Need To Take Celiac Panel Blood Test

[aloberg1]

Good Morning,

I am sure this has been written about before on this website but I just thought I would ask. Forgive me if I am repeating questions that others have recently asked.

I saw my naturopath last night and it was confirmed through an elimination diet that i am sensitive to gluten, dairy and soy. But, on the topic of Celiac, she recommended that I have a full celiac panel blood test to see if I indeed do have it or not. I had a blood test last year for the IgA's and it came back negative.

My questions are: Are there multiple blood tests for celiac? I think if i did have damage to my intestines it would have healed w/in the past year. I have been on a gluten-lite diet for 6 months (cross contamination).

The naturopath said that I should eat just a little bit of gluten each day and then have a big cheat day one-two days before my blood draw. Will this be sufficient? Many people say no, but she was certain that if your blood reacts to something it shouldn't have to take such a long time in order to do so.

I have about 2 weeks before I go in to my doctor to request this testing (and I hope she says yes to it).

Any information or experiences would be so helpful. I am just looking for answers and really feel in my gut

that a gluten-free diet is what I need as I have seen such improvement with it recently. I will be going gluten-free after the testing because of my leaky gut, but it's the diagnosis of celiac or not that she wants to know. What is this Enterolab test like?

Does it really matter either way in truth, celiac or gluten intolerant??

Thank you for reading this.

[happygirl]

You need to be eating a regular gluten filled (not gluten lite) diet for the tests to be as accurate as possible.

Open Original Shared Link

Print out the above information on the link from Columbia and take it to your doctor for testing. There are five tests involved in the full Celiac panel.

[aloberg1]

Thank you very much for the link!

I did read a few more posts after mine that had very similar questions.

I am sorry for repeating questions on the board.

thank you again.

[nora-n]

Hi, I was back on gluten for five weeks and my results were negative, (biopsy only, blood tests were done after 6 months off gluten but with gluten on a very few occations on social gatherings). The funny thing is that symptoms got worse at the six week mark, like I could not feel where my feet were, and there was blood on the toulet papaer again, and I was burning all over (Dermatitis Herpetiformis).

One needs to eat a lot of gluten for the challenge, like 0,3 grams of gluten per kg, that would mean 21 grams if one weighs 70 kg and that would be many slices of bread a day. You have to do some maths to figure it out. By the way, they count 90% of the grain protein content as gluten.

So, how many slices of your bread would that mean a day?

nora

[ravenwoodglass]

What is this Enterolab test like?

Enterolab does stool testing for antibodies, which is what they are looking for in the blood tests. They pick up the antibodies from the stool with more accuracy IMHO than the blood tests do. The blood tests have a lot of false negatives, up to 30% and is really only useful if you show positive. You need to be consuming at least 3 slices of bread worth of gluten a day for any chance of the blood testing to show positive while the antibodies can be found in the stool even if you are gluten light or even if you have recently gone gluten free. The stool testing is really easy and does not involve all the little vials that stool testing for food borne illness does.

Does it really matter either way in truth, celiac or gluten intolerant??

No it doesn't. You still need to be strictly gluten free whether they pronounce you intolerant or full blown celiac. Some feel that celiac has an autoimmune component that intolerance doesn't but I am living proof that intolerance without the 'recognized' celiac genes can cause full blown celiac with all the resulting autoimmune issues. If you know gluten is a toxin to you, which you do from the elimination of it, is a valid diagnosis. No one knows your body and what it doesn't want in it better than your body.

Thank you for reading this.