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

Confusing Biopsy Results


sagapocristo

Recommended Posts

sagapocristo Newbie

Hello everyone,

My mom was diagnosed w/celiac disease, so I had the blood tests to see if I have the disease. I have not had any diarrhea or other intestinal symptoms over the course of my life (I'm in my early 40s), but just wanted to be sure.

My blood test results came back positive (I don't know the numbers, but had the endomysial and gliadin antibody tests, and I think one more). I then had an endoscopy/biopsy, with the following results: "slight villous blunting, focal intraepithelial lymphocytes, and lamina propriaa plasma cell proliferation. The findings are non specific and might be associate with mild duodenitis. However, the possibility of an early celiac or treated celiac disease cannot be excluded."

Since I am in my early 40;s, the doctor said that early celiac disease doesn't make sense, but he still recommended a gluten-free diet. I've been on the diet for a year, and don't feel any different. My doc said that if I want, I can slowly reintroduce gluten, see how I feel, and then have another blood test if I still feel OK.

Two questions: what do you think of my biopsy report? Should I try eating gluten again? I'm not sure on what basis to make my decision, and am very confused. Thanks for any help you can provide.


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



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



darlindeb25 Collaborator
;) i wouldnt eat gluten if i was you, but that is up to you--your doctor is wrong though---40 is not too early to have celiacs--celiacs knows no age level--babies are born with celiacs, you are born with the gene for celiacs and it can be triggered at any point inyour life--read all the post in here and you will find lots of useful info--deb
plantime Contributor

40 is how old I am now, and I was just diagnosed. I have had mild symptoms on and off all my life, just no one ever knew what was the actual cause. You have positive bloodwork, and the blunting to me is a positive biopsy. No conflict.

Guest jhmom

I would remain on a gluten-free diet for the simple reason your lab tests were positive as well as the biopsy! People with Celiac don't always have GI problems but if you consum gluten it can damage your small intestines and eventually you will have malabsorption problems.

jgkansas1 Newbie

Perhaps you have celiac--perhaps you have another condition such as a skin condition called dermatitis herptiformis(DH)-both are related to Gluten sensitivity. Or you could just have a wheat allergy. Gluten sensitivity can display at any age for those carrying the gene and in several diferent but related ways. I am 39 and just diagnosed with DH. perhaps my gut might show the same type of results as yours should I ever chose to get a biopsy. I've a neice that was diagnosed 20 years ago with celiac sprue due to her failure to thrive as a child leading her parents to seek out a real answer and not jut take a doctors pat answer that she was just slow to mature. And yes it is true that you should remain gluten free to avoid potential nutritional problems but it is a choice you have to make. But be sure to watch that your diet does contain enough vitamins and minerals. Many of the gluten free items that are on the market or in speciality stores do not contain enough viamins and minerals to make up for what you are not getting in foods that contained gluten. Routinely follow up with your doctor and learn all you can about what to watch for concerning gluten related diseases. Study up on allergies, they do not always demontrate the same symptoms every time you are exposed to the offending agent. That is why this disease is so hard for doctors to spot until it has progressed quite far for many who are affected by it.

sagapocristo Newbie

Thank you all so much for your responses. I'm thinking that I may want to find another gastroenterologist and stick w/the gluten-free diet. I'll look on the Doctors board to see what criteria to use to choose a doc.

Thanks again.

Archived

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


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):



  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      131,187
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    Kris46
    Newest Member
    Kris46
    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

