Negative Blood Work

[Teddy's mom]

Hi!

My 20 daughter has had diarrhea and abdominal pain for the past 8 years. She saw a GI doctor 2 years ago who ruled out celiac due to her lab work. He said she probably had irritable bowel or lactose intolerance, although that was negative as well. So she has been dealing with it the best she can since then. She just went to a new doctor and is having a bunch more blood work. The new doc says she will do a colonoscopy and upper endoscopy also. I was just wondering if it could be celiac even though her lab work was negative last time. She also developed vitiligo on her neck and chin around the same time these diarrhea issues developed. I've read somewhere celiac and vitiligo are related. Lots of auto immune issues in my family. I'm being tested for celiac at this time as well, also have psoriasis and hypothyroidism. Could she have it even though her blood level of antibodies was low, around 3, for celiac? Thanks for any help.

[mushroom]

Sounds like her new doctor is hep. Negative blood work does not automatically rule out celiac disease. There are perhaps 30% false negatives in the testing process. Even if her biopsy is negative and the second set of blood work, I would suggest that she trial the gluten free diet and see if it helps her. Positive response to the diet is also considered to be diagnostic and many doctors will diagnose based on that alone. I think it is wonderful that you are getting the testing also. If it had not been for my psoriatic arthritis I would not have considered going gluten free. I had always believed corn was my problem--well, it is a problem, but the main one was gluten. Good luck with testing for you both.