Jump to content

  • 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

Confused - False Positive

ccooper

Recommended Posts

ccooper Newbie
ccooper
Posted

My 11 year old son seen the GI specialist yesterday. The GI said that he believed the blood test was a false positive. He had a score of 67(?). The 67 was high but the other two test were normal. The GI is now running a test for IgA only. What does this mean? If it's not celiac what is it? I was hoping that the celiac diagnosis was going to be our answer to his symptoms. He has a history of intestional issues (watery stools sometimes, cramping, short stature 5% range), canker sores, itchy skin and sores, fecal incontinence, IRRITABILITY (he doesn't get along with himself most of the time). Any ideas would be appreciated.

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

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


WorryMom Newbie
WorryMom
Posted

I have done a lot of research on false positives and weak positives in the last few months because my 9 year old son's tTg IGA was 4.3 on a scale where 0-4 negative, 4-10 weak positive.

What I found indicates that you are much more likely to have a false negative than a false positive. According to most of what I read, even if not all the tests are positive they should still do an endoscopy to check for damage especially if they are having symptoms such as your son is. Did they do the endoscopy yet? Some of the things that could cause a false positive on the tTg are cirrhosis of the liver, diabetes or heart failure but this is very rare. Given his symptoms it seems much more likely he has celiac. I hope they are able to figure it out soon so your son can start healing.

My son is seeing a specialist next week. He was tested due to family history and not really sick at the time but in the last few months he has started being tired all the time and complaining of stomach aches. He has occasional bathroom issues and has become whinier than usual. I'm hoping the doctor will agree to do the endoscopy so we can see if he has it or not.

tarnalberry Community Regular
tarnalberry
Posted

Most of us here "don't believe in" false positives. Why? Because your body is not going to produce an antibody to itself with no reason and without doing damage. It's kinda what autoimmune diseases are all about.

Do you know WHICH test came back "positive"? I'm assuming, from your comment about testing total IgA, that it was the anti-gliadin IgA test. About 10% of celiacs are IgA deficient, which means that they will always have low numbers, regardless of whether or not they are producing "more" anti-gliadin IgA. But that means they'll more likely get a false negative, not positive.

ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted

Your son's symptoms and the postive test make it pretty certain that he is one of the 'family'. If you are going to have them do an endoscopic exam on him, which also has a risk of a false negative, you need to make sure to keep him on the full gluten diet. If you are not going to do an endoscopy then go ahead and put him on the diet.

ccooper Newbie
ccooper
Posted
  • Author

I called the pediatrician to get a list of actual scores - Here they are:

IgA - 64

Gliadian IgG - 67

TtG - 3

No biopsy has been scheduled. More blood test were ordered in order to check for IgA deficiency. Does the above mentioned scores mean anything to anyone? The doctor is calling it a false positive.

ang1e0251 Contributor
ang1e0251
Posted

Could you please put the lab's ranges with those numbers? Each lab is different.

Many, many people have false negatives but I have never heard of someone who actually had a false positive.

ccooper Newbie
ccooper
Posted
  • Author
Could you please put the lab's ranges with those numbers? Each lab is different.

Many, many people have false negatives but I have never heard of someone who actually had a false positive.

O.k, this is the best that I know:

IgA - 64 with range of 65 to 246

IgG - 67 range of 1 to 11 normal

TtG - 3 normal range 3 and below

Does this help?

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

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


tarnalberry Community Regular
tarnalberry
Posted
O.k, this is the best that I know:

IgA - 64 with range of 65 to 246

IgG - 67 range of 1 to 11 normal

TtG - 3 normal range 3 and below

Does this help?

As I suspected, the IgG test is positive, and the others negative. The tTg test being borderline just gives you an idea of how much damage is happening. (Still, why would he have any if there wasn't some response going on?) The IgA test being low tells you nothing if he's IgA deficient. The IgG test is QUITE DISTINCTLY POSITIVE. He is clearly have an immune reaction to gluten. (Most doctors *want more* because they so hate to put their patients on a gluten free diet. BAH!)

ccooper Newbie
ccooper
Posted
  • Author
As I suspected, the IgG test is positive, and the others negative. The tTg test being borderline just gives you an idea of how much damage is happening. (Still, why would he have any if there wasn't some response going on?) The IgA test being low tells you nothing if he's IgA deficient. The IgG test is QUITE DISTINCTLY POSITIVE. He is clearly have an immune reaction to gluten. (Most doctors *want more* because they so hate to put their patients on a gluten free diet. BAH!)

