Jump to content

  • You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

Tissue Transglutamase Number

anna34

Recommended Posts

anna34 Enthusiast
anna34
Posted

My blood test came back and my tissue transglutamase number was 22.9 I'm going for the biopsy soon. With a number like that, what do you suppose are the odds that I have celiac?

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


adab8ca Enthusiast
adab8ca
Posted

My blood test came back and my tissue transglutamase number was 22.9 I'm going for the biopsy soon. With a number like that, what do you suppose are the odds that I have celiac?

Did they give you a range? Every lab is different...If it is outside the range, chances are pretty good. If you have symptoms, chances are even better...There are false positives but I think those are pretty rare and that false negatives seem to be more common.

anna34 Enthusiast
anna34
Posted
  • Author

Did they give you a range? Every lab is different...If it is outside the range, chances are pretty good. If you have symptoms, chances are even better...There are false positives but I think those are pretty rare and that false negatives seem to be more common.

I'm not sure what you mean by range (I'm very new to this) but they said 0-5 is normal, 5-8 is intermediate, and anything higher than 8 is high. I guess what I'm asking is, if they suggest you do the biopsy, are they already pretty sure you have celiac and they're just double checking? How often do people do the biopsy and get told they don't have celiac? Thank you in advance for any replies.

ryebaby0 Enthusiast
ryebaby0
Posted

I'm not sure what you mean by range (I'm very new to this) but they said 0-5 is normal, 5-8 is intermediate, and anything higher than 8 is high. I guess what I'm asking is, if they suggest you do the biopsy, are they already pretty sure you have celiac and they're just double checking? How often do people do the biopsy and get told they don't have celiac? Thank you in advance for any replies.

If you look at your lab report (always get a copy for yourself), there should be a range listed. A biopsy can always be falsely negative (say you aren't celiac, when you are) because a biopsy is just bitsy snippets from places the GI deems likely choices. It's not like hitting a mark on the pavement, more like throwing a dart at a board. Most GIs are not going to do a biopsy without a positive test. Some people never get a biopsy, having positive symptom change on a gluten-free diet. My husband's tTg was "borderline" but he was clearly much better on a gluten-free diet (after the bloodtest) so he stayed on it. Never biopsied. Our son's tTg was 145 and he was biopsied in order to rule out other complications. In the end, the definitive diagnosis is a positive blood test and/or biopsy, AND a positive reaction to a gluten-free diet.

cassP Contributor
cassP
Posted

I'm not sure what you mean by range (I'm very new to this) but they said 0-5 is normal, 5-8 is intermediate, and anything higher than 8 is high. I guess what I'm asking is, if they suggest you do the biopsy, are they already pretty sure you have celiac and they're just double checking? How often do people do the biopsy and get told they don't have celiac? Thank you in advance for any replies.

according to your lab range- i would say you're positive on your ttg. now if it was me- i would assume i had Celiac- i THINK a positive ttg can be attributed to other disorders- but sounds pretty suspect to me- especially if you have gluten symptoms that improve with a gluten free diet.

they suggest biopsies cause they feel they cant diagnose without a positive biopsy- but be prepared- biopsies run false negatives too... make sure they get like 6 biopsies from different areas of the small intestine- damage could be real spotty and they could miss it.

SaraKat Contributor
SaraKat
Posted

It sounds like you have it. I think my original number was 38 (with the same range you had) and my endoscopy was very positive.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):



    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):



  • Recent Activity

    1. trents
      - trents replied to ThomasA55's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      3

      Iron loss and potential celiac.

      Being as how you are largely asymptomatic, I would certainly advise undertaking a gluten challenge in order to get formal testing for celiac disease. We have many forum participants who become violently ill when they undertake a gluten challenge and they therefore can't carry through with it. That doesn't seem to be the case with you. The reason I think it...
    2. ThomasA55
      - ThomasA55 replied to ThomasA55's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      3

      Iron loss and potential celiac.

    3. trents
      - trents replied to ThomasA55's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      3

      Iron loss and potential celiac.

