Enterolab Or Tork Test

[IrishLisa]

Hi all,

Just to give you some background - due to a family history of gluten intolerance or possibly even undiagnosed celiac disease, I suspected that gluten was the route of my problems, especially given the fact that I have been dairy & soy intolerant since birth. Anyway, I did a 6 month gluten free trial, but unfortunately before I had any of the blood tests done. I've never felt better than I have in that 6 months.

Anyhow, went to see my doc and they suggested that they run the celiac panel and said that it did not matter that I had only been eating gluten for 2.5 weeks prior to the test. Well, I saw the GI specialist on Tues and he totally disagreed and said that as my results were negative he wants me to stay eating gluten until April next year!!!! I'm just about to start a new job, which I've been waiting for for 7 months and I really don't want to be feeling terrible until next year.

Although, I don't want to wait for the hospital to re-test me in April, I would like some form of testing to put my mind at rest. I've heard many people mention Enterolab and also York Food Intolerance Test. Which one would you guys recommend, bearing in mind that I live in Spain?

Thanks

Lisa

[celiacgirls]

I only know about Enterolab since that's what we did and I don't think you can do that one from Spain.

I was positive on Enterolab testing even though I didn't have any GI symptoms but what really convinced me was how good I felt when I went gluten free. Enterolab isn't widely accepted by doctors so I could easily tell myself I didn't need to be gluten-free if I wanted to. You may want a more "official" test than that anyway.

I really just wanted to bump your post up so it will be seen by more people.

[gadgetgirl]

I did both the Enterolab and the York tests with consistent results between the 2 tests. Since you are in Spain, it would probably much easier for you to do the York test. I had a little problem getting my sample shipped to England. DHL wouldn't accept my package because I didn't have the "proper" packaging that met some weird international standard - nor did they supply that packaging (they do for domestic shipments!). I got frustrated, put my sample in a well padded envelope, used Global Express mail from the post office and called it "medical history documents" to get it to clear customs on both ends!

Hope this helps.

[AndreaB]

You could do enterolab from spain. You'd just have to pay overnight shipping back to them, which could be pricey. I don't know how much of a biopsy cost you'd be required to pay if they require that for an "official" diagnosis. I'm guessing that enterolab would be less. If you've been gluten free for 6 months a york ELISA test may not pick it up. We went gluten free in June after enterolab tests and I just had the rest of the family do the ELISA test. Wheat was real low for my kids (after 4 months gluten free).

I would think enterolab would be better at this point depending on if you are looking at foods that they don't test for. If you get the full gluten panel that includes genes, ttg, IgA antibodies, malabsorption and dairy. They also test for soy, egg and yeast.

Open Original Shared Link will take you to the main page.

[IrishLisa]

Thanks for the replies I think that I'll give enterolab a try then. Definitely not prepared to continue eating gluten until next April for more blood tests.....

Thanks again

Lisa

[girlfromclare]

hi Lisa,

I dont have much advice for you except that I am currently in the same position (or at least my husband and son are) and also to say that we too are Irish (living in Ireland though!)

We also are looking for some more tests as blood works were negative. Am thinking of trying a ten minute celiac test that someone from the board mentioned at one stage. Its cheap too but I dont know much about it reliability wise. try www.coeliactest.co.uk (note different spelling of celiac)

Anyway, best of luck!

Liz.

[IrishLisa]

Thanks Liz.

I had heard of that test too, but as my recent blood work was negative due to my being on a gluten free diet from March - Sept 06, I figured it's probably not worth trying. So far, I'm thinking that Enterolab might be the best option.

I've been in Spain for about 3 years now. Where in Ireland are you from? Yours is the first post that I've seen from another Irish person!!

Sorry your husband and son are in the predicament. It's not very pleasant, is it? Also, knowing how great I felt while on a gluten free diet for 6 months, now doing a gluten challenge has reminded me just how terrible I used to feel before.

Lisa