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Do You Think A Biopsy Is Necessary In Canada

maribeth

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maribeth Apprentice
maribeth
Posted

i recently was diagnosed with celiac disease and have been waiting for a biopsy appt for sometime. my blood tests were positive and my osteoperosis got worse in the last year. i'm tired of waiting and have decided to start the gluten free diet-into my 2nd day. do other people feel the biopsy is necessary. do other canadians feel the biopsy should be done before the diet is started or not. have others gone on the diet without a biopsy. thanks for any input. beth.

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Michi8 Contributor
Michi8
Posted
i recently was diagnosed with celiac disease and have been waiting for a biopsy appt for sometime. my blood tests were positive and my osteoperosis got worse in the last year. i'm tired of waiting and have decided to start the gluten free diet-into my 2nd day. do other people feel the biopsy is necessary. do other canadians feel the biopsy should be done before the diet is started or not. have others gone on the diet without a biopsy. thanks for any input. beth.

You don't need a biopsy to go gluten free, but if you are intending on following through on the biopsy, it may be best to not go gluten free until after the biopsy is done. You do have the positive blood tests...you need to talk to you GI to see if there really is a need for doing the biopsy.

I'm waiting for my own biopsy at the end of November (I've been waiting since early August!) But I had negative blood tests, so I feel I need to the gastroscopy and biopsy to confirm, and to rule out any other health issues. My colonoscopy isn't happening until March! Waiting so long is a real hassle. :angry:

Michelle

Canadian Karen Community Regular
Canadian Karen
Posted

Hi Maribeth! Welcome to the forum! There's a bunch of really great, supportive people on here that will help you navigate through the gluten-free world and be there for support. Remember, there is no such thing as a stupid question on this forum. So feel free to ask whatever you need......

In regards to biopsy, well, I for one am not a big fan of the biopsy to confirm celiac, but it certainly is a good thing to have done to rule out everything else and put your mind at ease. See, the way to look at it is this:

Picture someone's back with a patchy rash on it. Now, a doctor is behind this person with blindfolds on, and is supposed to take biopsies of this back. Basically, it would be a 50/50 hit or miss as to whether the doctor got the rash part or not, right? Well, it's the same with the damage done in the intestine. It basically is hit or miss as to whether the doctor is going to take a part from the damaged part. So when it comes to the biopsy, yes, it can confirm celiac if you see villi damage, but if it comes back negative, that doesn't confirm you don't have it, as they could have just missed the damaged part.

Where in Canada are you? I am about 1 hour outside of Toronto..... If you are in Ontario, I could tell you some good places to get some great gluten free stuff.

In regards to the taxes, it works this way. If you save EVERY receipt of the gluten-free foods that you buy, you basically can claim the difference between the price of the regular stuff as opposed to the gluten free version. i.e. regular loaf of bread - $2.50 and gluten-free loaf of bread $5.50 - then you can claim the $3.00 on your taxes. The problem being is that they base it on your total family income. So basically, because in our household both my husband and myself have an income, the amount that I totalled throughout the year of what I spent on gluten-free food was below the minimum amount (which was outrageously high, IMO!) that you were allowed to claim. So for me, it was useless, but for others, it might help them......

Hope this helps a bit. Again, welcome to the forum!

Hugs.

Karen

tarnalberry Community Regular
tarnalberry
Posted

lots of people here - canadian or not - don't have a biopsy. we've been diagnosed through a variety of means: blood tests, stool tests, dietary results, DH diagnoses, and some intestinal biopsies. some doctors think that biopsies are required, but that opinion is fading slowly, in favor of simply relying on blood tests. if you are producing antibodies to gluten, and and antibodies to your own tissue that only appear in the prescence of anti-gluten antibodies, well... it seems the answer's pretty clear.

maribeth Apprentice
maribeth
Posted
  • Author

hi michelle,

i really don't want to go thru with the biopsy but know i should just to see if there are any other problems. i'm scheduled to have a colonoscopy but again am waiting for the call. i know there's a long wait for that . i had a barium enema and stool sample done in aug and all showed ok. good luck with your tests beth.

You don't need a biopsy to go gluten free, but if you're intending on following through on the biopsy, it may be best to not go gluten free until after the biopsy is done. You do have the positive blood tests...you need to talk to you GI to see if there really is a need for doing the biopsy.

I'm waiting for my own biopsy at the end of November (I've been waiting since early August!) But I had negative blood tests, so I feel I need to the gastroscopy and biopsy to confirm, and to rule out any other health issues. My colonoscopy isn't happening until March! Waiting so long is a real hassle. :angry:

Michelle

happygirl Collaborator
happygirl
Posted

please make sure you see others responses to your other thread:

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