Egd Biopsy Not Needed?

[revo2814]

When I was 6 months old I was diagnosed with lactose intolerance (vomiting,diarrhea, poor weight gain, irritability, gas,etc), went on soy formula and did fine....Had a lifetime of bowel troubles. I had an EGD one year ago for a possible weight loss surgery but decided not to have it done (cause of the bowel issues).

I have had alot of strange problems......hypogonadic, b12 defiency, Vit D defiency, anemia in my early 20's, alterating constipation and diarrhea, feet numbness, hand stiffness and now recently hand numbness bilaterally (RA ruled out). When I was 14 I had my first outbreak of shingles. I have had almost 30 of them now to the left side of my face.....I believe this was Dermititis herpetiformis.....My doc ordered the TTG bloodwork which was negative.

I had an repeat EGD today for small bowel biposy.....but the doc said my bowel looked fine and didn't do a biopsy....I am kind of ticked off because my doc ordered biopsies.........Should I take the GE advice and not purse celiac anymore? My one aunt had 20-30 colon polyps removed and my other aunt (her sister) died recently from an aggressive colon cancer. I am being unreasonable to think the doc should have done biopsies?

Thanks for any input

[MsCurious]

When I was 6 months old I was diagnosed with lactose intolerance (vomiting,diarrhea, poor weight gain, irritability, gas,etc), went on soy formula and did fine....Had a lifetime of bowel troubles. I had an EGD one year ago for a possible weight loss surgery but decided not to have it done (cause of the bowel issues).

I have had alot of strange problems......hypogonadic, b12 defiency, Vit D defiency, anemia in my early 20's, alterating constipation and diarrhea, feet numbness, hand stiffness and now recently hand numbness bilaterally (RA ruled out). When I was 14 I had my first outbreak of shingles. I have had almost 30 of them now to the left side of my face.....I believe this was Dermititis herpetiformis.....My doc ordered the TTG bloodwork which was negative.

I had an repeat EGD today for small bowel biposy.....but the doc said my bowel looked fine and didn't do a biopsy....I am kind of ticked off because my doc ordered biopsies.........Should I take the GE advice and not purse celiac anymore? My one aunt had 20-30 colon polyps removed and my other aunt (her sister) died recently from an aggressive colon cancer. I am being unreasonable to think the doc should have done biopsies?

Thanks for any input

OMG! ... The doc didn't do biopsies because with the naked eye... "it looked fine"? I'd get a hold of the head honcho and let them know what happened, and tell them you expect a biopsy at NO additional charge, to do what he was supposed to do in the first place, and that you want a different doctor of your choice to do it. That's just nuts! Sorry... I get a little upset when doctors don't do what they should.

The truth is, you can't see partial villous atrophy without microscope. You could have Marsh 1 or 2 which is nearly impossible to see with the naked eye... if not totally impossible. Doc "might" have been able to detect total villous atrophy but obviously that was not the case. Sheesh... Isn't that what you had the Endo for? Or was he/she/it looking for something else and the biopsy was an after though? Still, with your history, they should have done the biopsies.

[ravenwoodglass]

The TTG is not the only celiac test they should have done. Could you ask your GP to do a full celiac panel including the total IGA and DGP? It would also be a good idea to have a full vitamin and mineral panel done as we are often low in some including ferritin and iron. If your doctor refuses to do any more testing then you do have the option of trying the diet strictly for a few months. That should be done anyway no matter what the test results as false negatives are not uncommon. Do express your displeasure with the doc that decided he didn't need to do the biopsies with the doctor that wanted them done. I bet he won't get to many more referrals from your doctor.

[Roda]

If you have active lesions you could get a biopsy of them. They have to biopsy the skin next to the lesion. If positive it is a diagnosis of celiac. Others on here know the proper skin biopsy procedure so hopefully someone else will chime in.

[Kre8sioN]

I'm having serious problems, My mother just told me when I was 6 months old I had under developed intestines, does this have any relation to whats happening to me at 38?

[revo2814]

Kinda ticked off....already had a EGD last year w/o biopsy.......The doc seemed to busy talking me into a esophageal dilatation for minor swallowing difficulties. It seems that from my past medical and family hisory I would be high risk for celiac in spite of the negaive TTG.......its not IBS.....my aunt died of colon ca with no known risk factors...she didn't smoke.