Borland-Grover Clinic Said Ok To Be Off Gluten And Get Tested

[Not2sure]

I'm a newbie trying to figure out what to do. I've experienced diarrhea for a few months now along with greasy/oily stool, and have lost weight, which I didn't need to do. I've had fecal fat, bacteria and parasite testing done on my stool and they all came back normal. So the Doctor's PA and I spoke about the possibility of Celiac Disease and she's ordered blood work to test for it. The doctor's assistant and I spoke today as I wanted to know what type of test would be ordered and she said that it's a test for Celiac and that they draw blood, freeze and send to a lab in South Florida to be tested. I asked her if it would matter that I'd been off of gluten for about 2 weeks and she said no, it wouldn't matter.

So I'm confused as I've read on the forum that a person should be on gluten when getting tested. I want to know what others think. She said that they test for antibodies and if I have them they would show up whether I've eaten gluten or not.

Let me know what you think, so that I have a clear understanding of what to do before I get tested.

I also wanted to say that my bowels have cleared up tremendously since getting off gluten with no diarrhea and no obvious oil in my stool.

[jerseyangel]

I'm a newbie trying to figure out what to do. I've experienced diarrhea for a few months now along with greasy/oily stool, and have lost weight, which I didn't need to do. I've had fecal fat, bacteria and parasite testing done on my stool and they all came back normal. So the Doctor's PA and I spoke about the possibility of Celiac Disease and she's ordered blood work to test for it. The doctor's assistant and I spoke today as I wanted to know what type of test would be ordered and she said that it's a test for Celiac and that they draw blood, freeze and send to a lab in South Florida to be tested. I asked her if it would matter that I'd been off of gluten for about 2 weeks and she said no, it wouldn't matter.

So I'm confused as I've read on the forum that a person should be on gluten when getting tested. I want to know what others think. She said that they test for antibodies and if I have them they would show up whether I've eaten gluten or not.

Let me know what you think, so that I have a clear understanding of what to do before I get tested.

I also wanted to say that my bowels have cleared up tremendously since getting off gluten with no diarrhea and no obvious oil in my stool.

You need to be on a full out gluten diet for the test to yield an accurate result. I'm not sure how much healing you would have done in only 2 weeks--symptom improvement isn't always in line with actual intestinal healing.

You have already done a perfectly valid test with your own body, in that your symptoms improved greatly after cutting out gluten. You could just take that for your answer and stay gluten-free. If you feel you want an official diagnosis I would suggest postponing the test and going back on gluten for a month at the rate of 3-4 slices of bread a day. I'm sure that the thought of making yourself sick all over again sounds awful and I would agree.

It's a personal decision about which way to go.

[siglfritsch]

You need to be on a full out gluten diet for the test to yield an accurate result. I'm not sure how much healing you would have done in only 2 weeks--symptom improvement isn't always in line with actual intestinal healing.

You have already done a perfectly valid test with your own body, in that your symptoms improved greatly after cutting out gluten. You could just take that for your answer and stay gluten-free. If you feel you want an official diagnosis I would suggest postponing the test and going back on gluten for a month at the rate of 3-4 slices of bread a day. I'm sure that the thought of making yourself sick all over again sounds awful and I would agree.

It's a personal decision about which way to go.

I agree. I was tested after being off gluten for 3 weeks and everything came back negative, although, like you my stools finally were normal. It used to be I could see everything I ate the day before in my stool, so much undigested food and the stool was light tan colored. My doc said the same thing, that not a lot of healing would happen in 3 weeks, but according to a Dr. Green's book on celiac you have to eat the equivilant of 4 pieces of bread for 1-3 months right up to the test. My results were negative but now I'll always wonder if it was an accurate test. A huge waste of 400 bucks and I'm not repeating them. Even if it still came back negative after re-testing I would'nt eat gluten because it makes me sick, so what's the point? The really one positive thing about having celiac is that you can eat what you want, yot can treat yourself and don't have to have a docs prescription for anything.

[O.N.]

I'm a newbie trying to figure out what to do. I've experienced diarrhea for a few months now along with greasy/oily stool, and have lost weight, which I didn't need to do. I've had fecal fat, bacteria and parasite testing done on my stool and they all came back normal. So the Doctor's PA and I spoke about the possibility of Celiac Disease and she's ordered blood work to test for it. The doctor's assistant and I spoke today as I wanted to know what type of test would be ordered and she said that it's a test for Celiac and that they draw blood, freeze and send to a lab in South Florida to be tested. I asked her if it would matter that I'd been off of gluten for about 2 weeks and she said no, it wouldn't matter.

So I'm confused as I've read on the forum that a person should be on gluten when getting tested. I want to know what others think. She said that they test for antibodies and if I have them they would show up whether I've eaten gluten or not.

Let me know what you think, so that I have a clear understanding of what to do before I get tested.

I also wanted to say that my bowels have cleared up tremendously since getting off gluten with no diarrhea and no obvious oil in my stool.

I was gluten-free for almost 2 months when my celiac blood test was done. It was my BIG mistake to let them do the test. I had doubts about it, but my doctor was sure that such a short period of time wouldn