Blood Test Results - Celiac?

[LilDebMom]

My 9 year son was recently tested for Celiac Disease and has now been referred to a GI specialist.

I was hoping someone could help me interpret the results.

Iga = 12

Igg = 30

and apparently ttg and the 4th factor were normal (don't know the numbers).

His pedi would not confirm or deny if these blood results mean celiac disease and I'm a bit confused with all that I have read. I understand that aditional testing might be required - but I just need to get an understanding on what these results mean.

Also are there varies degrees of the severity of celiac disease? or if you have or have it and you must go gluten free?

The pedi did advise not to change my son's diet until after we have seen the GI specialist. However, he also tested positive to a moderate (low moderate) allergy reaction to milk. The dr said I could start trying different milks (ie, soy or rice) with him though.. does that sound ok with you all even if does have Celiac or should I wait until after he sees the GI specialist?

Any other advise on what to ask or expect at the GI dr would be great..

Thanks

LilDebMom

[mushroom]

Hi LilDebMom, and welcome.

Since you do not state, I am assuming these were AGA scores. Without the ranges the lab uses it is hard to comment on how high or low these scores are. Yes, there are other tests in the celiac panel that the GI may want to run, depending on whether your doctor ran the EMA and DGP tests, or he may just do the endoscopy with biopsy. There are varying stages of developing damage in celiac disease, but if you have it you have it, like even if you are only five weeks pregnant, you are still pregnant If you have caught it early you are one of the lucky ones, because unlike pregnancy where the baby continues to grown, if you just eliminate gluten you can reverse the damage to the body and the risks that go with celiac disease. And the less damage often the shorter the healing time. But you can't just go gluten lite because you are not a severe celiac. It is all or nothing.

By all means eliminate the milk right away because if his small intestine is damaged he will not be able to digest it. There are other options available for milks including almond and hemp. If you decide to do rice milk avoid Rice Dream because it is processed with barley even though it claims to be gluten free. Many celiacs also do not tolerate soy well and some of us feel it is best avoided also. This is a personal opinion though.

You might try questioning around your family and your husband's family to see if there is a family history of GI problems and autoimmune diseases, diabetes, arthritis, thyroid problems. This could give an indication of where the genetic inheritance came from. If you have other children they should also be tested.

All in all the GI appt. should be pretty straightforward - just his history, family history, symptoms and discussing the test results, scheduling the endo.

Good luck and let us know how the appt. goes and ask any other questions you want.

[LilDebMom]

Thanks for the response. Unfortunately I don't have a print out of the results and was a little overwhelmed when I received the call from the dr.

I believe the dr said with both the Iga and Igg levels anyting less than 11 was negative...so he did test positive for both Iga (12) and Igg (30) but I don't know how high the scale goes.. The other two factors (Ttg & ?) - he was negative.. Does that sound like he does indeed have Celiac Disease?

[mushroom]

Yes, it sounds like he did AGA IgA and IgG tests. So if anything over 11 is positive, yes he is positive.