Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.




  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):



    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):


  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Endoscopy Clarification


Healthy Girl

Recommended Posts

Healthy Girl Explorer

HELLO

Okay so couple months back I FINALLY convinced my primary care to run blood work for celiacs. Came back negative (though she did not run all the tests). She gave me a referral to see a GI doctor, but there was a 5 month wait.

I decided w/ the pain I was having that I needed to try something sooner. Went wheatfree after reading about this and falling into almost all the symptoms. It has been 2 months and I am feeling so much better. I have done muscle testing thru a alternative doctor and I have been told to avoid wheat, oats, sugar, soy, dairy, corn. I am being treated thru her and my health has improved tremendously. I am being treated for candida, and the more we work on things, the more intolerant to wheat I seem to be. I have had a couple slip ups and was EXTREMELY sick (more than before going wheat free). Again, I seem to fit the celiac "poster child" since my early youth!!

Yesterday, I went for blood work for my hypothryoid (which is also improving!!), and mentioned to her that I removed wheat and feel soooo much better. She was happy, but angry that I did this on my own. I explained that I was feeling so sick and could not wait to see the GI--my life was on hold due to my symptoms. She said she still wants me to go get an scope for celiacs. I explained that it would come out negative due to not eating wheat. She said that was a myth (UGGHH!!) She is insisting if I had celiac it would come back positive no exceptions, and even called the GI doctors office and they said the same thing.

Can someone advise me to a medical article or something that I can show my doctor? Or should i just ignore them both? I do need to regularly monitor my thyroid with her, and am afraid that going against her on this may be a BIG issue. Perhaps maybe I should seek out a new doctor?

AMY


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



cruelshoes Enthusiast

There are lots more, but I am on my way out the door. Hope this helps.

Open Original Shared Link

Are you scheduled for a biopsy? Are you eating gluten?

Any changes in your diet can affect the accuracy of your biopsy results. It is necessary for you to be eating gluten every day for at least 4-8 weeks before the procedure. If you are scheduled for a biopsy and are not eating gluten, talk to your doctor about what is necessary to obtain accurate results. If you have a biopsy and have eaten gluten only a short time before the test, you and your physician will not know if a negative test result is accurate or due to your diet.

happygirl Collaborator

"A gluten-free diet should not be started until all diagnostic tests are completed, as the withdrawal of gluten can change test results" from: Open Original Shared Link

"All diagnostic tests need to be performed while the patient is on a gluten-containing diet." from the NIH Consensus Statement on Celiac Open Original Shared Link

"Before being tested, one should continue to eat a regular diet that includes foods with gluten, such as breads and pastas. If a person stops eating foods with gluten before being tested, the results may be negative for celiac disease even if celiac disease is actually present." Open Original Shared Link

"A person seeking preliminary diagnosis of celiac disease must be consuming gluten. " Open Original Shared Link

"It is important to continue eating a normal, gluten-containing diet before being tested for celiac." Open Original Shared Link

These are all highly respected sites from highly respected groups/doctors. Please share this info.

Healthy Girl Explorer

Thanks for the info.

I hope she will be willing to take this info.....she was pretty stern and believed that you did not have to be eating gluten!

I guess another way of looking at is that I won't be wasting a trip to the GI doctor---I already now know he is not up on celiacs and he would not be a good fit for me!! :)

All I know is I have never felt this good in my whole life---I am not going back to eating gluten for a test to prove that may/may not show true results.

Perhaps I should try entrolab??

Thanks again.

Amy

Cynbd Contributor

You can even go to Mayo Clinic's website and they will tell you not to go gluten free before biopsy.

Open Original Shared Link

My GI doctor told me the same thing -- that I didn't have to go gluten free for accuracy. Five months later when I finally had my endoscopy (just before he knocked me out) he asked me what I thought he would find.... I told him "nothing" because I had been gluten free for the past 5-6 months. He asked me where I heard that, I told him "internet research" ... he rolled his eyes and said "oooohhh the internet". What a jerk.