    • 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 
    • Kris2093u4
      Geography makes a difference.  I'm in the West and Trader Joe's gluten-free bread tastes great and is a better price than most gluten-free breads sold elsewhere in my area.  
    • 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? 
    • Jane878
      By the time I was 5 I had my first auto0immune disorder, Migraine headaches, with auras to blind me, and vomiting, sensitivity to light and sound. I was 5 years old, and my stepfather would have pizza night, milling his own flour, making thick cheesy gluten pizza, that I would eat and the next day, I would have serious migraines, and my mother & stepfather did nothing about my medical problems. When I was 17 in my first year at college, I was diagnosed with my 2nd known auto-immune disorder, Meniere's disease. I was a elite athlete, a swimmer, and soccer player. And once again my parents didn't think anything of understanding why I had a disorder only older people get. Now after my mother passed from Alzheimer's disease she also suffered with living with gluten. She had a rash for 30 years that nobody could diagnose. She was itchy for 45 years total. My brother had a encapsulated virus explodes in his spleen and when this happened his entire intestines were covered with adhesions, scar tissue and he almost lost his life. He has 5 daughters, and when I finally was diagnosed after being pregnant and my body went into a cytokine storm, I lost my chance to have children, I ended up having Hashimoto's disease, Degenerative Disc disease, and my body started to shut down during my first trimester. I am 6ft tall and got down to 119lbs. My husband and I went to a special immunologist in Terrace, California. They took 17 vials of blood as we flew there for a day and returned home that evening. In 3 weeks, we had the answer, I have Celiac disease. Once this was known, only my father and husband made efforts to change their way of feeding me. At the family cabin, my stepfather & mother were more worried that I would ruin Thanksgiving Dinner. It wasn't until one of my cousins was diagnosed with Celiac disease. They finally looked into getting Gluten Free flour and taking measures to limit "gluten" in meals. He did nothing but ask for me to pay for my own food and wi-fi when I came to the cabin to stay after our house burned down. When he informed my mother, they proceeding to get into a physical fight and she ended up with a black eye. The is just more trauma for me. Sam had no interest in telling the truth about what he wanted. He lied to my mother that he had asked my husband if I could pay for "food" when he asked Geoffrey if I had money to pay for my wi-fi. My mother hates when he spends so much time on the computer so he lied and said I could pay for my own food. I will remind you I weighed 119lbs at this time. (At 6ft) that is a very sick looking person. Neither parent was worried about my weight, they just fought about how cheap my stepfather was. As my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2014. He had her sign over the will to a trust and added his children. He had no testimonial capacity at the time, so she signed without proper papers. Making this Trust null and void. When I gave my brother my childhood home, my mother stated I would be getting an equal part of inheritance to the house on Race. It currently worth 2.0 million $. I got nothing, and my stepfather has since disowned me b/c of my claim and he knows that my mother would never have left it uneven between my biological brother and myself. She sat me and my husband down, as we lived at the Race Street house and treated and took care of it as our own. My brother took over b/c he was going through a horrific divorce and needed a home so he could get a better custody deal with his soon to be ex-wife who was a Assist DA for Denver. She used the girls against him, and he & I were the primary caregivers. We, Judd and I spent the most time with them pre the divorce. Once Judd moved into the house, he threw all of my mother, grandmother and my family heirlooms out to the Goodwill. Nobody told my mother about this as she was going through cancer treatment and had Alzheimer's disease in her mother and her sister. My stepfather and biological brother took advantage of this matter, as I called a "family council" that my brother just never could make it to at the last moment. All of the furnishing, kitchen ware, everything was in the house my brother just moved into. He had had 2 weddings, I chose to elope b/c my stepfather ruined my brother's first wedding by talking about his relationship with my brother in front of my dad and his entire family, insulting him and having my grandfather leave the ceremony. It was a disaster. My stepfather just plays dumb and blames my father for the slight. I was the only child not to have a wedding. So, my mother and stepfather never had to pay for a thing. My mother had had an agreement with my father he'd pay for college and all medical issues with their kids, myself and Judd. So truly my mother never had to pay for anything big for me in her entire life. I am looking for anyone that has had a similar story, where they grew up in a household that had a baker that regularly milled flour and ate gluten. What happened to you? DId you suffer from different auto-immune diseases b/c of living with a baker using "gluten" Please let me know. I have been looking into legal ways to get my stepfather to give me what my mother had promised, and he erased. Thank you for listening to my story. Jane Donnelly  
    • trents
      Possibly gluten withdrawal. Lot's of info on the internet about it. Somewhat controversial but apparently gluten plugs into the same neuro sensors as opiates do and some people get a similar type withdrawal as they do when quitting opiates. Another issue is that gluten-free facsimile flours are not fortified with vitamins and minerals as is wheat flour (in the U.S. at least) so when the switch is made to gluten-free facsimile foods, especially if a lot of processed gluten-free foods are being used as substitutes, vitamin and mineral deficiencies can result. There is also the possibility that she has picked up a virus or some but that is totally unrelated to going gluten-free.
×
×
  • Create New...