Help With Diagnosis?

[PeterM]

This is my first post to this or any forum on this site, so I'm not sure if this is the correct place to post. I am in the discovery stage of trying to figure out some health issues that may be related to gluten intolerance and/or celiac disease. I am hoping to find some other folks with similar symptoms/experiences out there, and/or some advice with my issues.

For several years now I have noticed a lot of mucus buildup during and after eating, to the point of wheezing in the lungs and lots of hacking/coughing/clearing during and after meals. This also occurs sometimes during/after exercise, and also in the morning just after getting out of bed. Additionally I have suffered from varying degrees of eczema since childhood on the inside of my elbows and knees, eyelids, and now on the inside of my wrist.

After reading about gluten issues, I had a saliva test as well as a blood test to help in my diagnosis. Additionally I've had an acupuncturist diagnose me as having a "food allergy" by reading my pulses and with some historical information. Test results are:

Gliadin Ab, SIgA (Saliva): 43 (Borderline: 13-15 U/ml, Positive: >15 U/ml)

TISSUE TRANSGLUTAMINASE IGG 0.34 <0.90- Index

TISSUE TRANSGLUTAMINASE IGA 3.47 <0.90- Index

I have been told the next step is an upper GI endoscopy to biopsy some tissue to determine if I have more serious issues. This test is rather expensive, but I would like to know more about what is going on inside my body and if it could be causing my symptoms. Does anyone have experience in this area that would be willing to help/share?

Thanks in advance!!

Pete

[mushroom]

Your symptoms and your blood tests indicate you have celiac disease. Your doctor wants to confirm the diagnosis with the endoscopy which is considered the "gold standard" of diagnosis. Many doctors will diagnose on the basis of the blood test and positive response to the diet. It is up to you whether or not to have the biopsy. If you feel confident you could stay gluten free with positive response to the diet, and there is no other benefit to be gained from the official diagnosis, there is nothing to stop you from going gluten free, but you should continue eating gluten until all possible testing that you might want done is completed. It is your choice entirely.

For myself, I went gluten free before anyone thought to test me - I am entirely self-diagnosed, so I have never found myself in your position

[Emilushka]

The biopsies are also useful to determine how badly damaged your guts are from the Celiac. I agree - you've got Celiac based on the blood tests.

The other thing the endoscopy would allow is to make sure you don't have any H pylori overgrowth in your stomach (a bad bug that can cause ulcers and predispose to stomach cancer) and also check for any existing ulcers or gastritis or obvious inflammation in your intestines.

That being said, the H pylori can be tested for with a blood test for antibodies as long as you've never had it before, and there's also a breath test that I think nobody is doing anymore. Ulcers would require treatment beyond the treatments for Celiac (which is all diet modification) and can only be diagnosed for sure with a scope. Other kinds of inflammation could be treated symptomatically (acid reducers, diet modification for the Celiac so you stop inducing MORE inflammation, etc) and probably wouldn't require the scope.

So right now, as long as you've never had H pylori before, you probably mostly would need the endoscopy if you're worried about a potential ulcer (a significant concern! Those need to be treated so they don't rupture, which is life-threatening). Otherwise you could request blood testing for the H pylori and be treated if it came back positive.