Negative Bloodtest

[kris1981]

Hello,

Well since years i'm suffering with my bowels. And 7 years ago i had a colonscopy and a bloodtest.

But a week ago i went back to my doc to have full bloodtest for celiac also.

They found i have deficiency for :

Iron

B12

Folic Acid

Vitamin D3

My Red blood cells where also low.

Well my doc said i don't have to worry much and it's my ibs that causes everything.

I have these symptoms

Abdominal Pain

Gas

Diarrhea not daily

Mood Swings

Acne

Nail Fungal since a little while

Muscle Pain

Bad Headeaches almost daily

I did also the food intolerance test at Yorktest but all negative. Can IBS causes all this.

My B12 was very low when i saw the report of my doc. It's from the first test 7 years ago that the range is between 80 and 110pg/ml now.

Also my d3 was very low 16.

My IGA was : 0.4 U/mL

I think i have some food intolerances because i cannot tolerate beer.

For my iron deficiency i tried liquid ones and also tablets but both gave me stomach upset and severe diarrhea. I have this to with other vitamins.

But with liquid folic acid, b12 i don't have any problem at all.

Well i don't what can be the cause anymore. I personally don't think that ibs is causing anemia and vitamin deficiency.

Kind Regards

Kris

[Wolicki]

Normal ranges for IGA are 80-350. With .4, you are IGA deficient, which means you have to throw out all the other celiac tests, as they will not be accurate with IGA deficiency. You may want to consider having an endoscopy to check for celiac damage. But, endo's are not 100% accurate, as there is something like 50 ft or more to check and it can be missed.

IMHO, the best indicator is a trial gluten free diet to see if it relieves your symptoms. There's lots and lots of good info and support here, so keep asking questions until you have your answer. I think with your deficiencies and symptoms, gluten could very likely be your problem.

[kris1981]

Well thanks for the answer i will try a gluten free diet because i think thats the cause of all these deficiencies.

Well my doc was not much helpfull i told him al my symptoms and what he told me was like it's in my head.

I know from my mom when i was a little child i could not tolerate gluten and i had a gluten free diet for one year.

Could celiac gives you feeling like having the flu and so tired some days. Some days i don't have much energy and i have mood swings.

What i know that triggers my symptoms alot are Pasta and Ice Cream.

[GFinDC]

Well thanks for the answer i will try a gluten free diet because i think thats the cause of all these deficiencies.

Well my doc was not much helpfull i told him al my symptoms and what he told me was like it's in my head.

I know from my mom when i was a little child i could not tolerate gluten and i had a gluten free diet for one year.

Could celiac gives you feeling like having the flu and so tired some days. Some days i don't have much energy and i have mood swings.

What i know that triggers my symptoms alot are Pasta and Ice Cream.

It does sound like you are not absorbing vitamins well. Celiac can damage the villi lining the small intestine. Those villi are very important in the absorption of nutrients. When they are damaged people often have vitamin deficiencies.

There are a ton of symptoms that celiacs can get. Being tired or feeling fluey are definitely possible symptoms.

[Wolicki]

Well thanks for the answer i will try a gluten free diet because i think thats the cause of all these deficiencies.

Well my doc was not much helpfull i told him al my symptoms and what he told me was like it's in my head.

I know from my mom when i was a little child i could not tolerate gluten and i had a gluten free diet for one year.

Could celiac gives you feeling like having the flu and so tired some days. Some days i don't have much energy and i have mood swings.

What i know that triggers my symptoms alot are Pasta and Ice Cream.

I felt like I had the flu on and off for 10 years. Intermitent fevers, aches and pains and a whole lot more.

[kris1981]

Well i started today on a gluten free diet and i found a webshop with good gluten free breads and other stuff.

I will give it a try for several months because i think this is my cause.

Feeling more bad than now isn't possible and i will see if i have relief.

Is alcohol forbidden also on Gluten free ? I'm from Belgium and you know we have so many beers and when i go out with friends i see all that beer

[sb2178]

It does sound like it, but with the fevers you may want to be sure that your doc checks you out for other autoimmune things like lupus too.

Do you have the reference range for the IgA? The 0.4 is likely a different test range than we're used to seeing here.

And, most beer is forbidden, but wines are generally safe as are many liquors.

[GFinDC]

Well i started today on a gluten free diet and i found a webshop with good gluten free breads and other stuff.

I will give it a try for several months because i think this is my cause.

Feeling more bad than now isn't possible and i will see if i have relief.

