Test Results Help

[coffeetime]

My 19 yr old son got his blood results back today. My brother was diagnosed in Nov, me in Jan, and my mom in March. He decided he wanted to be tested after a lot of debate. The final straw was when he had a really weird form of dandruff return. The first time was about 3 years ago when he dropped about 30lbs (5'10, down from 170 to 140), which at the time his hair became very thin, the hair on top of his head has never fully regrown and he has begun to lose it again. We did at the time all the usual test at that time, thyroid, blood work, various specialist etc. everything was normal with the exception of anemia at the time and was blamed on the weight loss. The digestive issues, especially diarrhea after eating, sadly often acting up during the meal have been less during the last month or so. He has a lot of trouble keeping weight on but has managed to get back up to 170, but will drop lbs so quickly if he isn't careful. He has battled anemia over the years but it is currently o.k. in that area.

O.k. I think that's enough history his results are

Immunoglobulin A 157 range 61-348

Deamidated Gliadin Abs, IgA 3.0 range 0-10 neg

Deamidated Gliadin Abs, IgG 16 H range 0-10

tTG IgA 1 range 0-3 neg

tTG IgG 1 range 0-5 neg

The doctor who ordered the test is on vacation till the 29th and if he should avoid gluten I want to help him understand how to do this before he returns to college in a few weeks.

Thank you all in advance for all your help.

[ravenwoodglass]

It does appear that his results (Deamidated Gliadin Abs, IgG 16 H) were positive. I think the TTG being negative is a good thing as it tends to be positive in folks who have autoimmune issues that have developed from the celiac damage. I could be wrong about that and if I am I am sure someone will come along and correct me.

However is he going to want to have a biopsy done? If so he shouldn't go gluten free yet. With 3 other family members already diagnosed I don't know if he will want to go through with the biopsy or if the doctor will consider it needed, especially since there are false negatives with biopsy anyway.

It can be tough for young people in college to be gluten free but he should do his best. Some colleges accomodate gluten free living quite well as it is getting to be common.

Hopefully his anemia and hairloss and other issues will resolve soon. It can take about 3 months before hair regrowth is obvious but many of us do have our hair issues resolve along with all the other issues. He should avoid dairy for a while also to heal the quickest.

I would suggest he spend some time here himself also. There is a section for young adults but he can ask questions on any topic he needs to.

I hope he heals quickly.

[coffeetime]

It does appear that his results (Deamidated Gliadin Abs, IgG 16 H) were positive. I think the TTG being negative is a good thing as it tends to be positive in folks who have autoimmune issues that have developed from the celiac damage. I could be wrong about that and if I am I am sure someone will come along and correct me.

However is he going to want to have a biopsy done? If so he shouldn't go gluten free yet. With 3 other family members already diagnosed I don't know if he will want to go through with the biopsy or if the doctor will consider it needed, especially since there are false negatives with biopsy anyway.

It can be tough for young people in college to be gluten free but he should do his best. Some colleges accomodate gluten free living quite well as it is getting to be common.

Hopefully his anemia and hairloss and other issues will resolve soon. It can take about 3 months before hair regrowth is obvious but many of us do have our hair issues resolve along with all the other issues. He should avoid dairy for a while also to heal the quickest.

I would suggest he spend some time here himself also. There is a section for young adults but he can ask questions on any topic he needs to.

I hope he heals quickly.

Thank you for your reply. I don't think he is interested in the biopsy. I wish we had known about this illness years ago when he first started having issues. I must admit though I feel so much sadness that he will have to deal with this diet. He has other allergies (trees, grasses, cats, etc) but meds take care of those so well. I wish there was a pill for gluten allergy. It was so much easier for me, I love the area of nutrition and I love cooking. For the most part my whole family is already gluten free. All the desserts I make, and food I prepare is gluten-free. I had not switched their bread, just their pasta. So basically he has a real good understanding already. It will just be navigating the stores and restaurants. Actually, I am glad I replied to your email, as I just typed what we do, I realized he already has a good base of knowledge. Thank you, and have a wonderful day.

[ravenwoodglass]

Thank you for your reply. I don't think he is interested in the biopsy. I wish we had known about this illness years ago when he first started having issues. I must admit though I feel so much sadness that he will have to deal with this diet. He has other allergies (trees, grasses, cats, etc) but meds take care of those so well. I wish there was a pill for gluten allergy. It was so much easier for me, I love the area of nutrition and I love cooking. For the most part my whole family is already gluten free. All the desserts I make, and food I prepare is gluten-free. I had not switched their bread, just their pasta. So basically he has a real good understanding already. It will just be navigating the stores and restaurants. Actually, I am glad I replied to your email, as I just typed what we do, I realized he already has a good base of knowledge. Thank you, and have a wonderful day.

One thing that may happen with him is that he may lose at least a few of those other allergies. Before I was diagnosed with celiac I was tested for true allergies. I was tested for 99 different items, I came back reactive to 98. The only thing I wasn't allergic to was beech trees. Within a pretty short time gluten free I had lost almost all the other allergies, along with my asthma reactions to them. My allergist said the gluten issue was putting my immune system into hyperdrive. Taking care of the gluten issue took care of the rest. Perhaps it will with him also.