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

What Tests?


Bebee

Recommended Posts

Bebee Rookie

I have had diarrhea/loose stools for 3 months, tried to eleminate anything new I started that wasn't it. I saw my family doctor and he did blood work and stool tests, all normal. He the sent me to a gastroentronologist, more blood work and stool tests, all normal, but he still wanted to do a biopsy for celiac and after reading on this forum I cancelled the biopsy, because if figured that would come back normal too. Now the only symptom I have is occasional upset stomach w/diarrhea, some gurgling, that's it, diarrhea(loose) every day.

Now that I have cancelled the biopsy I am waiting for an other doctor to do allergy testing for food allergies/intollerances, but I am not sure if that is the best way to go. I've read that Enterolab does testing for gluten intollerance, is this the route I should go? Should I go back to the gastroentronologist and have a test for colitis? My husband is getting very upset that this is going on so long (he thinks it is something worse). I just don't have all the symptoms everyone talks about. I do have hashymoto thyroiditis, Raynaud's, hypothyroid, and MS, so I do have an number of autoimmune diseases. I do have a hard time keeping my vitamin D level up and I have osteopina.

For the past 3 days I am going gluten free (the best I can), but it's not better yet, so it makes me wonder what else I might be alergic to and it might be to early too.

I would just like some opinions on testing, the normal celiac testing sounds iffy.

Thank you

Antibody IGG <3

Antibody IGA <3

Endomysial antibody SCR negtive

doctor did not test for anti-gliadin IGA


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



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



sb2178 Enthusiast

Well, they can do the endoscopy and a colonoscopy at the same time to look for both.

For the biopsy to come back positive, you MUST be eating gluten. I'm inclided toward going ahead and testing all the options at the beginning, so you don't have to go back onto gluten if it does turn out to be a problem for further medical testing.

You can also do a long and very strict diet trial (three days is really far too short) of at least three weeks but preferably longer. Follow that up with a challenge meal(s) containing pure wheat (bulgur, pasta made from flour and water, etc) if you're not sure. The only issue is that if you want medicial confirmation for insurance or whatever, you would have to go back on gluten for quite a while before an accuate biopsy could be done. If, however, you don't care about the results, you could just continue the dietary trial. The trials are more accurate, but often not accepted as diagnostic.

Skylark Collaborator

I don't understand why you canceled the biopsy from reading here. All the tests have a chance of false negatives, so you want to get as many done as you can tolerate. Plus your Dr. can look with signs of other trouble with the scope. If I were you I would go back on gluten and reschedule endoscopy/colonoscopy and let your Dr. check everything out.

For me, 3 days gluten-free wasn't long enough for my stomach to settle. I think it took about a week for the worst of the D to stop.

Bebee Rookie

I don't understand why you canceled the biopsy from reading here. All the tests have a chance of false negatives, so you want to get as many done as you can tolerate. Plus your Dr. can look with signs of other trouble with the scope. If I were you I would go back on gluten and reschedule endoscopy/colonoscopy and let your Dr. check everything out.

For me, 3 days gluten-free wasn't long enough for my stomach to settle. I think it took about a week for the worst of the D to stop.

This article made me cancel my biospy, what do you think?

https://www.celiac.com/articles/759/1/Early-Diagnosis-of-Gluten-Sensitivity-Before-the-Villi-are-Gone-by-By-Kenneth-Fine-MD/Page1.html

Skylark Collaborator

Remember that Dr. Fine has something to sell you. You must take his lectures with a grain of salt.

You MUST exclude a medical diagnosis of celiac disease before you start looking at gluten sensitivity. Blood tests only detect celiac disease 70%-80% of the time. The other 20%-30% of the time, damage is found on biopsy with no indication from the blood tests. If you are insured for the biopsy I would strongly recommend that you have it done to be sure you're dealing with possible gluten intolerance and not celiac disease. Doublecheck with the GI that he intends to take 7-11 samples and not the usual 3 or 4, because that can miss patchy damage.

