Celiac Blood Panel - Need Advice

[bethb]

Hi,

This is my first time posting to this board, but I recently came across and found so much valuable information! So thank you already. I recently had the ELISA antibody blood test for food allergies done and came back with about a dozen mild allergies and a strong allergy to casein, milk, eggs. By keeping a food journal over the last 8 weeks, I'd actually already realized I couldn't tolerate dairy, and about 3 weeks ago, I cut it out of my diet - WOW, what a difference! But my concern is this:

8 weeks ago I went gluten free. After 6 weeks of being gluten-free, I had the blood test done. Unfortunately, my dr told me it wouldn't affect the test-results to be gluten-free, but the info I've read on here has led me to believe otherwise. So I planned to do a wheat test (eating wheat in pure form). Unfortunately, I didn't end up doing a pure wheat test. I ended up at the 7 week mark eating wheat along with alcohol and various other restaurant items (out of town wedding, bachelorette party weekend)....After 5 days of that I felt very sick. Could've been something other than wheat since there was an overall dietary change involved, however, it WAS the first time I ate wheat in 7 weeks.

So..flash to today, I've been gluten-free again for 5 days now. Each day I feel a little bit better. In the test results I just got back (mentioned above - antibody blood), I was negative for wheat. However, like I said, it was done after being gluten-free for 7 weeks. I'm not sure if that might have made a diff? I am now having a Celiac Blood Panel done. My qu's are this:

1. How effective is the Blood test for Celiac? A biopsy of the intestine seems very invasive, so if the same results can be found through a blood test, it leaves me wondering if the blood test is effective?

2. Do I need to be eating wheat regularly for a certain amount of time for this test to be effective?

Any advice is appreciated, as sorting this all out is kind of overwhelming! Thank you!

[mftnchn]

After being gluten-free for as long as you have, it is likely the celiac blood tests will be negative. A positive ttg is quite definitive for celiac. If your IGA is low, you may have a low immune response and the ttg won't show maybe.

Unfortunately the blood tests require regular and significant gluten ingestion for months, and even then may be negative because you have to have serious damage in the intestine before it will pick it up.

Sorry, like many of us, you are faced with the decision of a less than conclusive diagnosis (from the powers that be) and your own choice of what you know works for you.

[bethb]

Thanks for the response! I guess alot of this is trial and error. Frustrating at times, but I'm sure in the end, it'll be worth it.

[bethb]

Okay, so I've been tossing this around in my mind, and I think I want to wait on the Celiac blood panel and go back to eating gluten for a period before taking the test, While I feel like I've made a lot of positive dietary changes on a gluten-free diet and would stick with most of it regardless at home, if I don't have gluten intolerance or celiac, I don't want to have to worry about it at restaurants or dinner parties.

So my qu is this:

How long and how much gluten would I need to eat prior to the Celiac blood panel? (I was gluten-free for 7 weeks, up until about 10 days ago, but I haven't eaten gluten every day of these last 10 days).

A piece of bread and some crackers a day and unknown "natural flavors" in sauces/seasonings?

Is that enough gluten per day?

How long?

Thank you soooo much!