False Positive?

[aped]

Hi everyone.

I've never posted to a forum before but I could use some advice.

I went to a doctor (somewhat holistic) for insomnia and she ran some tests-- one of which was at Entero Lab for Celiac Disease. Here is what came back:

Fecal Anti-gliadin IgA: 34 Units

Fecal Anti-tissue Transglutaminase IgA: 14 Units

Quantitative Microscopic Fecal Fat Score: 400 Units

HLA-DQB1 Molecular analysis, Allele 1: 0302

HLA-DQB1 Molecular analysis, Allele 2: 0301

Serologic equivalent: HLA-DQ 3,3 (Subtype 8,7)

She told me basically the long and short of it was that I had active celiac disease (along with a 'mild' case of hypothyroidism). I went on a gluten free diet for 2 months (the insomnia went away!) and was feeling pretty good, and then at my husband's urging, went to see the Celiac specialist at Stanford University down the road. The specialist there told me that there was only a 50% chance that I had celiac disease since a lot of the tests run at Entero Lab come back as false positives. He basically suggested that the tests weren't legit.

I've now embarked on a 6 week gluten challenge which will culminate in an endoscopy. The challenge isn't fun at all and I'm not looking forward to an endoscopy but am willing to do it to make sure my health is in good hands. My question to all of you is-- have you heard the same in regards to Entero Lab? Has anyone out there had a false positive with those tests? Can anyone tell me for sure if Entero Lab is accurate?

Thanks in advance,

Ashley

31 yrs old

[Jestgar]

Ask the specialist how many people test negative by conventional means and still get relief from a gluten-free diet. He will have no answer, because most practitioners of western medicine to not recognize the validity of a diagnosis made by non-conventional means.

If you feel better not eating gluten, then maybe you shouldn't eat it.

[sunnybabi1986]

I think for many of us here, lab results from enterolab simply confirmed what we already knew. I trust Enterolab personally, because I was very symptomatic and sick while on gluten, and as soon as I went off gluten I felt better. Within 2 months, I felt the best I have in years. Enterolab did not tell me I have Celiac, per say, but that I do have a serious problem with gluten, which inside, I really already knew.

As the previous poster said, if you feel better not eating gluten, don't eat it. I know a lot of doctors don't believe what Enterolab does is legit, but I have to definitely believe in what they do, based on personal experience, and the experience of hundreds of other people.

[ravenwoodglass]

It sounds like you are reacting to the challenge. That combined with the results from Enterolab and the fact you were feeling good on the diet should be enough 'proof' IMHO.