The GI acted like the IgG elevation wasn't anything if the other two areas weren't positive also. If he doesn't have celiac than I want to know why the levels were so high..... I guess I will have to wait and see what happens on Monday when I get the IgA deficiency results back. I don't mind the doctor wanting to know more, but I feel like I know less than I did before I went to the office.The GI stressed that grains are a very important part of ones diet and that no diet changes should be made unless something else shows up

Jestgar Rising Star
Jestgar
Posted

***Personal opinion alert***

The GI stressed that grains are a very important part of ones diet and that no diet changes should be made unless something else shows up

That's complete and utter crap. The human race survived for thousands of years without grain.

Ask him to name you ONE essential nutrition that can only be found in grain.

tarnalberry Community Regular
tarnalberry
Posted

that might "just" be jestgar's opinion, but I think she's completely correct. in my opinion, anyway.

your doctor is full of crap if he thinks grains are a mandatory part of a diet, or even that you can't have any grains if you're gluten free. wrong and wrong.

ccooper Newbie
ccooper
Posted
  • Author

Maybe he's full of crap and being ignorant. On a positive note, maybe he just didn't want us to get to alarmed yet- so that's why he said the grain thing???? I don't know.

I have read some other post that says that an elevated IgG is sometimes something else. Any ideas?

Archived

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

Go to topic listing

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):



    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):



  • Recent Activity

    1. tiffanygosci
      - tiffanygosci replied to tiffanygosci's topic in Introduce Yourself / Share Stuff
      1

      Celiac support is hard to find

      EDIT: I did find a monthly Zoom meeting for Celiacs through the Celiac Disease Foundation, so I'll be able to talk with some other people on January 15. And I also found a Celiac Living podcast on Spotify made by a celiac. I feel a little bit better now and I am still hoping I will find some more personal connections in my area.
    2. trents
      - trents replied to mamaof7's topic in Parents, Friends and Loved Ones of Celiacs
      1

      Help understand results

      Welcome to the celiac.com community, @mamaof7! It means for the one celiac disease antibody test that was ordered, she tested negative. However, other tests should have been ordered, especially for someone so young who would have an immature immune system where there would be a high probability of being IGA deficient. The one test that was ordered...
    3. mamaof7
      - mamaof7 posted a topic in Parents, Friends and Loved Ones of Celiacs
      1

      Help understand results

      For reference, daughter is 18 mths old. Was having painful severe constipation with pale stool and blood also bloating (tight extended belly.) Liver and gallbladder are normal. Ultrasound was normal. Dr ordered celiac blood test. We took her off gluten after blood draw. She is sleeping better, no longer bloated and stools are still off color but not painful...
    4. Dizzyma
      - Dizzyma replied to Dizzyma's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      3

      Newly diagnosed mam to coeliac 11 year old

      Hi Trent and Cristiana, thank you so much for taking the time out to reply to me. My daughters GP requested bloods, they came back as showing a possibility of celiac disease, she advised me to continue feeding gluten as normal and wait on a hospital appointment. When we got that the doctor was quite annoyed that the gp hadn’t advised to go gluten free i...
    5. tiffanygosci
      - tiffanygosci posted a topic in Introduce Yourself / Share Stuff
      1

      Celiac support is hard to find

      I have been feeling so lonely in this celiac disease journey (which I've only been on for over 4 months). I have one friend who is celiac, and she has been a great help to me. I got diagnosed at the beginning of October 2025, so I got hit with all the major food holidays. I think I navigated them well, but I did make a couple mistakes along the way regarding...
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):

  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      132,955
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    JodyBledsoe
    Newest Member
    JodyBledsoe
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):

  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • tiffanygosci
      Celiac support is hard to find

      By tiffanygosci · Posted

      EDIT: I did find a monthly Zoom meeting for Celiacs through the Celiac Disease Foundation, so I'll be able to talk with some other people on January 15. And I also found a Celiac Living podcast on Spotify made by a celiac. I feel a little bit better now and I am still hoping I will find some more personal connections in my area.
    • trents
      Help understand results

