Interpreting Blood Work

[borst]

Update after a little over 3 weeks on a gluten-free diet...

I've been as strict as possible and careful with CC.. but haven't really felt a positive change. I think i'm still continuing to lose weight as well which is disconcerting.

I have my GI appointment on monday, hoping to get somewhere with that.

I'm also starting to suspect candida as a possibility as well (my bowel symptoms began during a round of antibiotics)

[AndreaB]

Borst,

I don't remember......did you go dairy free as well.

Candida is often a problem if there is something else going on......with my family metals. The body allows the candida to overgrow to absorb the metals. Candida is bad too, but not as bad as if the metals were circulating.

Something we've been talking about alot on the OMG thread is humaworm. Seems to be helping a lot of people who've just started it. It's for parasites. Most of us have them to some extent, so that may be something you want to look into. Just google humaworm. I think the site is www.humaworm.com but I'm not sure.

Another thing to consider is a holistic doctor/naturopath or LLMD to do a lot of different testing to get a view of what's going on. Mainline tests don't usually show much.

[borst]

Borst,

I don't remember......did you go dairy free as well.

Candida is often a problem if there is something else going on......with my family metals. The body allows the candida to overgrow to absorb the metals. Candida is bad too, but not as bad as if the metals were circulating.

Something we've been talking about alot on the OMG thread is humaworm. Seems to be helping a lot of people who've just started it. It's for parasites. Most of us have them to some extent, so that may be something you want to look into. Just google humaworm. I think the site is www.humaworm.com but I'm not sure.

Another thing to consider is a holistic doctor/naturopath or LLMD to do a lot of different testing to get a view of what's going on. Mainline tests don't usually show much.

Thanks for the reply!

I am going to try and get my GP to refer me to a naturopath (insurance only covers naturopaths if referred to by doctor)..

Yes i went dairy free as well (only the last two weeks though) ..

If my GI wants to do an endoscopy, should i go back on gluten, and for how long before a biopsy would show celiac?

[AndreaB]

If my GI wants to do an endoscopy, should i go back on gluten, and for how long before a biopsy would show celiac?

For a biopsy you need to consume gluten. Probably depends on how long you are off of it before the biopsy would be. I think they say it needs to be equivalent to 4 slices of bread a day for six months......

Remember biopsies are hit and miss and just because a biopsy may be negative doesn't mean you don't have a problem with gluten. Something in the gluten and candida is similar (Rachel--24 posted something about this) so if you think you have candida you'll want to remain gluten free until the cause is found for the candida and you've healed.

With a worsening of symptoms after abx I'm wondering about the possibility of lyme. Seems to be a common thing. Don't dismiss it as an impossibility. There have been quite a few diagnosed who've never seen a tick or live in supposedly "safe" areas. It is more widespread (just like celiac) than people think.

I'd like to invite you over to the OMG....I Might Be On To Something thread. Many on there have experience from different angles and would probably be able to give you more things to look for/test for.

[aprilh]

Hi, new member here.

I've been trying to tackle my health issues for about 4 years now with no definitive answer. This is my history that i typed up for my new physician that i'm seeing (trying to seek a second opinion). I tried to make it as concise as possible but i have a complicated history.

Anyway, the first thing my new physician wanted to do was run some general bloodwork as well as a celiac panel. I got the results back today:

So my Glidin IgA is positive, my Gliadin IgG borderline, and my Transglutaminase IgA looks negative.

My doctor said I may have a gluten sensitivity but not "full blown Celiac". What do you guys think?

The rest of my bloodwork showed some spikes as well..

The bloodwork also included a random glucose test, calcium, vitamin b12, Ferriton, sTSH, T4 Free, Free T3, GGT, AST, Alkaline Phosphatase, all came back within normal range.

I'm getting a referral back to the same gastroenterologist that i had before, hopefully will get some more answers this time

Any advice/suggestions/insight would be appreciated.

Thanks

Hey Borst!

I just wanted to suggest a GI panel by Diagnos Techs. This testing can detect all kinds of bacterial, yeast, and other infections that could be troubling you. If you are interested I can dig up the link and post it for you.

I am not sure if this new gastro will use this specialty lab but you could request that it be done through them. Insurance may not pay for it, but sometimes I feel its best to go out of "insurance" because they do not always use the best labs or the best forms of testing available. That is, if you can afford it.

A good ND might be able to help with this if your gastro dr dismisses your concerns or if you find you are unhappy with the results of your consult.

Good luck and I hope you find results!!!

April

[ksb43]

For t-Transglutaminase, the test I got had this on the results:

Units - U/mL

Negative: 0-3

Weak Positive: 4-10

Positive: >10

And my doctor said most people without celiac would below below 1. Mine was 14 and I was diagnosed with it (all the other antibody ones were negative and my biopsy didn't really show any damage). So what's the deal? Why are the ranges different?

[dadoffiveboys]

For t-Transglutaminase, the test I got had this on the results:

Units - U/mL

Negative: 0-3

Weak Positive: 4-10

Positive: >10

And my doctor said most people without celiac would below below 1. Mine was 14 and I was diagnosed with it (all the other antibody ones were negative and my biopsy didn't really show any damage). So what's the deal? Why are the ranges different?

There are different ranges based on the lab. For my test, a TTG <=20 was normal. My TTG was 20. For IgA a score of <20 was normal, 20-50 equivocal and >50 positive. I was 46 on the IGA Anti-gliadin and went for a biopsy - actually several biopsies. They were all negative and showed only mild signs of Gastritis and GERD. I went gluten-free and it made a HUGE difference.

My wife had the SAME IgA tests and her value was 1.0. So I clearly know what someone w/o a problem should score and I would consider 46 pretty high in that case!