Jump to content
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.




  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):



    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):


  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Was I Properly Diagnosed?


maddycat

Recommended Posts

maddycat Contributor

I was "diagnosed" in August with Celiac Disease by a GI dr. They only did the Anti Gliadin (AGA) IgA and Anti Gliadin (AGA) IgG tests. Both came back very slightly elevated.

The ranges were:

0-25 normal

25.1-75 equvocal

75.1 + up high

My results were 27 and 31 respectively.

Now I'm starting to doubt that I was diagnosed properly. I keep reading that these two tests cannot tell you conclusively if it is Celiac. What else can cause them to come back slightly elevated? I know it is too late to get a biopsy done as I have been eating gluten free for over 6 months now. Should I try to get gentic testing done to see if I have the "Celiac genes"?

Do you think it might not be celiac but more an intollerance to gluten, possibly?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Marcia


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



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



confused Community Regular
I was "diagnosed" in August with Celiac Disease by a GI dr. They only did the Anti Gliadin (AGA) IgA and Anti Gliadin (AGA) IgG tests. Both came back very slightly elevated.

The ranges were:

0-25 normal

25.1-75 equvocal

75.1 + up high

My results were 27 and 31 respectively.

Now I'm starting to doubt that I was diagnosed properly. I keep reading that these two tests cannot tell you conclusively if it is Celiac. What else can cause them to come back slightly elevated? I know it is too late to get a biopsy done as I have been eating gluten free for over 6 months now. Should I try to get gentic testing done to see if I have the "Celiac genes"?

Do you think it might not be celiac but more an intollerance to gluten, possibly?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Marcia

I am not as smart as many in here, im just learning, but from what i have read and learned already, it sounds more like an wheat intolerence then celiac. I do know that u cant get results just from an high IgG, cause that is what my son has with the other parts being normal. I do know that ttg or Ema are the most accurate for celiac.

You could still do entrolab testing, even if u just want to test for the genes, that would help tell if its an intolereance or celiac (i think) someone else might know more about that to.

Do you fell better being gluten free?

I know many just stay gluten free and not need a diagnoses from a dr or a lab

paula

Rachel--24 Collaborator
Do you think it might not be celiac but more an intollerance to gluten, possibly?

You could very well have Celiac Disease....because they didnt run the full panel with tTG and EMA you didnt get a full picture.

It is true that you may not have Celiac but it is also true that had they run all of the tests....you may have had positive tTG or EMA....which would clearly indicate Celiac.

If all the tests were run and the two which are very specific for Celiac were negative....there would be some room for questioning the diagnosis. The tests werent ordered so this is not the same as being negative...I would assume its Celiac unless proven otherwise.

Did you have symptoms that resolved on the diet?

How is your health now?

I would probably get gene tested if I were in your shoes. It still doesnt prove Celiac but it would definately be helpful to know whether it could or couldnt be. Unless you are willing to go back on gluten for several months and get re-tested this is really all you have to work with.

I would not test with Enterolab (for anything but genes)....you will not get a more clear picture with Enterolab. The test isnt going to tell you anything that you dont know already and it still cant tell you whether or not you have Celiac. You already have positive IgG and IgA in blood so you wont benefit from having the stool test done.

Resolution of symptoms is #1 in my opinion. If you've got good results from the diet and are feeling as if its made a difference...I would definately stick with it. Whether or not its Celiac Disease you did have these antibodies in your blood and if the diet is helping...this is the most important thing.

CarlaB Enthusiast
I would not test with Enterolab (for anything but genes)....you will not get a more clear picture with Enterolab. The test isnt going to tell you anything that you dont know already and it still cant tell you whether or not you have Celiac. You already have positive IgG and IgA in blood so you wont benefit from having the stool test done.

I agree. You already know you have at the very least a gluten intolerance (not just wheat) and Enterolab can't tell you any more than that.

