Blood Work Results

[michayla]

Hey everyone - I am back...again.

I got my blood work back - they had put me back on gluten for a week to be ble to retest for celiac and other things as well. My doctor went over them with me and generally explained, but then also sent me the results. I was wondering if anyone might be able to help me decipher EXACTLY what these mean, as it is of course in all medical terms!

Iron and TIBC: 51 ug/dl

Sedimentation Rate-Westergren: 5mm/hr

Ferritin, Serum: 6 ng/ml

Deamitated Gliadin Abs, IgA: 18 units

Deamitated Gliadin Abs, IgG: 24 units

TIBC: 513 ug/dL

UIBC: 462 ug/dl

Iron saturation: 10%

t-Transglutaminase 6 U/mL

Tissue transglutaminase IgG: 19 U/mL

now some of these seem the same to me - but i really have no idea what it breaks down do. i know a lot of other people post their blood results as well - can anyone tell me what any of this really translates to? thanks!

[ravenwoodglass]

Do you have the reference ranges for the tests? Sometimes labs have different ranges. You say you went back on gluten for a week, how long were you off of it? How did your body react to adding it back in? If we have been off gluten for a while and healed it may take a longer challenge than a week to show up positive in the blood tests.

[cassP]

ya, the reference ranges help us- since most labs have slightly different ranges.

your Igg numbers are higher than your Iga numbers- so im wondering if you're low on Iga- but it doesnt look like they tested your Total Iga Serum

[michayla]

ya, the reference ranges help us- since most labs have slightly different ranges.

your Igg numbers are higher than your Iga numbers- so im wondering if you're low on Iga- but it doesnt look like they tested your Total Iga Serum

okay - here are the ranges in parentheses:

Iron and TIBC: 51 ug/dl (35-155)

Sedimentation Rate-Westergren: 5mm/hr (0-20)

Ferritin, Serum: 6 ng/ml (13-150)

Deamitated Gliadin Abs, IgA: 18 units

(Negative 0-19

Weak Positive 20-30

Moderate to Strong Positive >30)

Deamitated Gliadin Abs, IgG: 24 units

(Negative 0-19

Weak Positive 20-30

Moderate to Strong Positive >30)

TIBC: 513 ug/dL (250-450)

UIBC: 462 ug/dl (150-375)

Iron saturation: 10% (15-55)

t-Transglutaminase 6 U/mL

(Negative 0-3

Weak Positive 4-10

Positive >10)

Tissue transglutaminase IgG: 19 U/mL

(Negative 0-5

Weak Positive 6-9

Positive >9)

does this help?

[cassP]

yes

your ttg ranges are like my lab. i had similar ttg numbers- only a 7 on my ttg iga, and then a 6 (did it twice). my antigliadin was negative (but i had the old test. you had the newer more accurate test).

you ttg igg is positive. (mine was weak positive).

both your antigliadin & ttg igg ARE POSITIVE.

your antigliadin & ttg IGA are weak positive

this looks to me that your blood tests are positive & i am GUESSING that you are LOW on your Iga or Iga Deficient. i say this because you IGG tests are positive but your IGA tests are weaker.

have you done the endoscopy with multiple biopsies?? do your symptoms improve on a gluten free diet?

it's up to you & your doctor on what your DX is... but i would say your body does not want gluten.

the other tests i dont really know much about-

ps- your numbers are higher than mine, and i have Celiac.

good luck. oh- if your doc thinks your numbers are too LOW or undiagnostic- ask him to test your Total Iga Serum

[michayla]

yes

your ttg ranges are like my lab. i had similar ttg numbers- only a 7 on my ttg iga, and then a 6 (did it twice). my antigliadin was negative (but i had the old test. you had the newer more accurate test).

you ttg igg is positive. (mine was weak positive).

both your antigliadin & ttg igg ARE POSITIVE.

your antigliadin & ttg IGA are weak positive

this looks to me that your blood tests are positive & i am GUESSING that you are LOW on your Iga or Iga Deficient. i say this because you IGG tests are positive but your IGA tests are weaker.

