Should I Ask For A Blood Retest?

[bluebutterflygirl]

I recently had a blood test for celiac disease that came out negative. However, I had already been following a gluten-free diet for two weeks beforehand, and my doctor told me that was OK. I've recently read that you need to be on a full-on gluten-containing diet for the test to be reliable. Should I ask for a retest? In some ways I'd like to find out for sure what is wrong with me so I can stop trying to hunt for possible causes. On the other hand, I don't want to make myself sick again. Also, the test is pretty expensive and I have to pay for it.

FYI, going gluten-free has helped a lot, but I'm still experiencing some symptoms. However, I only started trying to eliminate dairy in the last 24 hours. I feel like celiac disease "fits" my symptoms better than anything else I've ever heard of.

[JoshB]

Antibody levels can take months to fall. A couple weeks probably didn't have a significant effect.

[pricklypear1971]

And some people test false negative on bloodwork, no matter how much gluten they eat. You need to get a copy of your labs and see which tests were run. Then take it from there.

[ravenwoodglass]

Antibody levels can take months to fall. A couple weeks probably didn't have a significant effect.

And some can have the levels fall very quickly especially if the levels were a low positive to begin with. You also could have a false negative. If you want to get retested go back on gluten for a couple of months and retest. Also be sure to get your hands on the actual copies of the results as some doctors will call a low positive a negative. When you are done with all testing then do the diet strictly for at least a couple of months and see what happens. With the high false negative rates and the fact that your primary complaint is joint related your joints may be being impacted more than your gut by the inflammation. In the end your body knows the answer.