I also agree that genetic testing would at least let you know whether you are predisposed to having celiac.

rez Apprentice

I'm not saying that you don't have Celiac, but I am saying that you are 100% right that you were NOT properly diagnosed. I can't believe the ignorance in the medical community, and this was a GI specialist! That's crazy and I would be so angry. The two most specific tests to Celiac are the tTG and the EMA with the EMA having almost a 100% accuracy rate. The gold standard is the biopsy. A good GI doctor would definitely NEVER have diagnosed you with those results. The two tests you had come back positive are in no WAY, SHAPE, or FORM a diagnosis of Celiac. I would educate yourself w/ Dr. Peter Green's book about Celiac or go on a reliable website like Web MD. CRAZY!!! Stories like this outrage me! Good luck and I would personally take the info you learn back into the doctor. Celiac is a serious life long disease and if it's not Celiac, you deserve to know what it is. Good luck! Don't waste your money on Enterolab either. They won't diagnose you w/ Celiac. They can't and they don't claim to. They could diagnose a gluten intolerance, but if you feel better on the diet, and who wouldn't, you've already figured that one out. :):) Good luck again!

Archived

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

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):





    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):




  • Recent Activity

    1. - trents replied to marion wheaton's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      2

      Are Lindt chocolate balls gluten free?

    2. - BlessedinBoston replied to marion wheaton's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      2

      Are Lindt chocolate balls gluten free?

    3. - knitty kitty replied to Jmartes71's topic in Related Issues & Disorders
      14

      My only proof

    4. - Jmartes71 replied to Jmartes71's topic in Related Issues & Disorders
      14

      My only proof

    5. - marion wheaton posted a topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      2

      Are Lindt chocolate balls gluten free?


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):



  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      132,407
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    H2HPizzaWagon
    Newest Member
    H2HPizzaWagon
    Joined

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):


  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):





  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):



  • Who's Online (See full list)

