Worried Parents

[alaskagal67]

We have a daughter that just turned two in June. She went through two blood tests for her IGA levels and all three test done months apart showed her levels were below normal. We were doing this to find out if she has celiac or not. She has always been constapatied and has had to be on Miralax for a long time now. Which does not always work good. Her belly has hurt her on several different times. So now her doctor told me last week we have to send her to a specialist that can do a biopsy to find out for sure if she has celiac. I am so scared about all this. I am being told her IGA levels mean she can be more prone to getting sick and having health problems. Is there anyone out there that knows about this IGA thing and can tell me more and what to expect for her outcome in life, thanks Gidget

[lizard00]

I have pretty low IgA and am not at all sickly My GI told me that my immune system makes up for it and that other than having the test run, I would never have known. I have heard that having low IgA is a sign of celiac.

I don't know if your daughter is already gluten-free or not, but if she's not, have them run the IgG version of the celiac panel. (If the ped tells you it doesn't exist, tell them to look it up. I had to tell my son's ped to look it up.) In cases where the patient is IgA deficient, the IgG is helpful.

Hope that helps!

[cassP]

Hi Gidget!

i'm Iga deficient- i have a "sensitive" stomach, and have had H.Pylori & of course several stomach bugs- but i dont think any more than the average person.. but i dont know.

as long as i eat right- i think i feel healthier than most people so dont feel disheartened.

you do have to figure out tho whether or not your child has Celiac (or even Gluten Intolerance)- YES- Iga Deficiency is common in Celiacs

there IS more blood tests you should ask your doc for: Ttg Igg, Anti-Gliadin Igg, and Endomysial Antibody. and know that false negatives can be common too.

hope you find your answers soon

[mommida]

Years ago I read everything I possible could about Celiac and found there is about 30% of Celiacs who are considered IGA deficient. (I have also seen the changes in Celiac statistics in the past 5 to 6 years.)

It is a very scarey time putting your little one through the endoscope with biopsy. Make sure you are working with a pediatric gastro you trust. I suggest having the test done to rule out all other possibilities that can have the same symptoms as Celiac. There are other things that have a higher correlation for Celiacs too. For instance, Celiacs are at a higher risk for H. Ployri. infection. It can also give you a baseline to determine how effective the gluten free diet is for your child's healing.