Would These Test Results Be Indicative?

[winterwolfes]

My uncle has celiacs disease. Since January of this year I've had constant abdominal pain like cramping. Its always worse after eating. I've lost 10 pounds in the last 1 months and my BMs have become kind of consistent with how I've read them to be described for someone with celiacs. My doctor first put me on diet to void foods that would cause reflux issues. I've been doing that for 2 months now but its not helping. He also though I have hiatal hernia. This past weekend I went to the ER because I woke up in the middle of the night with severe abdominal pain. It was much worse. I waited around for 5 hours from 3am to 8am and finally went to the hospital. They did a cat scan and didn't see anything at all. I have an appointment with a GI doctor this week but I am curious about celiacs since my uncle has it. I had a suite of tests done 2 months back by my doctor (I did not tell my doctor about the celiacs in the family because I didn't realize it at the time). In a test called EBV-EBNA and EBV-VCA, the result was positive for IgG. I've seen in reading different articles that this antibody has been linked to celiacs. They did not do any IgA tests. The doctor told me this meant I have some kind of mycoplasma infection and put me on antibiotics. Could the fact the IgG showed up for this specific test also hint at possible celiacs? Or would it not really count because this test was for EBV and not celiacs specifically. I understand IgG is not as specific of a test for celiacs as IgA is. But when I go to the GI I want to be able to tell him about this and was curious if it could be an indicator or not.

Thanks!

[WheatChef]

My uncle has celiacs disease. Since January of this year I've had constant abdominal pain like cramping. Its always worse after eating. I've lost 10 pounds in the last 1 months and my BMs have become kind of consistent with how I've read them to be described for someone with celiacs. My doctor first put me on diet to void foods that would cause reflux issues. I've been doing that for 2 months now but its not helping. He also though I have hiatal hernia. This past weekend I went to the ER because I woke up in the middle of the night with severe abdominal pain. It was much worse. I waited around for 5 hours from 3am to 8am and finally went to the hospital. They did a cat scan and didn't see anything at all. I have an appointment with a GI doctor this week but I am curious about celiacs since my uncle has it. I had a suite of tests done 2 months back by my doctor (I did not tell my doctor about the celiacs in the family because I didn't realize it at the time). In a test called EBV-EBNA and EBV-VCA, the result was positive for IgG. I've seen in reading different articles that this antibody has been linked to celiacs. They did not do any IgA tests. The doctor told me this meant I have some kind of mycoplasma infection and put me on antibiotics. Could the fact the IgG showed up for this specific test also hint at possible celiacs? Or would it not really count because this test was for EBV and not celiacs specifically. I understand IgG is not as specific of a test for celiacs as IgA is. But when I go to the GI I want to be able to tell him about this and was curious if it could be an indicator or not.

Thanks!

An IgG-gliadin test is related to celiacs, an IgG test is not. IgG is just another part of your immune system and the tests that your doctor performed were specific to the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). A positive IgG-EBV result simply means that you have in fact been exposed to EBV either as a child or adolescent/adult (mono) and if you didn't have high IgM-EBV results (another part of your Immunoglobulin/Ig system) then you don't have an active infection.

This of course is where it gets confusing. The Epstein-Barr virus is a virus[/i. Antibiotics are specifically used to kill bacteria. You should probably get some clarification from your doctor about what bacteria he's attempting to treat, and then you can bring up your concern about your family celiac history and tell him (not ask) for the full celiac panel.

[winterwolfes]

An IgG-gliadin test is related to celiacs, an IgG test is not. IgG is just another part of your immune system and the tests that your doctor performed were specific to the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). A positive IgG-EBV result simply means that you have in fact been exposed to EBV either as a child or adolescent/adult (mono) and if you didn't have high IgM-EBV results (another part of your Immunoglobulin/Ig system) then you don't have an active infection.

This of course is where it gets confusing. The Epstein-Barr virus is a virus[/i. Antibiotics are specifically used to kill bacteria. You should probably get some clarification from your doctor about what bacteria he's attempting to treat, and then you can bring up your concern about your family celiac history and tell him (not ask) for the full celiac panel.

Thanks for the helpful response. I forgot to metion that the test results also came back for positive for IgG and IgM for mycoplasma pneuamonia and that is what he gave me the antibiotics for.

When I go to the GI doctor this week I am going to tell him I want the full celiacs panel.

[WheatChef]

Thanks for the helpful response. I forgot to metion that the test results also came back for positive for IgG and IgM for mycoplasma pneuamonia and that is what he gave me the antibiotics for.

When I go to the GI doctor this week I am going to tell him I want the full celiacs panel.

Ah, yes that would definitely call for antibiotics. Be sure to ask him exactly which tests he's going to order for your celiac panel. I believe the bare minimum tests recommended are:

1. Total Serum IgA

2. IgA-Gliadin

3. IgG-Gliadin

4. IgA-tissue TransGlutaminase (tTG)

You don't have to remember the names but if he tells you not ordering at least 4 tests then he's probably not up to date on his gluten knowledge (like most doctors).