Jump to content

  • 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

Ttg Antigen Level 10

Nizzy

Recommended Posts

Nizzy Newbie
Nizzy
Posted

I just went to the GI doc on Friday (due to MANY symptoms of gluten intolerance/celiac disease for many years) and got my tests back on Tuesday. They took a blood and feces test. The nurse called me and told me everything was normal except for me tTg antibody test. She said the normal level was 5 and my level was a 10. She said that is very common for celiacs and told me the doc wants me to have an endoscopy.

Can anyone explain to me what this means? She didn't confirm or deny that had celiac disease...

I'm a college student and everyone knows what that means - I don't have much money to pay for medical expenses! I do have medical insurance but I will still get a bill that I'm not ready to pay.

I would like to do the biopsy but would good would it do?

Any advice or help would be much appreciated!

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

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


pain*in*my*gut Apprentice
pain*in*my*gut
Posted

I just went to the GI doc on Friday (due to MANY symptoms of gluten intolerance/celiac disease for many years) and got my tests back on Tuesday. They took a blood and feces test. The nurse called me and told me everything was normal except for me tTg antibody test. She said the normal level was 5 and my level was a 10. She said that is very common for celiacs and told me the doc wants me to have an endoscopy.

Can anyone explain to me what this means? She didn't confirm or deny that had celiac disease...

I'm a college student and everyone knows what that means - I don't have much money to pay for medical expenses! I do have medical insurance but I will still get a bill that I'm not ready to pay.

I would like to do the biopsy but would good would it do?

Any advice or help would be much appreciated!

Well, here is the thing....you have abnormal bloodwork that could indicate that you have a disease that is causing damage to your body which could result in some pretty serious complications down the road if it goes untreated. The way I see it you have two options:

1) You could follow thru with further testing now and bite the financial bullet, and find out if you have Celiac disease or not. If you do, the rest of your family should be tested as well (mom, dad, siblings, children), and you could be saving them a lifetime of illness as well if they have it and don't know it.

2) Assume that you do have Celiac disease, and commit to a lifetime of eating gluten free. If you think that you can do this without confirmation that you do have Celiac, then this would be the least expensive way to go. Keep in mind that if you do go gluten free now, and decide down the road that you want further testing, you will have to do a gluten challenge (eat gluten again) for 3-6 months to have the biopsy. This is NOT fun. :(

If it were me, I would do the biopsy. I personally would never be able to stick the diet if I didn't know "for sure". But that is just me. You have to decide what is best for you. Do some research on Celiac and the testing. Learn everything you can about it, and then decide what you want to do.

Good luck!

Nizzy Newbie
Nizzy
Posted
  • Author

Well, here is the thing....you have abnormal bloodwork that could indicate that you have a disease that is causing damage to your body which could result in some pretty serious complications down the road if it goes untreated. The way I see it you have two options:

1) You could follow thru with further testing now and bite the financial bullet, and find out if you have Celiac disease or not. If you do, the rest of your family should be tested as well (mom, dad, siblings, children), and you could be saving them a lifetime of illness as well if they have it and don't know it.

2) Assume that you do have Celiac disease, and commit to a lifetime of eating gluten free. If you think that you can do this without confirmation that you do have Celiac, then this would be the least expensive way to go. Keep in mind that if you do go gluten free now, and decide down the road that you want further testing, you will have to do a gluten challenge (eat gluten again) for 3-6 months to have the biopsy. This is NOT fun. :(

If it were me, I would do the biopsy. I personally would never be able to stick the diet if I didn't know "for sure". But that is just me. You have to decide what is best for you. Do some research on Celiac and the testing. Learn everything you can about it, and then decide what you want to do.

Good luck!

Thanks! I think I'm to follow through with the biopsy. I have it scheduled for the 31st of this month.

I got the official test results in the mail which further confused me. It said:

TTG Antibody, IgA: <1.0 Interpretation: Negative

TTG Antibody, IgG: 10.0 U/ml Interpretation: Positive

After doing some reading, I read that some people might not be able to produce the IgA antibody. And they also test for IgG.

If someone could explain this to me that would be great!

