Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    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):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Sedimentation Rate-Westergren

GlutenFreeManna

Recommended Posts

GlutenFreeManna Rising Star
GlutenFreeManna
Posted

Okay so I posted before about a frustrating trip to a new dr in which it seemed like I had been tested for celiac against my will. I have been gluten free for over a year so the test results would inevitably come back negative. Today I got the list of blood tests that were actually run and the celiac test panel was NOT included. So I can breath a sigh of relief on that one. It seems the dr ignored my husband's insistance that I be tested and actually listened to me! So this new dr gets bonus points for that. Now on to my question--

One of the tests that was run was Sedimentation rate-Westergren. I googled this test and I see it is used to measure inflamation in the body for diagnosing autoimmune diseases like Lupus, RA, etc. I don't yet have the results I just know this test was run. My question is, should I expect this test to be negative/normal if I have been gluten free and celiac is my only problem?

I'm pretty sure that gluten causes inflamation in my body. When I consume gluten I get joint pain and muscle spasms and my hands shake. At the time I had blood drawn I was suffering a low level cc glutening. I didn't have joint pain but I had been very tired and we think we figured out the culprit was my husband kissing me after eating oatmeal. Anyway, if this test is positive or elevated or something does that indicate another autoimmune disease or can it be from celiac on a gluten free diet?

Anyone know much about this test? I wasn't sure where to post this question so mods please move if it's in the wrong place. Thanks.

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

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

My sed rate was alarmingly high for several years after gluten free, despite all the DMARDS (disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs) I was taking during that time. I used to wonder if it was gut inflammation that was making it so high, or what? As soon as I started on a TNF-inhibitor (Humira) it came tumbling down. so that answered that question. Inflammation can be caused by so many things; I am sure that is why he ran a battery of tests, including a check of your inflammation levels.

GlutenFreeManna Rising Star
GlutenFreeManna
Posted
  • Author

My sed rate was alarmingly high for several years after gluten free, despite all the DMARDS (disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs) I was taking during that time. I used to wonder if it was gut inflammation that was making it so high, or what? As soon as I started on a TNF-inhibitor (Humira) it came tumbling down. so that answered that question. Inflammation can be caused by so many things; I am sure that is why he ran a battery of tests, including a check of your inflammation levels.

Thank You Mushroom! So if it's high I won't be alarmed I guess. I had a positve ANA test a few years ago but they said it wasn't lupus after a follow up test. I know I have something auto-immune goign on. I'm hoping that it's only celiac. :)

zus888 Contributor
zus888
Posted

Thank You Mushroom! So if it's high I won't be alarmed I guess. I had a positve ANA test a few years ago but they said it wasn't lupus after a follow up test. I know I have something auto-immune goign on. I'm hoping that it's only celiac. :)

I think this area of medicine is still in its infancy. Westergren has it's own battery of tests (two antibodies need to be present in order to diagnose). I'm not sure about the overall sed rate and what that will tell you.

They are aware that celiac and other autoimmune diseases are connected, but they don't know HOW yet. Could be that a gene or genes are the source, or it could be that the gene triggers gluten intolerance which then triggers the other autoimmune diseases. They just don't know. Furthermore, they don't know if going on a gluten-free diet can change the course of these autoimmune diseases once triggered. It seems that some people experience an improvement of symptoms while others don't. Unfortunately, no one knows. So, chronic inflammation could be due to the gluten or any number of other things (including the ones you've been tested for). All we can do is hope for the best.

heathen Apprentice
heathen
Posted

This test is incredibly non-specific and does not diagnose anything. It's helpfulness is giving your physician an idea the level of inflammation, especially if you do have conditions like lupus. The destructive nature of Celiac Disease no doubt causes inflammation which may result in an elevated Sed rate, but so can a really bad stubbed toe.

Archived

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

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      131,381
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    AHD
    Newest Member
    AHD
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.4k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • lauramac
      COVID19 and getting glutened

      By lauramac · Posted

      I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease abput 10 years ago. When I was initially diagnosed my only "symptom" was persistently low iron (that occasionally dipped into anemia). After diagnosis,  over time, I started to develop symptoms when exposed to gluten--they have been overall relatively minor, but have increased over time (and yes, I realize my guts are likely being wrecked regardless of the symptoms) on the rare occasions I've been exposed to gluten. I had COVID19 last week (now testing negative) and was glutened last night (never trust anything labeled gluten-free in a mixed environment). I had my traditional symptoms (sharp gas pains, burping, nausea, stomach ache) but they were accompanied by new, more intense symptoms (muscle cramps all over my body--feet, calves, biceps, neck, shoulders, jaw, abdomen, I'm still sore today and cold sweats). I spent about 6 hours writhing before I felt well enough to get up.  I have been told by my allergist that COVID19 can cause your immune system to hyper react. I'm wondering if that's what happened here.   Has anyone else had experience getting glutened post COVID19? Relatively shortly after recovering from COVID19? Was it a more extreme reaction or same? I can't seem to find any articles on this, so I thought I'd ask the community.  Thank you!
    • Rogol72
      Draft gluten-free ciders… can they be trusted ?

      By Rogol72 · Posted

      A friend of mine is in the bar trade most of his life and has never heard of lines being mixed for different type of beers and ciders. Better to stick with cans.
    • Rejoicephd
      Draft gluten-free ciders… can they be trusted ?

      By Rejoicephd · Posted

      Thanks very much for confirming my suspicion @Scott Adams! That helps a lot because I'm really trying to track down and get rid of these sources of cross-contact and so I'm going to just rule out the draft ciders and hope that helps. Also @Rogol72 its nice to hear you haven't had a problem on that side of the pond - draft cider lines being used for cider only certainly sounds like the right way to do it, but I think that must not always be practiced over here! 
    • Zuma888
      Gluten challenge and Hashimoto's Thyroiditis

      By Zuma888 · Posted

      I didn't ask a doctor about this actually. I did ask several doctors a long time ago and they told me gluten has nothing to do with hashimoto's. One of them told me to do a gluten challenge to test for celiac, but at the time I was in graduate school so couldn't afford to be even more ill than I was. If you have the symptoms, I really don't advise you to do a gluten challenge. It messed me up mentally and physically for months. At the same time, I benefitted from doing the challenge in the sense that it convinced me that all my symptoms were truly from gluten - even stuff like insomnia! So now I am terrified to eat gluten, whereas before I would have a little once in a while and not notice anything dramatic. 
    • Winnie-Ther-Pooh
      Gluten challenge and Hashimoto's Thyroiditis

      By Winnie-Ther-Pooh · Posted

      I am in a similar situation where I can't feasibly do a gluten challenge but have all the symptoms and I have 2 celiac genes. I'm curious if your doctor advised you to eat as if you had a diagnosis or if they were more dismissive about it. 
×
×
  • Create New...