Also, once testing is done you will get a more reliable result than Entrolab by simply excluding gluten from your diet. Even better, it's free. Spend the $279 on a new toaster, cutting board, a rice cooker, and some gluten-free baking mixes.

Bebee Rookie

Remember that Dr. Fine has something to sell you. You must take his lectures with a grain of salt.

You MUST exclude a medical diagnosis of celiac disease before you start looking at gluten sensitivity. Blood tests only detect celiac disease 70%-80% of the time. The other 20%-30% of the time, damage is found on biopsy with no indication from the blood tests. If you are insured for the biopsy I would strongly recommend that you have it done to be sure you're dealing with possible gluten intolerance and not celiac disease. Doublecheck with the GI that he intends to take 7-11 samples and not the usual 3 or 4, because that can miss patchy damage.

Also, once testing is done you will get a more reliable result than Entrolab by simply excluding gluten from your diet. Even better, it's free. Spend the $279 on a new toaster, cutting board, a rice cooker, and some gluten-free baking mixes.

Thanks, your right, I will to back to gluten and see if dr. will do both test together.

Archived

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


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):



  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      129,840
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    Gabcar14
    Newest Member
    Gabcar14
    Joined

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):


  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.3k
    • Total Posts
      1m

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):





  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):



  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • HilaryM
      Thank you Scott - I can’t think of much that’s changed diet wise but I’ll definitely try to see if any of this works and probiotics are a great idea thank you!
    • cristiana
      Hello there @maylynn  I'm a slow healer from the UK.  I sympathise.  Despite three endoscopies which showed nothing wrong, I frequently suffered from a very sore stomach, bloating, feeling queasy.   For some time I was taking the wrong iron supplement (Floradix instead of Floravital - the former has gluten in it, but the latter none).  But I would say even very little iron from an approved source made my stomach sore, I think it can be quite irritating. Perhaps that is an issue for you? Oats (the gluten-free pure ones) were an issue for many years (now fine).   Even though my endoscopy findings did not reflect any problems with healing, or any other issues, I self-diagnosed myself with gastritis as it seemed the feeling of nausea and in my case burning in the stomach pointed to it.  I went onto a gastritis/reflux diet and that really helped.   Have a google - there are tonnes online.  That meant avoiding spicy, greasy food, onions, tomatoes, coffee and alcohol.  (Actually, I don't drink, but I did toast someone during that time at a baptism and it set my stomach on fire.)   Instead of drinking strong coffee, I drank water, camomile tea, warm ginger water... so soothing.  I would not go to bed with a full stomach when things were bad, I would let my stomach rest from say 8pm to 8am, which really helped.   My husband and I then decided to buy a new oven and to buy a new dishwasher - we did need new ones anyway.  The new oven had two compartments, gluten goes in one, gluten free in the other.  The new dishwasher was a Miele which does a full rinse with clean water before washing the dishes.  But before I could afford a new dishwasher I would hand wash the dishes and make sure they were really rinsed well, no residue  (unlike our old dishwasher that was really not rinsing well at all). I stopped eating out for quite a few years - I think this is a biggy - although I would have coffee and soft drinks out. Eventually, my levels normalised.  What of the above was the 'silver bullet'?  I am not sure, but finally I did feel a lot better.  Occasionally I will take an over the counter PPI (omeprazole) or a small dose of Gaviscon, but most of the time I don't need them now. I'm not expecting anyone to go to all these lengths, but it could be that one or two of the tips I give you might work.  Don't give up hope! Cristiana
    • RMJ
      Yes, it would make sense to go mostly gluten free, since it gives your troubles.
    • SMK7
      Yes, I made an effort to eat extra gluten at least 3 weeks before the endoscopy. I probably ate a some amount in the weeks before that. I had diarrhea, which resolved once I cut back after the endoscopy. So I think it would make sense to go mostly gluten free?  
    • RMJ
      Yay for the normal biopsy! Thanks for the follow up. Were you eating gluten prior to the endoscopy?
×
×
  • Create New...