Blood Test Results

[JustMe75]

Ok I talked my allergy doctor into doing the celiac blood tests because my GP wouldn't. Can you help me figure out if he did all the tests he needed to??

TTG Antibody, IGA <3 - says <5 is negative

Antigliadin Antibody (IGA) <3 - says <11 is negative

Gliadin Antibody (IGG) <3 - says <11 is negative

Immunoglobulin A 225 - 81-463 is normal

Immunoglobulin E 43 - <114 is normal

That looks like all except the basic platelet count blood cell count which were all in the perfectly normal range. I hate blood tests! They make me feel like I am crazy when I know I feel terrible and my doctor says I am the picture of health for a 32 year old woman.

Here is some basic history. I have had terrible stomach pain (since I was a teenager) with no obvious cause other than if I eat I am sick if I don't I am fine. I get daily headaches that only respond to sinus medicine but my sinuses are clear and I don't have any allergy symptoms. I told my parents when I was a kid that I thought I was allergic to food. I was diagnosed with IBS and stress headaches. I battle depression but I think thats because who wouldn't be depressed if they felt sick ALL the time. I had my gallbladder removed when I was 23 that seemeed to make it worse. I am afraid to go places if I don't think I will have access to a bathroom. It is controlling my life.

Well after the negative blood work my GI doctor says it coudn't be celiac or gluten sensitivity because it is a rare disease and even rarer to have a false negative. He won't do a scope because he said it is not needed. He told me to take Metamucil 3x a day. I think that might make the diareah worse. I tried the gluten diet and I feel ok after I eat now. I think that since I am eating things like chili, steak, butter... things that would trigger IBS, and not getting sick it is possible, right?? I got frustrated a few days ago and ate half of a half of a grinder and felt like I had eaten poison! I think my husband thinks I am crazy. He doesn't understand the need for the diet. Should I push for a biopsy? Would I have some bad blood tests if it were celiac? Isn't celiac a disease that would be effecting my health? I know that my headaches, my stomach pain, and the diarreah are gone on the diet, but I need a diagnosis so my husband won't ask me if I want a piece of pie, or want to go to dinner and I, along with him, question my sanity when I say I can't eat those things.

Sorry this is soo long, but this is years of feeling lonely in my pain. Who else can you talk to about bathroom disorders?

[hathor]

Well, your GI doctor isn't very knowledgeable. If he did he would know that celiac isn't rare; the latest study puts it at 1 out of 133. That is VERY common. The old idea that celiac is rare has been disproven. (The incidence of diagnosed celiac is close to that 1% figure in countries where awareness and testing is common. For instance, Italy tests all children and finds 1% with celiac, I've read.)

He would also know that there are lots of false negatives with blood testing for celiac. I believe the figure is around 30%. Some people get negative results for years until the blood finally shows the antibodies. Meanwhile, damage is being done.

IBS isn't a diagnosis. It is your doctor telling you your symptoms in medicalese. As often put, it stands for "I Be Stumped." Sinus-type headaches can come from food intolerances, and probably a lot of them do. I know I get them when I eat what I shouldn't.

I think your positive result to the diet speaks for itself. I don't think it would be worth it to go back onto gluten and make yourself sick again, just to get an endoscopy. There are false negatives there, too.

I understand the skeptical husband dilemma, since I had one myself. He knew better to SAY anything to me, but I could tell. So I decided to go with Enterolab testing. I also wanted to make sure I wasn't dealing with the placebo effect and wasn't going to all the difficulty of a gluten-free diet for no reason. (I thought, though, it probably wasn't a placebo because I had tried probiotics thinking they would work, but they had no effect. I kept improving my diet without effect on my symptoms, too.) The testing found what I expected and more (a couple food intolerances I didn't suspect). This testing you can do, up to a year after having gluten. I think it is a more sensitive test than blood testing (that is, fewer false negatives) and catches the damage earlier. It also can catch nonceliac gluten sensitivity, which is just as serious to one's health in my book but which doesn't create (or hasn't yet created) the characteristic damage to the villi looked for with the endoscope and biopsy.

Unfortunately, Dr. Fine of Enterolab hasn't published, so not everyone accepts the test. But if you are in a situation where you are being hassled because you are on the diet without any test results, it could be worth it. Of course, in the final analysis, what you put into your mouth is up to you.

Here are a couple articles you may find of interest:

Open Original Shared Link

https://www.celiac.com/articles/1101/1/Glut...ewey/Page1.html

Good luck, and try to stick to your guns. It is worth it. We here know it isn't in your head because many of us have lived through the same experience, and now feel better with the diet.