      Welcome to the celiac.com community, @ThomasA55! Before I give my opinion on your question about whether or not you should undergo a gluten challenge, I would like to know how you react when you get a good dose of gluten? Are you largely asymptomatic or do you experience significant illness such as nausea and diarrhea? You mentioned intermittent joint...
    4. Joseph01
      - Joseph01 replied to bethmon's topic in Gluten-Free Foods, Products, Shopping & Medications
      14

      We Keep Getting Glutened With Vegetable Oil

      This is way past due for your post. I have Celiac and have been recovering for more than a year. Doing well. Used Essential oil to day to fry some chicken. Read the label all good. Then ate some chicken. Here comes the gluten reaction. I haven't had a gluten reaction since year. I am angry. I have been so careful with this crap and don't wan't any...
    5. ThomasA55
      - ThomasA55 posted a topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      3

      Iron loss and potential celiac.

      Hey everyone. I'm a young adult who had very high iron in 2024. 64% saturation 160 ferritin. In 2025 I had far lower iron. 26% saturation and 130 ferritin. I know this is still in range but it seems to be a large drop. That combined with the fact that I developed some intermittent joint pain between the two years makes me wonder if I could be celiac. My dietary...
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):

  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      134,086
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      10,442
    Joseph01
    Newest Member
    Joseph01
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.7k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):

  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • trents
      Iron loss and potential celiac.

      By trents · Posted

      Being as how you are largely asymptomatic, I would certainly advise undertaking a gluten challenge in order to get formal testing for celiac disease. We have many forum participants who become violently ill when they undertake a gluten challenge and they therefore can't carry through with it. That doesn't seem to be the case with you. The reason I think it is important for you to get tested is that many or most people who don't have a formal diagnosis find it difficult to be consistent with the gluten-free diet. They find ways to rationalize that their symptoms are due to something other than celiac disease . . . especially when it becomes socially limiting.  The other factor here is by being inconsistent with the gluten free diet, assuming you do have celiac disease, you are likely causing slow, incremental damage to your gut, even though you are largely asymptomatic. It can take years for that damage to get to the point where it results in spinoff health problems.
    • ThomasA55
      Iron loss and potential celiac.

      By ThomasA55 · Posted

    • trents
      Iron loss and potential celiac.

      By trents · Posted

      Welcome to the celiac.com community, @ThomasA55! Before I give my opinion on your question about whether or not you should undergo a gluten challenge, I would like to know how you react when you get a good dose of gluten? Are you largely asymptomatic or do you experience significant illness such as nausea and diarrhea? You mentioned intermittent joint pain before you began experimenting with a low gluten diet. Anything else?
    • Joseph01
      We Keep Getting Glutened With Vegetable Oil

      By Joseph01 · Posted

      This is way past due for your post.  I have Celiac and have been recovering for more than a year.  Doing well.  Used Essential oil to day to fry some chicken.  Read the label all good.  Then ate some chicken.  Here comes the gluten reaction.  I haven't had a gluten reaction since year.  I am angry.   I have been so careful with this crap and don't wan't any set backs!!!!! Good luck to you with your post.   Celiac is HELL!
    • ThomasA55
      Iron loss and potential celiac.

      By ThomasA55 · Posted

      Hey everyone. I'm a young adult who had very high iron in 2024. 64% saturation 160 ferritin. In 2025 I had far lower iron. 26% saturation and 130 ferritin. I know this is still in range but it seems to be a large drop. That combined with the fact that I developed some intermittent joint pain between the two years makes me wonder if I could be celiac. My dietary intake of iron was pretty steady (mostly in the form of red meat). I did carnivore (therby eliminating gluten) for a bit after the second test and felt improvements in my joints and digestion. I still consume gluten occasionally socially, for religious reasons, and through cross contamination/food sharing. For these reasons, I would need to know if I had it, because although my lifestyle is low gluten its not at the strict level it should be if it turned out I was celiac. I will get a gene test first and hope I don't have DQ2.5,DQ2.2, or DQ8, but if I had any combination of those do you guys think I need proper screening through a gluten challenge / blood test? Other context. From 2024-2025, my b12 stayed about the same in the mid 600s folate went up slightly, but I heard it takes longer for celiac to affect the absorption of these. ANA negative, CRP low, ESR low.  I don't know how much noise exists around the saturation and ferritin, but it caught my eye and Celiac seemed like a possibility. I'm under no illusion that it is probable that I have celiac, only that it may be worth screening given my overall profile.   
×
×
  • Create New...