  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • trents
      @BlessedinBoston, it is possible that in Canada the product in question is formulated differently than in the USA or at least processed in in a facility that precludes cross contamination. I assume from your user name that you are in the USA. And it is also possible that the product meets the FDA requirement of not more than 20ppm of gluten but you are a super sensitive celiac for whom that standard is insufficient. 
    • BlessedinBoston
      No,Lindt is not gluten free no matter what they say on their website. I found out the hard way when I was newly diagnosed in 2000. At that time the Lindt truffles were just becoming popular and were only sold in small specialty shops at the mall. You couldn't buy them in any stores like today and I was obsessed with them 😁. Took me a while to get around to checking them and was heartbroken when I saw they were absolutely not gluten free 😔. Felt the same when I realized Twizzlers weren't either. Took me a while to get my diet on order after being diagnosed. I was diagnosed with small bowel non Hodgkins lymphoma at the same time. So it was a very stressful time to say the least. Hope this helps 😁.
    • knitty kitty
      @Jmartes71, I understand your frustration and anger.  I've been in a similar situation where no doctor took me seriously, accused me of making things up, and eventually sent me home to suffer alone.   My doctors did not recognize nutritional deficiencies.  Doctors are trained in medical learning institutions that are funded by pharmaceutical companies.  They are taught which medications cover up which symptoms.  Doctors are required to take twenty  hours of nutritional education in seven years of medical training.  (They can earn nine hours in Nutrition by taking a three day weekend seminar.)  They are taught nutritional deficiencies are passe' and don't happen in our well fed Western society any more.  In Celiac Disease, the autoimmune response and inflammation affects the absorption of ALL the essential vitamins and minerals.  Correcting nutritional deficiencies caused by malabsorption is essential!  I begged my doctor to check my Vitamin D level, which he did only after making sure my insurance would cover it.  When my Vitamin D came back extremely low, my doctor was very surprised, but refused to test for further nutritional deficiencies because he "couldn't make money prescribing vitamins.". I believe it was beyond his knowledge, so he blamed me for making stuff up, and stormed out of the exam room.  I had studied Nutrition before earning a degree in Microbiology.  I switched because I was curious what vitamins from our food were doing in our bodies.  Vitamins are substances that our bodies cannot manufacture, so we must ingest them every day.  Without them, our bodies cannot manufacture life sustaining enzymes and we sicken and die.   At home alone, I could feel myself dying.  It's an unnerving feeling, to say the least, and, so, with nothing left to lose, I relied in my education in nutrition.  My symptoms of Thiamine deficiency were the worst, so I began taking high dose Thiamine.  I had health improvement within an hour.  It was magical.  I continued taking high dose thiamine with a B Complex, magnesium. and other essential nutrients.  The health improvements continued for months.  High doses of thiamine are required to correct a thiamine deficiency because thiamine affects every cell and mitochondria in our bodies.    A twenty percent increase in dietary thiamine causes an eighty percent increase in brain function.  The cerebellum of the brain is most affected.  The cerebellum controls things we don't have to consciously have to think about, like digestion, balance, breathing, blood pressure, heart rate, hormone regulation, and many more.  Thiamine is absorbed from the digestive tract and sent to the most important organs like the brain and the heart.  This leaves the digestive tract depleted of Thiamine and symptoms of Gastrointestinal Beriberi, a thiamine deficiency localized in the digestive system, begin to appear.  Symptoms of Gastrointestinal Beriberi include anxiety, depression, chronic fatigue, headaches, Gerd, acid reflux, gas, slow stomach emptying, gastroparesis, bloating, diarrhea and/or constipation, incontinence, abdominal pain, IBS,  SIBO, POTS, high blood pressure, heart rate changes like tachycardia, difficulty swallowing, Barrett's Esophagus, peripheral neuropathy, and more. Doctors are only taught about thiamine deficiency in alcoholism and look for the classic triad of symptoms (changes in gait, mental function, and nystagmus) but fail to realize that gastrointestinal symptoms can precede these symptoms by months.  All three classic triad of symptoms only appear in fifteen percent of patients, with most patients being diagnosed with thiamine deficiency post mortem.  I had all three but swore I didn't drink, so I was dismissed as "crazy" and sent home to die basically.   Yes, I understand how frustrating no answers from doctors can be.  I took OTC Thiamine Hydrochloride, and later thiamine in the forms TTFD (tetrahydrofurfuryl disulfide) and Benfotiamine to correct my thiamine deficiency.  I also took magnesium, needed by thiamine to make those life sustaining enzymes.  Thiamine interacts with each of the other B vitamins, so the other B vitamins must be supplemented as well.  Thiamine is safe and nontoxic even in high doses.   A doctor can administer high dose thiamine by IV along with the other B vitamins.  Again, Thiamine is safe and nontoxic even in high doses.  Thiamine should be given if only to rule Gastrointestinal Beriberi out as a cause of your symptoms.  If no improvement, no harm is done. Share the following link with your doctors.  Section Three is especially informative.  They need to be expand their knowledge about Thiamine and nutrition in Celiac Disease.  Ask for an Erythrocyte Transketolace Activity test for thiamine deficiency.  This test is more reliable than a blood test. Thiamine, gastrointestinal beriberi and acetylcholine signaling.  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12014454/ Best wishes!
    • Jmartes71
      I have been diagnosed with celiac in 1994, in remission not eating wheat and other foods not to consume  my household eats wheat.I have diagnosed sibo, hernia ibs, high blood pressure, menopause, chronic fatigue just to name a few oh yes and Barrett's esophagus which i forgot, I currently have bumps in back of my throat, one Dr stated we all have bumps in the back of our throat.Im in pain.Standford specialist really dismissed me and now im really in limbo and trying to get properly cared for.I found a new gi and new pcp but its still a mess and medical is making it look like im a disability chaser when Im actively not well I look and feel horrible and its adding anxiety and depression more so.Im angery my condition is affecting me and its being down played 
    • marion wheaton
      Wondering if anyone knows whether Lindt chocolate balls are gluten free. The Lindt Canadian website says yes but the Lindt USA website says no. The information is a bit confusing.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.