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
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      131,546
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    KimberlyAnne76
    Newest Member
    KimberlyAnne76
    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

    • Beverage
      Diagnosed celiac for 1-2 months ago and everything makes me bloated.

      By Beverage · Posted

      I had a very rough month after diagnosis. No exaggeration, lost so much inflammatory weight, I looked like a bag of bones, underneath i had been literally starving to death. I did start feeling noticeably better after a month of very strict control of my kitchen and home. What are you eating for breakfast and lunch? I ignored my doc and ate oats, yes they were gluten free, but some brands are at the higher end of gluten free. Lots of celics can eat Bob's Red Mill gluten-free oats, but not me. I can now eat them, but they have to be grown and processed according to the "purity protocol" methods. I mail order them, Montana Gluten-Free brand. A food and symptoms and activities log can be helpful in tracking down issues. You might be totally aware, but I have to mention about the risk of airborne gluten. As the doc that diagnosed me warned . . Remember eyes, ears, nose, and mouth all lead to your stomach and intestines.  Are you getting any cross contamination? Airborne gluten? Any pets eating gluten (they eat it, lick themselves, you pet them...)? Any house remodeling? We live in an older home, always fixing something. I've gotten glutened from the dust from cutting into plaster walls, possibly also plywood (glues). The suggestions by many here on vitamin supplements also really helped me. I had some lingering allergies and asthma, which are now 99% gone. I was taking Albuterol inhaler every hour just to breathe, but thiamine in form of benfotiamine kicked that down to 1-2 times a day within a few days of starting it. Also, since cutting out inflammatory seed oils (canola, sunflower, grapeseed, etc) and cooking with real olive oil, avocado oil, ghee, and coconut oil, I have noticed even greater improvement overall and haven't used the inhaler in months! It takes time to weed out everything in your life that contains gluten, and it takes awhile to heal and rebuild your health. At first it's mentally exhausting, overwhelming, even obsessive, but it gets better and second nature.
    • Jsingh
      Protein or fat?

      By Jsingh · Posted

      Hi,  I care for my seven year old daughter with Celiac. After watching her for months, I have figured out that she has problem with two kinds of fats- animal fat and cooking oils. It basically makes her intestine sore enough that she feels spasms when she is upset. It only happens on days when she has eaten more fat than her usual every day diet. (Her usual diet has chia seeds, flaxseeds, and avocado/ pumpkin seeds for fat and an occasional chicken breast.) I stopped using cooking oils last year, and when I reintroduced eggs and dairy, both of which I had held off for a few months thinking it was an issue of the protein like some Celiac patients habe mentioned to be the case, she has reacted in the same fashion as she does with excess fats. So now I wonder if her reaction to dairy and eggs is not really because of protein but fat.   I don't really have a question, just wondering if anyone finds this familiar and if it gets better with time.  Thank you. 
    • Chanda Richard
      High Cost of Gluten-Free Foods

      By Chanda Richard · Posted

      Hello, My name is Chanda and you are not the only one that gose through the same things. I have found that what's easiest for me is finding a few meals each week that last. I have such severe reactions to gluten that it shuts my entire body down. I struggle everyday with i can't eat enough it feels like, when I eat more I lose more weight. Make sure that you look at medication, vitamins and shampoo and conditioner also. They have different things that are less expensive at Walmart. 
    • petitojou
      Frequent nausea after gluten-free diet

      By petitojou · Posted

      Thank you so much! I saw some tips around the forum to make a food diary and now that I know that the community also struggles with corn, egg and soy, the puzzle pieces came together! Just yesterday I tried eating eggs and yes, he’s guilty and charged. Those there are my 3 combo nausea troublemakers. I’m going to adjust my diet ☺️ Also thank you for the information about MCAS! I’m from South America and little it’s talked about it in here. It’s honestly such a game changer now for treatment and recovery. I know I’m free from SIBO and Candida since I’ve been tested for it, but I’m still going to make a endoscopy to test for H. Pylori and Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). Thank you again!! Have a blessed weekend 🤍
    • knitty kitty
      Unusual bright yellow but odourless discharge

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Yes, I, too, have osteoporosis from years of malabsorption, too.  Thiamine and magnesium are what keep the calcium in place in the bones.  If one is low in magnesium, boron, selenium, zinc, copper, and other trace minerals, ones bone heath can suffer.  We need more than just calcium and Vitamin D for strong bones.  Riboflavin B 2, Folate B 9 and Pyridoxine B 6 also contribute to bone formation and strength.   Have you had your thyroid checked?  The thyroid is important to bone health as well.  The thyroid uses lots of thiamine, so a poorly functioning thyroid will affect bone heath.  
×
×
  • 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.