Test Say Positive/No Symptoms ?

[beksmom]

My 13 yr old sons labs came back low positive but he has no symptoms should he still go on a gluten diet??

[mushroom]

  On 2/6/2010 at 6:06 AM, beksmom said:

My 13 yr old sons labs came back low positive but he has no symptoms should he still go on a gluten diet??

I think you probably already know the answer to this one. A positive is a positive. No current symptoms he is aware of does not mean that gluten is not harming him. Many people have no intestinal symptoms but suddenly develop perhiperal neuropathy, migraines, brain fog, or worse. I think he should be gluten free. Others may disagree.

[tarnalberry]

Yes, he needs to go on a gluten free diet.

Particularly during adolescence, symptoms diminish greatly, but there is still damage being done to the intestines, which results in incomplete digestion of the food he's eating.

Many, many people with celiac are "silent celiacs", displaying no symptoms that they identify with the condition.

You may be surprised, however, by small things that didn't seem like symptoms, which are positively impacted by him going gluten free, however.

[Yup]

  On 2/6/2010 at 5:01 PM, tarnalberry said:

Yes, he needs to go on a gluten free diet.

Particularly during adolescence, symptoms diminish greatly, but there is still damage being done to the intestines, which results in incomplete digestion of the food he's eating.

Many, many people with celiac are "silent celiacs", displaying no symptoms that they identify with the condition.

You may be surprised, however, by small things that didn't seem like symptoms, which are positively impacted by him going gluten free, however.

I didn't have symptoms for years, and I found out last March that I'm a silent celiac. The only problems I had were not being able to get pregnant and staying pregnant (has a preemie girl at 29 weeks who is doing great). Plus, I started having problems with my muscles, anemia, lactose intolerance and sleep at about the age of 30. Please put him on gluten-free diet. I know it is a complete pain, but his quality of life will be SO much better. I just saw a stat from Kinninick...they saw 100 newly diagnosed celiacs last month alone in their store in Edmonton, Alberta. Crazy!

[DougE]

I was diagnosed quite by accident. My doctor decided to test my iron, noticed I was slightly anemic and decided to go for the TTG. Turns out I was a Celiac all my life (diagnosed at age 49). Would never have known except for my doctor's insightful hypothesis. In Canada, positive blood tests are followed up with an endoscopy. Has this been suggested?

[Switch2GF]

  On 2/6/2010 at 6:06 AM, beksmom said:

My 13 yr old sons labs came back low positive but he has no symptoms should he still go on a gluten diet??

A couple weeks later... I'll reiterate, YES

I'd suggest an endoscopy also, just to be 100% sure.

I didn't show ANY symptoms when I was 19, but was tested because it runs in my family and my sister was just diagnosed. It took a few years, but my symptoms finally showed. In the mean time, my body was not healthy and I was promoting cancer. I'd get him adjusted to the gluten free diet now rather than waiting until he is in bad shape and has symptoms.

[beksmom]

  On 2/25/2010 at 6:59 AM, Switch2GF said:

A couple weeks later... I'll reiterate, YES

I'd suggest an endoscopy also, just to be 100% sure.

I didn't show ANY symptoms when I was 19, but was tested because it runs in my family and my sister was just diagnosed. It took a few years, but my symptoms finally showed. In the mean time, my body was not healthy and I was promoting cancer. I'd get him adjusted to the gluten free diet now rather than waiting until he is in bad shape and has symptoms.

[beksmom]

I want to thank you for you response. It gives me confidence that i am doing the right thing . My son has an appointment this Friday with a surgeon for consultation for the biopsies . Do you have any advice as to what i should say if he tries to say its not necessary at this time. I really feel i want to be on the safe side and not allow him to get to the stage that i"m at now. It has been a month so far on the strict diet and i'm still unable to gain a pound, they are going to re check my weight in two months, and my vitamin D is still depleated.

[TrillumHunter]

If you are a diagnosed celiac, he ABSOLUTELY should stay on the diet! I can't believe any physician would be foolish enough to say otherwise. Labs establish positive numbers for a reason. To feed him gluten would be to poison him.

I have good friend whose family was tested after their diabetic son came up positive. She thought it would be her, but it was her husband who had NO complaints.

