I Need Help!

[reeetz]

Hi Everyone! I need some help and advice please!

I just got a call this morning from the docs office saying that my tests all came back as normal. They did the celiac blood test and a liver function test because I had elevated liver enzymes before.

Problem is, when doing the test, I had already been on a gluten free diet for almost 6 weeks. When talking to the nurse, she said she thinks that is not enough time for my results to come back normal. Is that true? How long do you have to be on the diet for the results to come out normal even if you do have celiac?

I feel so much better on the diet and it just keeps getting better as the days go on. I am thinking of doing a gluten challenge to see what happens. Any suggestions and advice would be greatly appreciated. It makes me so sad that I just don't know what's wrong with me. Please help!

[tarnalberry]

There's no hard and fast rule for how long it takes on the gluten free diet for antibody levels to come down. Is six weeks long enough? It's certainly possible. Not for everyone, but for some. If you feel better gluten free, why go back to feeling bad?

[reeetz]

Thank you for the response! The only reason why I am thinking of doing the gluten challenge is because I am doubting myself in the diagnosis. If I get sick then I will probably go gluten free again right away. I know I can't stand it again. But I just keep thinking to myself that maybe it was a coincidence that I felt better when I went off gluten.

I guess I just don't want to have to be on the diet if I don't absolutely HAVE to. If I do...thats fine. But now I feel that there is only one way to find out. Anyone else feel this way?

[DonaldandAlanda Evans]

I would look at your liver enzymes normalizing (if they could find no other reason) as a sign of Celiac. My liver enzymes were 4 times the upper limit before I was diagnosed and normalized after a week of going gluten free. My doctor didn't know that elevated enzymes could be a sign of Celiac Disease and tested me for every liver disorder out there.......really freaked me out.

[DonaldandAlanda Evans]

ohh yea one more thing. Is your liver worth a diagnosis? Elevated liver enzymes is a marker for liver damage and a gluten challenge will probably damage you liver even more. Just food for thought.

[reeetz]

They did mention that the elvated liver enzymes could be tied to Celiac, so that's why they wanted to do the testing. It was in the hospital that these liver enzymes showed as being elevated, but they just said it was for a number of reasons.

This is all just so confusing!