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What Questions To Ask A Gi?

eborzecki

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eborzecki Explorer
eborzecki
Posted

I had a positive blood test, and am seeing a GI tomorrow what questions do you ask, what should I expect?

IGA 56

>17 Positive

TTG 111.6

<20

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Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

My first question would be "Why was my 111 TTG flagged "normal" and do I need to be retested?" ;)

You should expect to have an endoscopy scheduled. I would ask whether he does celiac endoscopies regularly. I'd also want to be sure he will take plenty of biopsies. Some doctors only do 3 or 4, but better ones do 7 or more.

mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

Tongue in cheek a bit here, but I would ask him if he has many celiac patients, what kinds of follow-up he does on celiac patients, whether he will recommend nutrient testing for deficiencies, in fact whether he even believes it is necessary. Should you have your thyroid levels tested, what other recommendations he would make to be sure that the disease has not impacted your health. I would also ask for the endo to be scheduled ASAP so you can stop eating gluten :P Should you consult a nutritionist? Does he have any information to give you on the celiac diet?

eborzecki Explorer
eborzecki
Posted
  • Author

I saw my GI and he told me that there is no doubt in his mind that I have Celiac. Not only because its hard to get a positive on the test but because I had a positive blood test and my sister has Celiac.

He said that he doesn't think an endoscopy is necessary because even if it comes back negative which is can (so he says) even when I have Celiac he will tell me that I have to go on a Gluten free diet.

He said that he will retest my blood in a couple months and see what it shows as well as see how I feel, especially since all my other blood tests for autoimmunity came back okey.

He also said that with and IGA and TTG positive its almost impossible to not know this is Celiac.

What do you guys think?

Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

Sounds like a VERY good GI doc who really understands celiac. If your TTG and anti-gliadin start falling on the diet, they're definitely caused by gluten. It's great that he doesn't want to put you through the endoscopy. He's right that it can come back false negative because the damage can be patchy. Hitting celiac damage on a biopsy is partly luck.

Good luck and let us know if you need help with the diet! I hope you get your hair back in a few months.

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