Anti-gliadin Levels

[Guest Tina Rogers]

About 2 months ago I was given a blood test, came back anti-gliadin level of 17..I have an appointment on dec 21st for my first gastro appointment...I just started doing gluten-free strictly, I was doing gluten free but not 100 %, I didn't know the hidden glutens that were out there, needless to say I had another severe bout of bad bloating, gas pains, diarhea for days, etc.... What should I expect from the gastro appointment, are they going to want to biopsy ?

[Ursa Major]

I am afraid that since you've been pretty much gluten-free for three months by the time you see the gastro, a biopsy will be useless. Because by then your villi will likely have healed enough to get a false negative.

He'll want you to go back to eating gluten for about three months (which still may not be enough for accurate results). I really don't think that is a great idea.

Are you feeling better being gluten-free? If yes, that should be enough to know that gluten is a problem. If you want more evidence, I'd suggest being tested by Open Original Shared Link. Their tests are still accurate up to a year after eliminating gluten.

[Trillian]

About 2 months ago I was given a blood test, came back anti-gliadin level of 17..I have an appointment on dec 21st for my first gastro appointment...I just started doing gluten-free strictly, I was doing gluten free but not 100 %, I didn't know the hidden glutens that were out there, needless to say I had another severe bout of bad bloating, gas pains, diarhea for days, etc.... What should I expect from the gastro appointment, are they going to want to biopsy ?

My blood and biopsy tests came back negative, but my GI doctor confirmed Celiac based on my positive reaction to the Gluten-Free diet. Since you've obviously had a positive reaction to the diet, and have been on the diet long enough that you'll probably get a false-negative on the biopsy, you may want to consider not doing an expensive, invasive procedure such as an endoscopy. I think it's a personal issue whether or not you're comfortable with a diagnosis without a biopsy. Also, your doctors may not be comfortable with a diagnosis without a biopsy. The more I read here on the forum, the more I realize how lucky I am that my GI doctor and PCP have been supportive of my diagnosis regardless of the negative blood and biopsy results.

I guess you just can't know what to expect. If you read posts here on the forum, you'll see that doctors are all over the board on this.

Good luck.