Needless to say, it was a negative biopsy. There was scalloping but no noted damage. (I also had positive blood work, but GI said it was inconclusive)

Getting my life back by the amazing improvements with the diet is enough for me!

Healthy Girl Explorer

Oh I know exactly what you mean with the look :rolleyes:!!! It is just frustrating that they don't know all the facts, but if you question them they get irritated! Again, I feel great, so I guess that is enough for me!!

pinkscooby6 Rookie
HELLO

Okay so couple months back I FINALLY convinced my primary care to run blood work for celiacs. Came back negative (though she did not run all the tests). She gave me a referral to see a GI doctor, but there was a 5 month wait.

I decided w/ the pain I was having that I needed to try something sooner. Went wheatfree after reading about this and falling into almost all the symptoms. It has been 2 months and I am feeling so much better. I have done muscle testing thru a alternative doctor and I have been told to avoid wheat, oats, sugar, soy, dairy, corn. I am being treated thru her and my health has improved tremendously. I am being treated for candida, and the more we work on things, the more intolerant to wheat I seem to be. I have had a couple slip ups and was EXTREMELY sick (more than before going wheat free). Again, I seem to fit the celiac "poster child" since my early youth!!

Yesterday, I went for blood work for my hypothryoid (which is also improving!!), and mentioned to her that I removed wheat and feel soooo much better. She was happy, but angry that I did this on my own. I explained that I was feeling so sick and could not wait to see the GI--my life was on hold due to my symptoms. She said she still wants me to go get an scope for celiacs. I explained that it would come out negative due to not eating wheat. She said that was a myth (UGGHH!!) She is insisting if I had celiac it would come back positive no exceptions, and even called the GI doctors office and they said the same thing.

Can someone advise me to a medical article or something that I can show my doctor? Or should i just ignore them both? I do need to regularly monitor my thyroid with her, and am afraid that going against her on this may be a BIG issue. Perhaps maybe I should seek out a new doctor?

AMY

My doctor gave me a handout from uptodate.com. it is a site geared for doctors, and in the article it clearly said that if you had already cut out gluten from your diet, than the tests would come back negative. So you should refer your doctor to this article, and if she just doesn't get it, you should switch doctors, one who actually knows what he/she is talking about.


Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



nikky Contributor
HELLO

Okay so couple months back I FINALLY convinced my primary care to run blood work for celiacs. Came back negative (though she did not run all the tests). She gave me a referral to see a GI doctor, but there was a 5 month wait.

I decided w/ the pain I was having that I needed to try something sooner. Went wheatfree after reading about this and falling into almost all the symptoms. It has been 2 months and I am feeling so much better. I have done muscle testing thru a alternative doctor and I have been told to avoid wheat, oats, sugar, soy, dairy, corn. I am being treated thru her and my health has improved tremendously. I am being treated for candida, and the more we work on things, the more intolerant to wheat I seem to be. I have had a couple slip ups and was EXTREMELY sick (more than before going wheat free). Again, I seem to fit the celiac "poster child" since my early youth!!

Yesterday, I went for blood work for my hypothryoid (which is also improving!!), and mentioned to her that I removed wheat and feel soooo much better. She was happy, but angry that I did this on my own. I explained that I was feeling so sick and could not wait to see the GI--my life was on hold due to my symptoms. She said she still wants me to go get an scope for celiacs. I explained that it would come out negative due to not eating wheat. She said that was a myth (UGGHH!!) She is insisting if I had celiac it would come back positive no exceptions, and even called the GI doctors office and they said the same thing.

Can someone advise me to a medical article or something that I can show my doctor? Or should i just ignore them both? I do need to regularly monitor my thyroid with her, and am afraid that going against her on this may be a BIG issue. Perhaps maybe I should seek out a new doctor?

