Tested Positive For Ttg Iga

[Dolcenotte]

Hello. My name is Michelle. I've been battling with some unknown disease since I was about 13. I am now 27. I've had rheumatoid arthritis since I was 4. All my life I had severe bloating to the point I had to undo my pants to breathe and people always tried to give me their seat on the bus/train because i looked 8 mos. pregnant. This bloating was always accompanied with severe pelvic pain. I also use the bathroom about 6 times of day (which i didnt know was not normal till just recently), had probable diagnoses of fibroymyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and maybe lupus but I was always a mystery to the doctors. I am always exhausted and always come down with the flu. I have extremely bad allergies and asthma can be bad at times. My father had all the same problems as me for as long as my mom knew him and no one could diagnose his stomach condition either. Unfortunately he passed from lung cancer in May 2006.

Recently, a friend told me to ask for a wheat gluten test because she knew someone who had the exact symptoms as me. Just got the results and tested positive for TTG IGA Ab. It say >100 and the ref range is <5. That sounds extremely scary to me. Can someone explain how bad this number is? ALso my MCH is 24.6 and the ref range is 27-31.

I also always have rheumatoid factor positive, high sedimentation rates, and presence of ANA antibody factor. Now I understand why my body is being attacked. This all makes so much sense and am grateful I finally know what has plagued my father and me for so many years. I am also extremely scared of changing my lifestyle so much and not being able to stick to it. I am going to the gastro doctor Monday and probably planning an endoscopy as soon as possible while I'm on the regular diet. I know this is all reversible with a 100% gluten free diet and have researched extensively for the past few weeks when I first heard about this disease. But I'm very concerned with this high value for ttg. Also any other suggestions/advice are greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading my long pathetic story.

[rinne]

Sorry, I can't be helpful about the numbers but I wanted to say hello and thank you for sharing your story.

A gluten free diet may seem overwhelming at first but it is very doable and feeling better is so worth it. You have found a great place for support.

As for the bloating wheat always did that to me but since being gluten free I don't have that problem.

[happygirl]

Hi Michelle,

Welcome to the board!

Make sure that you keep eating gluten until you complete your endoscopy/biopsy. Ask your doctor to take 4-6 biopsy samples, since the damage in the intestines from Celiac is 'patchy.'

You may also want the other Celiac bloodwork run---discuss it with your doctor.

Anti-gliadin antibodies (AGA) both IgA and IgG

Anti-endomysial antibodies (EMA) - IgA

Anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies (tTG) - IgA (which you already had)

Total IgA level.

Some good websites include:

www.celiacdiseasecenter.columbia.edu

www.celiaccentral.org

www.celiacdisease.net

www.celiac.org

and the parent site to this forum, www.celiac.com

I hope that you find answers to some of your health problems. When you start the gluten free diet, come back and we'll give you info on how to read labels, good product recommendations, recipes, etc. Its managable!

Best of luck!