Testing After Being On gluten-free Diet Since January '07

[problematicgirl]

i finally got referred to a gastroenterologist and saw his nurse practitioner last week. she scheduled me for a blood panel and upper endoscopy, neither of which i have done yet. i told her that i was worried about false negatives that may occur because of my 8 month gluten free diet. she said that i should not worry about this, and that it would show no matter if i was on a gluten free diet or not.

this goes against everything i have read and heard.. but is she right? should i go back on gluten before the testing? ask for a second opinion? i live in the panhandle of florida, and celiac's is not a well known disease, nor is there many gastorenterologists around here.

please- i do not want to have to repeat these tests. any help or advice is appreciated.

[Lisa]

i finally got referred to a gastroenterologist and saw his nurse practitioner last week. she scheduled me for a blood panel and upper endoscopy, neither of which i have done yet. i told her that i was worried about false negatives that may occur because of my 8 month gluten free diet. she said that i should not worry about this, and that it would show no matter if i was on a gluten free diet or not.

this goes against everything i have read and heard.. but is she right? should i go back on gluten before the testing? ask for a second opinion? i live in the panhandle of florida, and celiac's is not a well known disease, nor is there many gastorenterologists around here.

please- i do not want to have to repeat these tests. any help or advice is appreciated.

First, welcome to the forum. You have found yourself a wonderful place to be.

Eight months of a true gluten free diet could certainly be time to heal any markers that would indicate Celiac Disease with and endoscopy as well as a blood panel. Perhaps at this point, you might want to pursue other avenues of testing.

[marciab]

I don't know if it is worth going back on gluten to get tested.

You could ask your GI if they would be able to diagnose you as a celiac if you are partially healed and if your labs come back normal.

Some GI's will and this could save you some trouble.

Marcia