of a full cup of Fiber One (which = about 30 grams of fiber). This helped the constipation, but the abdominal pain continued.

Had another upper endoscopy in April of this year. Again, I have duodenal inflammation (chronic and acute). The GI doctor said it wasn't cancer, but I definitely had inflammation. She said it was an "unusual" finding, and left it at that.

I have had continuation of pain. I try to eat fiber and drink lots of water. The constipation sometimes goes away, and I'll develop diarrhea. Ultrasound of liver/kidney/pancreas are normal. Abdominal CT scan shows only some very tiny calcifications on the kidneys, otherwise normal.

I had one test done to evaluate these symptoms (PLUS A WHOLE BUNCH OF OTHER ONES), called the "Endomysial Antibodies, IgA Screen." The result was a 0.60.

The print out report of all my labs only gives the result, but doesn't indicate if this is a normal, high, low, or anything. In another section of the report, it indicates that the "Endomysial Antibodies, IgA Titer" was not done because "none detected" in the IgA screen. Am I reading this correctly? Are they saying that .60 is normal, or is it possible that antibodies WERE detected, and they incorrectly did not do the IgA Titer test? I am confused. I am scheduled to see my GI again next week, and if complete celiac testing needs to be done, I want to be prepared and informed to discuss this with her.

Your help is appreciated. I want to feel better, and this is seriously affecting my quality of life.

Thank you!!!