      By trents · Posted

      Welcome to the celiac.com community, @mamaof7! It means for the one celiac disease antibody test that was ordered, she tested negative. However, other tests should have been ordered, especially for someone so young who would have an immature immune system where there would be a high probability of being IGA deficient.  The one test that was ordered was an IGA-based antibody test. It is not the only IGA antibody test for celiac disease that can be run. The most common one ordered by physicians is the TTG-IGA. Whenever IGA antibody tests are ordered, a "total IGA" test should be included to check for IGA deficiency. In the case of IGA deficiency, all other IGA tests results will be inaccurate. There is another category of celiac disease antibody tests that can be used in the case of IGA deficiency. They are known as IGG tests. I will attach an article that gives an overview of celiac disease antibody tests. All this to say, I would not trust the results of the testing you have had done and I would not rule out your daughter having celiac disease. I would seek further testing at some point but it would require your daughter to have been eating normal amounts of gluten for weeks/months in order for the testing to be valid. It is also possible she does not have celiac disease (aka, "gluten intolerance") but that she has NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity, or just "gluten sensitivity" for short) which is more common. The difference is that celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that damages the lining of the small bowel whereas NCGS does not autoimmune in nature and does not damage the lining of the small bowel, though the two conditions share many of the same symptoms. We have testing to diagnose celiac disease but there are no tests for NCGS. To arrive at a diagnosis of NCGS, celiac disease must first be ruled out. A gluten free diet is the solution to both maladies.   
    • mamaof7
      Help understand results

      By mamaof7 · Posted

      For reference, daughter is 18 mths old. Was having painful severe constipation with pale stool and blood also bloating (tight extended belly.) Liver and gallbladder are normal. Ultrasound was normal. Dr ordered celiac blood test. We took her off gluten after blood draw. She is sleeping better, no longer bloated and stools are still off color but not painful.    "GLIADIN (DEAMID) AB, IGA FLU Value  0.84 Reference Range: 0.00-4.99 No further celiac disease serology testing to be performed. INTERPRETIVE INFORMATION: Deamidated Gliadin Peptide (DGP) Ab, IgA A positive deamidated gliadin (DGP) IgA antibody result is associated with celiac disease but is not to be used as an initial screening test due to its low specificity and only occasional positivity in celiac disease patients who are negative for tissue transglutaminase (tTG) IgA antibody."   Anyone know what in the world this means. She isn't scheduled to see GI until late April. 
    • Dizzyma
      Newly diagnosed mam to coeliac 11 year old

      By Dizzyma · Posted

      Hi Trent and Cristiana, thank you so much for taking the time out to reply to me.  My daughters GP requested bloods, they came back as showing a possibility of celiac disease, she advised me to continue feeding gluten as normal and wait on a hospital appointment. When we got that the doctor was quite annoyed that the gp hadn’t advised to go gluten free immediately as she explained that her numbers were so high that celiac disease was fairly evident. That doctor advised to switch to a gluten-free diet immediately which we did but she also got her bloods taken again that day as it made sense to double check considering she was maintaining a normal diet and they came back with a result of 128. The hospital doctor was so confident of celiac disease that she didn’t bother with any further testing. Cristiana, thank you for the information on the coeliac UK site however I am in the Rrpublic of Ireland so I’ll have to try to link in with supports there. I appreciate your replies I guess I’ll figure things as we go I just feel so bad for her, her skin is so sore around her mouth  and it looks bad at an age when looks are becoming important. Also her anxiety is affecting her sleep so I may have to look into some kind of therapy to help as I don’t think I am enough to help. thanks once again, it’s great to be able to reach out xx   
    • tiffanygosci
      Celiac support is hard to find

      By tiffanygosci · Posted

      I have been feeling so lonely in this celiac disease journey (which I've only been on for over 4 months). I have one friend who is celiac, and she has been a great help to me. I got diagnosed at the beginning of October 2025, so I got hit with all the major food holidays. I think I navigated them well, but I did make a couple mistakes along the way regarding CC. I have been Googling "celiac support groups" for the last couple days and there is nothing in the Northern Illinois area. I might reach out to my GI and dietician, who are through NW Medicine, to see if there are any groups near me. I cannot join any social media groups because I deleted my FB and IG last year and I have no desire to have them back (although I almost made a FB because I'm desperate to connect with more celiacs). I'm glad I have this forum. I am praying God will lead me to more people to relate to. In my opinion, celiac disease is like the only food- related autoimmune disease and it's so isolating. Thanks for walking alongside of me! I'm glad I know how to help my body but it's still not easy to deal with.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.