Advice For My Little Nephew?! Neg. Bloodwork

[Cath724]

Hi everyone,

When I found out that celiac is hereditary I immediately thought of my 5-year old nephew. He's had health issues since birth (he was born with a herniated diaphragm). He's like 30lbs. at 5 years old, has always had acid reflux and stomach issues, etc., and now may have asthma. It's just one thing after another for the little guy. Long story short here, I advised my brother to get him tested for celiac and the blood work just came back negative. The doc told them that he wasn't a candidate for celiac anyway because he had grown this year.

I hear a lot of talk on here about negative bloodwork but don't know what to recommend to my brother. They think he's negative, but celiac makes SO much sense with so many of his symptoms. I don't want to overstep my boundaries here, but feel they shouldn't rule out celiac just yet. What would you recommend to them? More testing? Trying a gluten-free diet? Should I ask them to get me a copy of the bloodwork? I think my nephew's mother has doubts as well so she'd be receptive to any information I could provide her.

Thanks!

[ShayFL]

Yes, they should request a copy of the bloodwork. It is always a good idea to keep a file of your own medical records at home.

Then let us know what they were.

And yes, you can def. have negative blood and still have Celiac. It is EXTREMELY difficult to dx Celiac in young children as there are often false negatives. If they can afford it, they can use Enterolab and also do the genetic portion of the test.

A gluten free trial is another way to find out.

[Cath724]

Thank you! I will ask them this week to get the bloodwork.