Roda Rising Star
Roda
Posted

Some people have IgA deficiency which would render IgA testing invalid. So yes it is possible to be negative on one and positive on another. Did they do a total IgA? As for the biopsy, a negative result doesn't necessarily mean you don't have celiac. Reasons: caught it early enough and you don't have any damage/little damage, improper biopsy/not enough samples taken, inexperienced pathologist in interperting biopsy samples, or the damage is patchy and the samples in a damaged area were missed(can not tell villi damage by the naked eye). When you go for your biopsy request a min. of 6-8 samples or 8-11 as new research is stating. If your biopsy should come back negative you can always try the diet strictly for three months. After you could reintroduce it to see how you do. Your body will give you the answer.

I had a positive IgA tTg and positive small bowel biopsy. My youngest son last year had an elevated IgA tTg and I opted out of biopsy (he was almost 6 at the time). I chose not to do the scope/biopsy since I already had a diagnosis and his positive blood work. Also to further confirm celiac we did a gluten challenge on him after 4 1/2 months and it only lasted three days. He reacted horible. My oldest son has had repeated negative blood work even with celiac symptoms. His allergist wants him gluten free even if he is not a celiac as he feels that he could be gluten intolerent. Same treatment anyway. I decided to have him scoped before putting him gluten free. I'm waiting on the results now.

Since you are in college, a diagnosis may help you to be able to opt out of any required meal plans.

Nizzy Newbie
Nizzy
Posted
  • Author

Thanks for the suggestion. I will definitely tell them I would like 8-11 samples. I'm pretty eager/anxious to get this done. I would very much like the get to the bottom of my issues.

I have been staying on my regular diet but have been monitoring my reaction to things that I have been eating. On Friday I had a muffin and was running to bathroom for the rest of the day. And on Saturday, I had pita bread and felt incredibly tired and bloated the next day. It does seem that my symptoms are related to eating gluten.

If simply cutting out gluten will make me feel better, I will be one VERY happy girl!

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. xxnonamexx
      - xxnonamexx replied to xxnonamexx's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      4

      My journey is it gluten or fiber?

      I read that as well but I saw the Certified Gluten free symbol that is the reason I ourchased it.
    2. cristiana
      - cristiana replied to sha1091a's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      2

      Issues before diagnosis

      I agree, it so often overlooked! I live in the UK and I have often wondered why doctors are so reluctant to at least exclude it - my thoughts are perhaps the particular tests are expensive for the NHS, so therefore saved for people with 'obvious' symptoms. I was diagnosed in 2013 and was told immediately that my parents, sibling and children should...
    3. chrisinpa
      - chrisinpa commented on Scott Adams's article in Skin Problems and Celiac Disease
      2

      Celiac Disease and Skin Disorders: Exploring a Genetic Connection

      Maybe they can attribute certain skin conditions to either being susceptible to getting Celiac......or the other way around....but I have to ask if certain people are prone to Celiac because of genetics and some people aren't. It's kind of the same thing as what came first.....the chicken or the egg.?
    4. knitty kitty
      - knitty kitty replied to xxnonamexx's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      4

      My journey is it gluten or fiber?

      @xxnonamexx, There's labeling on those Trubar gluten free high fiber protein bars that say: "Manufactured in a facility that also processes peanuts, milk, soy, fish, WHEAT, sesame, and other tree nuts." You may want to avoid products made in shared facilities. If you are trying to add more fiber to your diet to ease constipation, considering...
    5. trents
      - trents replied to sha1091a's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      2

      Issues before diagnosis

      Welcome to celiac.com @sha1091a! Your experience is a very common one. Celiac disease is one the most underdiagnosed and misdiagnosed medical conditions out there. The reasons are numerous. One key one is that its symptoms mimic so many other diseases. Another is ignorance on the part of the medical community with regard to the range of symptoms that celiac...
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):

  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      132,696
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Knotalota
    Newest Member
    Knotalota
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):

  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • xxnonamexx
      My journey is it gluten or fiber?