[AKcollegestudent]

  On 2/25/2010 at 4:50 PM, beksmom said:

I want to thank you for you response. It gives me confidence that i am doing the right thing . My son has an appointment this Friday with a surgeon for consultation for the biopsies . Do you have any advice as to what i should say if he tries to say its not necessary at this time. I really feel i want to be on the safe side and not allow him to get to the stage that i"m at now. It has been a month so far on the strict diet and i'm still unable to gain a pound, they are going to re check my weight in two months, and my vitamin D is still depleated.

Whoa. I'm certain you've already heard this on this board, but you have to be eating gluten when you do the biopsy. Your biopsies aren't going to be accurate if you've both been a month gluten free. The reason why I don't have a biopsy result to present to my school's dining people is that I can't add gluten back for the 90 days that it'll take to get an accurate biopsy result.

[OBXMom]

My daughter was in the same boat - tested after little brother was diagnosed, and found to have an autoimmune response to gluten (and casein) but no symptoms. The difference was that she had seen her little brother suffer for years, and did not need any further proof. She said, "If I can avoid all of that, I want to", refused biopsies but immediately went gluten free. Maybe if you could find a celiac kid who has had serious issues and use him or her as an example of how bad it can be it would help your son. (Google some pictures of celiac kids teeth problems if you need a visual aid.)

Also, since celiac can cause so many problems, it is possible that your son has some issue caused by gluten even if he doesn't have GI problems. My daughter had bad acne which improved after removing gluten. Others have headaches, allergies, trouble sleeping, brain fog, the list goes on. It is possible there is something that your son experiences that you could point out may improve. Hope the appointment goes well.

[gintare519]

  On 2/6/2010 at 6:06 AM, beksmom said:

My 13 yr old sons labs came back low positive but he has no symptoms should he still go on a gluten diet??

START RIGHT NOW!!!

Even if he has no symptoms. I actually had to the opposite.

I used to eat gluten and bread all the time. The doctors would test me, nothing would come up. But I would have severe abdominal pain. Now, 5 years later, after eating so much more gluten, my body is completely down. I am getting more health problems since I did not find out that I am a celiac earlier. I am constantly nauseous and always tired. I am very young as well. So that should say a lot. Since he did test positive, get him into the regimen ASAP.

[Kurzemiete]

  On 3/18/2010 at 7:15 AM, gintare519 said:

START RIGHT NOW!!!

Even if he has no symptoms. I actually had to the opposite.

I used to eat gluten and bread all the time. The doctors would test me, nothing would come up. But I would have severe abdominal pain. Now, 5 years later, after eating so much more gluten, my body is completely down. I am getting more health problems since I did not find out that I am a celiac earlier. I am constantly nauseous and always tired. I am very young as well. So that should say a lot. Since he did test positive, get him into the regimen ASAP.

I am sorry for your ordeal and hope it will improve on the celiac diet.

This really makes me think hard on getting my daughter on a gluten-free diet ASAP! I have fibromyalgia, epstein barr syndrome and 2X tested inconclusive for lyme. When i eat more proteins and good fats i tend to do better. I have wheat issues, i react after eating what in an allergic type ways hives, brain fog/spacey feeling, runny nose my eyes ache and run, i get phlegm other stuff also. More tinnitus, more nerve problems etc etc. Also i have hair thinning issues and i am a female who is not yet 40! I have done a celiac test and it did not come up positive but that was about 1.5 years ago, got another one done abt 3 weeks ago have to go to dx to see results..

Anywhow but re my daughter who is almost 14 she has had severe bouts of stomach pains for years. It was more sparse but lately it happens on a weekly basis, to varying degrees of severity. She is eating wheat almost daily. I want to get her to do the blood sample test but i know it may not be conclusive the only real way is to avoid all gluten and see how she fares! She has bm daily they are ok but roundish not in one piece at all. At times the pains are not so terrible but sometimes it's literally like food poisoning, she sits on the toilet has diahhrea, major stomach pain to the point of perspiring...Sometimes i can trace it to wheat sometimes to artificial food colors or flavors with i try hard to not buy but it happens when she is outside the house.

[Skylark]

There is a state that celiac researchers are starting to call pre-celiac, where people might have some positive celiac bloodwork results, but a negative or Marsh I bopsy. When these people are followed and they continue to eat gluten, some of them convert to having a strongly positive biopsy and much higher blood markers. If they discontinue gluten, they often feel healthier. Removing gluten also removes the risk for a more severe form of celiac, lymphoma, and lessens the chance to develop other autoimmunities.