have you done the endoscopy with multiple biopsies?? do your symptoms improve on a gluten free diet?

it's up to you & your doctor on what your DX is... but i would say your body does not want gluten.

the other tests i dont really know much about-

ps- your numbers are higher than mine, and i have Celiac.

good luck. oh- if your doc thinks your numbers are too LOW or undiagnostic- ask him to test your Total Iga Serum

thanks! out of curiosity though, what exactly IS the antigliadin and ttg and IGA and IGG? like, i am not sure what it even looks at.

i did one endoscopy and it came back negative. i am scheduled for another, but this is a PUSH endoscopy this time - basically they are going lower into the upper digestive system to test for more. that is in two weeks. i am on gluten until then.

my symptoms improved for a bit with gluten free, but then some things started to come back, and others never actually went away. relatively speaking, i felt better on gluten-free than on gluten though. but that is why i went back for more testing-strictly gluten-free wasn't 100% working.

my problem is i can't even figure out what the heck they exactly tested for, you know?

[cassP]

those items are on your results:

TTG (tissue transglutamase) Iga & Igg

Antigliadin Iga & Igg

(they're antibodies your body is making)

Total Iga Serum is a blood test you could get- if your below range- then that would explain why your Igg numbers are higher and possibly more accurate.

be sure when you get this 2nd endoscopy that they take at least 5 or 6 biopsies and from different locations.. damage may only be spotty

[sb2178]

The TTG antibodies are "anti-self" antibodies, which mean your body is attacking your intestines.

The DGP/AGA are anti-gluten antibodies, which means that your body is attacking gluten.

IgA is one class of antibodies; IgG is another class of antibodies. Sort of like apples and oranges, fruit but not exactly the same.

And, I hope someone is taking the iron deficiency anemia pretty seriously. It makes a huge difference when your number are back up, having been about there last year.

[michayla]

The TTG antibodies are "anti-self" antibodies, which mean your body is attacking your intestines.

The DGP/AGA are anti-gluten antibodies, which means that your body is attacking gluten.

IgA is one class of antibodies; IgG is another class of antibodies. Sort of like apples and oranges, fruit but not exactly the same.

And, I hope someone is taking the iron deficiency anemia pretty seriously. It makes a huge difference when your number are back up, having been about there last year.

thank you for that differentiation! makes a big difference. and as of right now i am taking an iron supplement t get those numbers up. unfortunately, it probably isn't doing much since i am back on gluten. my dr. just said that we will have to up my iron intake, to possible 3 supplements a day. BELIEVE ME - i can FEEL it. i am absolutely exhausted all the time, cannot sleep from the anemia, and get some painful tachycardia as well. i can't WAIT for my body to start absorbing iron again!

thank you everyone for your help! i really appreciate it!

[cyberprof]

thank you for that differentiation! makes a big difference. and as of right now i am taking an iron supplement t get those numbers up. unfortunately, it probably isn't doing much since i am back on gluten. my dr. just said that we will have to up my iron intake, to possible 3 supplements a day. BELIEVE ME - i can FEEL it. i am absolutely exhausted all the time, cannot sleep from the anemia, and get some painful tachycardia as well. i can't WAIT for my body to start absorbing iron again!

thank you everyone for your help! i really appreciate it!

I would suggest asking for iron shots. Did they test for b vitamin and vit D deficiencies (I'm too lazy to look at your post to check...) Some people benefit from sublingual B-vit supplements (helps boby to absorb) but I think there are b-vit and Vit-D shots too. Check it out.

I hope that the endoscopy helps them find out what is wrong. But whatever it is, it is in ADDITION to celiac, so I hope you will not go back on gluten regardless of what else the find/don't find. It may be that nothing else is wrong with you and that the celiac has made you very sick: That was me, as I didn't get better right away but had nothing else wrong. Needing to heal was what was keeping me from feeling 100% better.