      By xxnonamexx · Posted

      I read that as well but I saw the Certified Gluten free symbol that is the reason I ourchased it.
    • cristiana
      Issues before diagnosis

      By cristiana · Posted

      I agree, it so often overlooked! I live in the UK and I have often wondered why doctors are so reluctant to at least exclude it - my thoughts are perhaps the particular tests are expensive for the NHS, so therefore saved for people with 'obvious' symptoms.  I was diagnosed in 2013 and was told immediately that my parents, sibling and children should be checked.  My parents' GP to this day has not put forward my father for testing, and my mother was never tested in her lifetime, despite the fact that they both have some interesting symptoms/family history that reflect they might have coeliac disease (Dad - extreme bloating, and his Mum clearly had autoimmune issues, albeit undiagnosed as such; Mum - osteoporosis, anxiety).  I am now my father' legal guardian and suspecting my parents may have forgotten to ask their GP for a test (which is entirely possible!) I put it to his last GP that he ought to be tested.  He looked at Dad's blood results and purely because he was not anemic said he wasn't a coeliac.  Hopefully as the awareness of Coeliac Disease spreads among the general public, people will be able to advocate for themselves.  It is hard because in the UK the NHS is very stretched, but the fallout from not being diagnosed in a timely fashion will only cost the NHS more money. Interestingly, a complete aside, I met someone recently whose son was diagnosed (I think she said he was 8).  At a recent birthday party with 8 guests, 4 boys out of the 8 had received diagnosis of Coeliac Disease, which is an astounding statistic  As far as I know, though, they had all had obvious gastric symptoms leading to their NHS diagnosis.  In my own case I had  acute onset anxiety, hypnopompic hallucinations (vivid hallucinations upon waking),  odd liver function, anxiety, headaches, ulcers and low iron but it wasn't until the gastric symptoms hit me that a GP thought to do coeliac testing, and my numbers were through the roof.  As @trents says, by the grace of God I was diagnosed, and the diet has pretty much dealt with most of those symptoms.  I have much to be grateful for. Cristiana
    • knitty kitty
      My journey is it gluten or fiber?

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      @xxnonamexx, There's labeling on those Trubar gluten free high fiber protein bars that say: "Manufactured in a facility that also processes peanuts, milk, soy, fish, WHEAT, sesame, and other tree nuts." You may want to avoid products made in shared facilities.   If you are trying to add more fiber to your diet to ease constipation, considering eating more leafy green vegetables and cruciferous vegetables.  Not only are these high in fiber, they also are good sources of magnesium.  Many newly diagnosed are low in magnesium and B vitamins and suffer with constipation.  Thiamine Vitamin B1 and magnesium work together.  Thiamine in the form Benfotiamine has been shown to improve intestinal health.  Thiamine and magnesium are important to gastrointestinal health and function.  
    • trents
      Issues before diagnosis

      By trents · Posted

      Welcome to celiac.com @sha1091a! Your experience is a very common one. Celiac disease is one the most underdiagnosed and misdiagnosed medical conditions out there. The reasons are numerous. One key one is that its symptoms mimic so many other diseases. Another is ignorance on the part of the medical community with regard to the range of symptoms that celiac disease can produce. Clinicians often are only looking for classic GI symptoms and are unaware of the many other subsystems in the body that can be damaged before classic GI symptoms manifest, if ever they do. Many celiacs are of the "silent" variety and have few if any GI symptoms while all along, damage is being done to their bodies. In my case, the original symptoms were elevated liver enzymes which I endured for 13 years before I was diagnosed with celiac disease. By the grace of God my liver was not destroyed. It is common for the onset of the disease to happen 10 years before you ever get a diagnosis. Thankfully, that is slowly changing as there has developed more awareness on the part of both the medical community and the public in the past 20 years or so. Blessings!
    • knitty kitty
      Dizziness after eating green beans?

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      @EndlessSummer, You said you had an allergy to trees.  People with Birch Allergy can react to green beans (in the legume family) and other vegetables, as well as some fruits.  Look into Oral Allergy Syndrome which can occur at a higher rate in Celiac Disease.   Switching to a low histamine diet for a while can give your body time to rid itself of the extra histamine the body makes with Celiac disease and histamine consumed in the diet.   Vitamin C and the eight B vitamins are needed to help the body clear histamine.   Have you been checked for nutritional deficiencies?
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.