Is alcohol forbidden also on Gluten free ? I'm from Belgium and you know we have so many beers and when i go out with friends i see all that beer

Most wine is safe, tequila, potato vodka, corn bourbon, gluten-free beer also. There is a dark beer from Belgium called Greens and a light beer from America called Redbridge, and several others also. Greens is kinda expensive here in America but might be affordable there. Lucky you!

Keeping your diet simple is a good way to figure out what is going on. Not eating processed foods with lots of preservative and food colorings and additives is helpful. Of course they also add gluten to a lot of processed foods too. Dang it!

[kris1981]

Well the 0.4 is U/mL => Anti-transglutaminase

Thats all i have from the test for the IGA.

I think you are using in the us another value for IGA than u/ml but i don't know to convert it.

Thanks GFINDC for the tips. I will give it a try

[kris1981]

i have one more question can IBS causes vitamin deficiency because thats what my doc is telling me ?

[TooManyHats]

This can be missed with an endoscopy? I was told it was the gold standard. Oh, please don't tell me that! My doc said there was a 10% false negative with the blood work so she wanted to do the endo.

[Darn210]

I'm glad to hear you are going to give it a several months . . . some people see a big difference within days . . . some people take longer. Any input from your mom on how you did when you were gluten free? Why did you go back on it? (It was common to think that you could outgrow it.)

Is alcohol forbidden also on Gluten free ? I'm from Belgium and you know we have so many beers and when i go out with friends i see all that beer

I've switched to hard cider. I was not a big beer drinker. I have tried the Redbridge and it was OK . . . but I just tried hard cider and I have found my new preference whether I stay gluten free or not (I'm doing a trial diet myself).

[kris1981]

Darn yes this was the reason why my mom puts me back on gluten because the doc told her it will get better when getting older. Well i was better for many years but last years were difficult.

Toomanyhats i had an endo 7 years ago but i will ask if they checked for celiac. They did it because i had that time alot of stomach upset and my doc was thinking it was gastritis.

Now i get always the same stories from my doc and internist that it's ibs and thats the cause of all the vitamin deficiencies.

My doc gaved me already in the past effexor and xanax because my diarrhea is making me anxious many times. But xanax helped a bit and effexor did nothing for me. Also i don't like that kind of medicines because they don't treat the cause.

[GFinDC]

This can be missed with an endoscopy? I was told it was the gold standard. Oh, please don't tell me that! My doc said there was a 10% false negative with the blood work so she wanted to do the endo.

Yes, there can be false negatives on endoscopy. There is a lot of small intestine in there but they can only reach a small portion of it with an endoscopy. So if a damaged portion is out of reach then there is no way to biopsy it. Or see that it exists even. Except with a pill cam, those can see the whole length of the intestines. But,as far as I know, pill cams can't do biopsy, so it is a visual record only.

[GFinDC]

i have one more question can IBS causes vitamin deficiency because thats what my doc is telling me ?

IBS (I Be Stumped) means the doc doesn't know what's causing the problem. Since the doc doesn't know what the cause is, he is basically saying "something unknown" can cause vitamin deficiencies.

Well, there is also something known that can cause malabsorption and vitamin deficiencies. It's called celiac disease. It seems more reasonable IMHO to assume a known cause of malabsorption is the culprit (celiac) than a nebulous undefined syndrome that nobody can tell you much of anything definite about. This is assuming you respond well to the diet. If the gluten-free diet helps your digestion then really they can call the cause man of cheese disease for all it matters. The treatment is still to stay gluten-free regardless of the name.

I know it is nice to have a doctor say it definitely is this or that. But the reality is that some celiacs never test positive on any tests, but still are damaged by gluten. The testing for celiac is not 100% perfect yet and may never be.

Sometimes people use the term gluten intolerance to denote the case where there is no evidence of villi destruction but there are symptoms that resolve on the gluten-free diet. For instance some people don't get GI symptoms at all but get brain/nuero affects or joint pain or other symptoms. Since their symptoms are improved by going gluten-free it is obvious gluten is causing the problem, even though their gut doesn't show villi damage. So they could be called gluten intolerant in that case. It could be that medical science just hasn't gotten to the point of seeing the gut damage in these people.

[kris1981]

Thanks for your nice response Gfindc Well you are right it's always nice if a doc tells you what you have.

But i will stay on a Gluten Free Diet because i believe this is the cause of all my problems.

I'm now a few days gluten free and i see that the acne on my face is going away. I had this little acne for several years and nothing was helping.

Happy Xmas everyone and thanks for all the good support I finally found the answers i needed.