Negative Celiac Panel

[sxxymarineswife]

I apologize if someone has already asked this, but I had so many of the symptoms of celiac's, so my doctor did a "celiac panel" that came back negative. I've heard that it can come back negative but still have it. If the celiac panel comes back negative, what steps do they take to determine if you really have it? I have considered following a celiac-like diet, but I have heard you shouldn't do that if you haven't been diagnosed.

Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!

[ravenwoodglass]

You could go with Enterolab. They test for antibodies in the stool and while they don't diagnose celiac if you are producing antibodies you do need to stop the gluten. They can test for up to a year after you have gone gluten free. You also have the choice of trying the diet strictly for a few months. With the high level of false negatives in testing for some of us the dietary response is our only choice. In addition some doctors are aware of the high rate of false negatives on blood screening and will give an official diagnosis based on the resolution of symptoms on the diet. There are also some of us who don't want an 'official' diagnosis because of it's potential impact as a 'preexisting condition' with insurance companies. In the end your body knows the answer.

[momof4inla]

I apologize if someone has already asked this, but I had so many of the symptoms of celiac's, so my doctor did a "celiac panel" that came back negative. I've heard that it can come back negative but still have it. If the celiac panel comes back negative, what steps do they take to determine if you really have it? I have considered following a celiac-like diet, but I have heard you shouldn't do that if you haven't been diagnosed.

Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!

I also just had my bloodwork results come back negative. I was shocked. My doctor also performed a colonoscopy and endoscopy though... we are still waiting on the results. But since my husband says my doctor told him he only took one biopsy - my next step is to use Enterolab. Find out if it's gluten once and for all.

Good luck.

[GFinDC]

The endoscopy is often the next step, but it can have false negatives also. Enterolab is probably a lot less expensive and can test you for some other food issues also. In Canada they have a test called Bio-card that is a home blood test. It seems like all the tests are reliable when indicating a positive, but not so reliable when indicating a negative result. So a good 2 or more month test fo the diet is a good idea regardless of negative tests.

[Wapondi]

I wish I'd heard of Enterolab - maybe I wouldn't have had to go through all the testing I did. My bloodwork was negative too but then they found evidence of celiac during my endoscopy. Good luck!