My Son Has Celiac

[mixxy231]

My 14 yr old son has had celiac for the past three years. I just found out I also have celiac (ate gluten for 3 months before test). My question is my 27 year old daughter has the signs of celiac but her blood test came back neg. Is this common for a mother and just child to have celiac and not the other children. I also have a 24 year old son and don't know if I should have him go get tested. My son that has celiac is also has type 1 diabetes. We found out he had celiac after his yearly blood test that the doctor does. Can you go years without Celiac showing in the blood test .....

melissa

[gfp]

My 14 yr old son has had celiac for the past three years. I just found out I also have celiac (ate gluten for 3 months before test). My question is my 27 year old daughter has the signs of celiac but her blood test came back neg. Is this common for a mother and just child to have celiac and not the other children. I also have a 24 year old son and don't know if I should have him go get tested. My son that has celiac is also has type 1 diabetes. We found out he had celiac after his yearly blood test that the doctor does. Can you go years without Celiac showing in the blood test .....

melissa

Difficult question... My mom and I are both diagnosed and my brother manages not to be. He chooses not to do a gluten-free diet but I honstly believe it would benefit him regardless of the test results since his 'symptoms' are very much like mine and my mothers when we are glutened.

[cyberprof]

Hi Melissa,

Celiac is genetic. If you have the gene, your children have a chance to have the gene or not (plus what they get from their dad- they could get two if he has it too). Having the gene doesn't mean that one will get celiac- something has to trigger the gene - illness, surgery, stress, car accident or Diabetes I are some possible triggers.

That being said, the blood tests are unreliable. Even the "gold standard" biopsy via endoscopy can be hit or miss, depending on how many samples are taken and how much or how little damage has been done.

I tested positive via a biopsy but negative on the blood test (I had very little damage in my small intestine - Marsh 0 or 1 with a high being a Marsh 4). My son, also 14, is negative on the blood test but we are trying gluten free for him to see if it gets rid of his symptoms and helps his growth get back on track.

Your daughter and older son may benefit from trying gluten free. They may feel better off gluten, which is the real test. A lot of people (like me) have symptoms that go away when gluten free. I feel so much better... I just didn't know how bad I felt. I just assumed "everyone" had stomach issues, brain fog etc.

Good luck!

[blueeyedmanda]

Welcome! Sometimes, the tests come back negative but if the person goes gluten free they can see positive changes in their health. Hope that helps

[SandraD1971]

I heard there is only a 30% chance of inheriting celiac so there is a good chance not everyone in the family would not have celiac.

I do believe you could have no antibodies for celiac in a blood screen if the disease is dormat. Sometimes it takes an illness or something which causes celiac to come out of "remission".

Hope this helps.

[loraleena]

The negative blood work is not always accurate. Given you and your son's diagnosis and the fact that she is having symptoms I would at least have her try a gluten free diet. You could have her checked for gluten intolerance by Entero labs. It is a stool test.