AMY

grrr some doctors are so clueless, doesnt it just do your head in. If your not eating gluten then your body isnt reacting so the damage cant be done therefore the scope will be negative.. geez what is so hard for them to understand. If she continues to say that being gluten free isnt an issue you need a new doctor. Some doctors have just lost sight of good old fashioned listening.

pele Rookie

I love this forum!!! Doctors, I don't love so much.

I agree with the last few posts, yes, you need a new doctor. Don't we all?

I read somewhere, I think on Dr. Kenneth Fine's website, that the best diagnostic tool is a gluten-free diet. If you feel better, there you are.

babygirl1234 Rookie

yeah i know sometimes i think that doctors want to do what they want and it makes me mad when you have to keep telling them that something hurts just to have them do something grrrrrrrrr

Healthy Girl Explorer

Thanks Everyone.

This website is great!!! I have cancelled my appt with the GI, and I will start the process of looking for another primary care. I appreciate everyones help on this matter.

AMY

happygirl Collaborator

Contact a local Celiac support group and ask for doctors that their members use.

gfp Enthusiast
I removed wheat and feel soooo much better. She was happy, but angry that I did this on my own.

So you need to ask her whatever you don't eat?

Lets say you had dental work and stopped eating chips because they were hurting ... do you need to ask her permission?

I explained that it would come out negative due to not eating wheat. She said that was a myth (UGGHH!!)

If it was a myth then why should celiacs not eat gluten? Isn't the idea the villi will mend?

Firstly a biopsy is never reliable as a negative, they don't test everywhere let alone 1/1000th the area of the intenstine so its easy to miss.

The longer without gluten the more repair the less chance they find a damaged area.

Betty in Texas Newbie

Do you really think the GI drs care if it is postive are negtive they only care that they will be payed either way. If they cared they would try to read and learn more about it because they know very little about celiac and don't act like they want to learn any thing about it . They sure don't want us telling them anything because that makes them look stupid. They could be reading the same things that we read and learn about it but I don't think they want to because there is no medication to give so there goes there perks.

nikky Contributor
Do you really think the GI drs care if it is postive are negtive they only care that they will be payed either way. If they cared they would try to read and learn more about it because they know very little about celiac and don't act like they want to learn any thing about it . They sure don't want us telling them anything because that makes them look stupid. They could be reading the same things that we read and learn about it but I don't think they want to because there is no medication to give so there goes there perks.

I think that is too true, many doctors have lost sight of patient care which is why im glad that here in the uk hospitals are trust and therefore government run meaning doctors have to at least try every possible avenue, and you can get as many other opinions as you like, free of charge (NHS).

  • 2 months later...
dollamasgetceliac? Explorer
grrr some doctors are so clueless, doesnt it just do your head in. If your not eating gluten then your body isnt reacting so the damage cant be done therefore the scope will be negative.. geez what is so hard for them to understand. If she continues to say that being gluten free isnt an issue you need a new doctor. Some doctors have just lost sight of good old fashioned listening.

Hi I am new to all the symptoms, but in your list of med. conditions you mention shoulder pain, i have that too, it is getting better on my gluten-free diet but not gone. is this related?Do you have a dr.s quote.

I do not know how I will hear from you about this since I am sidetracking i will start new thread. ofcourse my doctor said to use a hot compass

AndrewNYC Explorer

You're making a big to do about a non issue. The chances are good that even if you eat gluten and get scoped that your test will come back negative. Eat it, don't it, it makes no difference. If it feels better to not eat it then don't.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):



  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      131,198
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    Jamie0230
    Newest Member
    Jamie0230
    Joined

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):


  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.4k
    • Total Posts
      1m

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):





  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):



