Blood Work

[Amber52377]

Hi there, newbie here!

My son (15mos) recently saw a pedi GI b/c of chronic diarhhea & GERD issues. Based on my history of autoimmune disorders (I have psoriasis & psoriatic arthritis as well as suspected asymptomatic celiac), the GI opted to do a full panel to try & get to the bottom of his ongoing issues.

He had the following tests done:

Anti endomysial Antibodies

CBC

CRP Quantative

ESR

Tissue Transglutaminase (tTG) Antibodies (IgG, IgA)

BMP

Liver/Hepatic Function Panel

Thyroid Panel

She has also ordered the following stool tests:

Stool C Diff Toxin A&B

Stoo O & PX 3/ Giardia Antigen

Cryptosporidium.

We just got the stool samples in to the lab. The GI's office called today & told me that his blood work results were in & that everything looked alright except for his Globulin levels. She said they were low. I've done a bit of Googling so I realize that the results could be indictive of several things. However, I'm curious to know if the low levels could rule out his having celiac. Also, if someone could point out which test might've come back w/the low results, I'd greatly appreciate it. We've not attempted going gluten free so we don't skew any tests w/the GI. Our GI did want us to go back for more testing, a repeat of the low test & a couple of others. Any idea what that might be? I don't have the lab orders yet... I pick them up Monday.

Thank you! I truly hope we find answers b/c right now, my little one is miserable & irritable beyond all get out! Part of me hopes nothing's wrong & the other part hopes there is b/c then we'd at least have answers & some sort of direction.

~Amber

[ravenwoodglass]

I don't have any definative answers for you but you are doing the right thing by keeping him on gluten until the tests are finished. The day they finish the tests put him on the diet. Testing in young children is less reliable than in adults and even with adults false negatives are all too common. I lost many years because doctors relied on blood tests for diagnosis. The truest test there is IMHO is the response to the diet.

[Amber52377]

I have a new lab request w/the following tests being ordered:

IgG, IgA, IgM, IgE serum level

IgG Subclasses I, II, III, IV

Can anyone shed light on what the pedi GI might be searching for or ruling out? We don't have our follow up appt until Aug 13. From what I've been researching, it looks like she's attempting to see where his globulin deficiency is? I have no idea what his globulin levels were prior, just that they were low.

Could any of this be related to celiac or is it possible we're pursuing another illness?

Thanks for any insight!

Ravenwoodglass- thank you for the reassurance that we're doing the right thing. It's so terribly difficult seeing your child hurt. We need answers b/c he's miserable most of the time, very whiny & irritable. He wakes at least 3x week SCREAMING in the middle of the night, has constant purple smudges under his eyes & very rarely has a "formed" stool in his diaper- typically very soft or loose if not outright watery diarrhea. <sigh> So difficult.