Views On Camera Pill Endoscopy

[MM5079]

Hello, All

My bloodword tested positive for Celiac about three weeks ago. I had an upper endoscopy last week, and right after the procedure my doctor reported that she saw "blunted" and "less prominent" villi. I went for a follow up today for the official results of the biopsy she took of my duodenum and she now says that the pathologist or whoever reads the biopsy reported that there was not enough damage or evidence to officially diagnose Celiac. So now the doctor says because of my symptoms and dramatic weight loss, and because you can't get a thorough view of the small intestines by an upper endoscopy, she wants to do a full small intestine endoscopy by way of a pill. She says that the camera magnifies everything eight times large and that this will indefinitely tell her if I'm celiac or not.

Has anybody even been diagnosed this way? At this point, I'm ready to just go by the blood test and forget everything else!

[Lisa]

Sometimes I feel like we're lab rats!

You DO have a diagnosis with positive blood work and you were lucky enough to catch your Celiac before more severe damage could occur. Biopsies can be very unreliable and miss effected areas.

Yes, the pill cam is one of the most useful tools to diagnose because it can offer a full view of the entire intestinal track.

You can continue to test, or begin the diet and look forward to recovery.

[lizard00]

My doc wanted to bypass the whole endoscopy and just do the pill cam, as he says it is much more reliable and a complete picture can actually be seen, whereas with an endoscopy, it can be hit or miss. From what it sounded like, insurance doesn't cover the pill cam until an EGD has first been done to warrant further examination...

For you, it just depends on how much longer it will prolong the process. Sounds like celiac will be the outcome either way.

[MM5079]

Thanks! This makes me feel better! I told myself after today's followup that maybe it's all in my head!