  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Scott Adams
      Clearly from what you've said the info on Dailymed is much more up to date than the other site, which hasn't been updated since 2017. The fact that some companies might be repackaging drugs does not mean the info on the ingredients is not correct.
    • RMJ
      To evaluate the TTG antibody result we’d need to know the normal range for that lab.  Labs don’t all use the same units.  However, based on any normal ranges that I’ve seen and the listed result being greater than a number rather than a specific number, I’d say yes, that is high! Higher than the range where the test can give a quantitative result. You got good advice not to change your diet yet.  If you went gluten free your intestines would start to heal, confusing any further testing,
    • Bev in Milw
      Scott is correct….Thank you for catching that!      Direct link for info  of fillers.    http://www.glutenfreedrugs.com/Excipients.htm Link is on 2nd page  of www.glutenfreedrugs.com   Site was started by a pharmacist (or 2) maybe 15-20 yrs ago with LAST updated in  2017.  This makes it’s Drug List so old that it’s no longer relevant. Companies & contacts, along with suppliers &  sources would need to be referenced, same amount effort  as starting with current data on DailyMed      That being said, Excipient List is still be relevant since major changes to product labeling occurred prior ’17.           List is the dictionary that sources the ‘foreign-to-us’ terms used on pharmaceutical labels, terms we need to rule out gluten.    Note on DailyMed INFO— When you look for a specific drug on DailyMed, notice that nearly all of companies (brands/labels) are flagged as a ‘Repackager’… This would seem to suggest the actual ‘pills’ are being mass produced by a limited number of wholesaler suppliers (esp for older meds out of  patent protection.).      If so, multiple repackager-get  bulk shipments  from same supplier will all  be selling identical meds —same formula/fillers. Others repackager-could be switching suppliers  frequently based on cost, or runs both gluten-free & non- items on same lines.  No way to know  without contacting company.     While some I know have  searched pharmacies chasing a specific brand, long-term  solution is to find (or teach) pharmacy staff who’s willing help.    When I got 1st Rx ~8 years ago, I went to Walgreens & said I needed gluten-free.  Walked  out when pharmacist said  ‘How am I supposed  to know…’  (ar least he as honest… ). Walmart pharmacists down the block were ‘No problem!’—Once, they wouldn’t release my Rx, still waiting on gluten-free status from a new supplier. Re: Timeliness of DailyMed info?   A serendipitous conversation with cousin in Mi was unexpectedly reassuring.  She works in office of Perrigo, major products of OTC meds (was 1st to add gluten-free labels).  I TOTALLY lucked out when I asked about her job: “TODAY I trained a new full-time employee to make entries to Daily Med.’  Task had grown to hours a day, time she needed for tasks that couldn’t be delegated….We can only hope majorities of companies are as  conscientious!   For the Newbies…. SOLE  purpose of  fillers (possible gluten) in meds is to  hold the active ingredients together in a doseable form.  Drugs  given by injection or as IV are always gluten-free!  (Sometimes drs can do antibiotics w/ one-time injection rather than 7-10 days of  pills .) Liquid meds (typically for kids)—still read labels, but  could be an a simpler option for some products…
    • Ginger38
      So I recently had allergy testing for IGE antibodies in response to foods. My test results came back positive to corn, white potatoes, egg whites. Tomatoes, almonds and peanuts to name a few.  I have had obvious reactions to a few of these - particularly tomatoes and corn- both GI issues. I don’t really understand all this allergy versus celiac stuff. If the food allergies are mild do I have to avoid these foods entirely? I don’t know what I will eat if I can’t  have corn based gluten free products 
    • JForman
      We have four children (7-14 yo), and our 7 year old was diagnosed with NCGS (though all Celiac labs were positive, her scope at 4 years old was negative so docs in the US won't call it celiac). We have started her on a Gluten Free diet after 3 years of major digestive issues and ruling out just about everything under the sun. Our home and kitchen and myself are all gluten-free. But I have not asked my husband/her dad or her other siblings to go completely gluten-free with us. They are at home, but not out of the home. This has led to situations when we are eating out where she has to consistently see others eating things she can't have and she has begun to say "Well, I can't have <fill in the blank>...stupid gluten."  How have you supported your gluten-free kiddos in the mental health space of this journey, especially young ones like her. I know it's hard for me as an adult sometimes to miss out, so I can't imagine being 7 and dealing with it! Any tips or ideas to help with this? 
×
×
  • Create New...