Should I Have Child Tested?

[CtheCeliac]

I tested positive on the bloodwork, but could not wait the six weeks for the scheduled biopsy. Within six weeks I was healing, gaining weight, not having skin issues, relieved of D, etc. Now, I'm concerned about my kids. I had the blood tests (IgA, IgG, and TgA) run on my six-year-old, and they were negative. However, do I understand correctly that sometimes the test won't come back positive in some children until they've had adequate exposure to gluten?

Initial possible signs:

On growth chart, 10% weight and 25% height

Occasional canker sores

Some irritability

Falls asleep easily in vehicle

Developed red swelling below left eye for 24 hours

Occasional leg pains when sleeping

My brother and I are Celiacs----not officially diagnosed with biopsies----skin issues and weight gain issues resolved (he's gained 60 pounds and I've gained twenty) from going gluten-free. Don't know any other family history.)

What do you think of Enterolab? Is an advantage that the results would not be in her medical records for possible future insurance exclusions?

[Nathan's mom]

I don't think Enterolab will diagnose Celiac, only gluten sensitivity.

[Guhlia]

Enterolab can't diagnose Celiac, it can only detect gluten intolerance. I believe the child has to be consuming gluten to have a positive on the Enterolab test. I could be wrong on that though. How old is the child?

With both you and your brother being Celiacs you both definitely need to have any children tested for Celiac as well whether they are symptomatic or not. All other first degree relatives (ie: parents, other siblings, etc) should also be tested. If testing yields a negative result, they should be retested again later in time. I don't remember what the recommended time frame is, but I think its something like 4 years, maybe less. Anyway, they should be tested periodically.

Remember, a negative test result does NOT rule out Celiac in the future. Just because your child tests negative one day doesn't mean he wouldn't test positive the very next week.

[gfpaperdoll]

definitely test thru Enterolab.com. They can detect a gluten problem up to a year on the gluten free diet. Celiac is just the advanced stages of gluten intolerance. Read the book "Dangerous Grains".

Enterolab does not profess to diagnose celiac because the medical community has a very narrow definition of celiac as only being diagnosed by biobsy re a result of damaged villi. Well you have to be sick for a long time for the villi to get damaged, so common sense should tell you that you have something wrong before the villi are damaged. You do not just wake up one morning & have damaged villi. Enterolab can identify if you are having a problem with gluten. Now that could be gluten intolerance, celiac, gluten allergy, gluten ataxia or maybe another gluten problem that does not have a name. The treatment is all the same - do not eat gluten....

I am not affiliated with Enterolab except that I did my testing there & my family & have sent several friends there. But I thank God for them everyday, because they are identifying people with a gluten problem that the medical community are mising & these people are dying younger than they should & suffering for years with all the associated autoimmune illnesses.

personally, when I found out how insidious gluten is, I would only want to feed it to the worst enemy, & then I am not sure, because I think that if that enemy was gluten free they might be a better healthier person...

[CtheCeliac]

Enterolab can't diagnose Celiac, it can only detect gluten intolerance. I believe the child has to be consuming gluten to have a positive on the Enterolab test. I could be wrong on that though. How old is the child?

With both you and your brother being Celiacs you both definitely need to have any children tested for Celiac as well whether they are symptomatic or not. All other first degree relatives (ie: parents, other siblings, etc) should also be tested. If testing yields a negative result, they should be retested again later in time. I don't remember what the recommended time frame is, but I think its something like 4 years, maybe less. Anyway, they should be tested periodically.

Remember, a negative test result does NOT rule out Celiac in the future. Just because your child tests negative one day doesn't mean he wouldn't test positive the very next week.

Thanks! My six-year-old still eats glutens (most likely not near as many as she used to). My husband was so relieved when the bloodwork came back negative, but I reminded him that does not mean it couldn't show up in the future.