Waiting For Biopsy Results..

[Jsny1010]

Hi everyone, first time posting here..

Ive been living with what my doctor has called IBS for about 5 years now, about 6 months ago he ran the blood tests and some came back positive.. not sure which ones but he refereed me to a specialist (GI) I think he thinks im just lactose intolerant but he suggested we do a biopsy to confirm or not the presence of celiac's, this is the question.. yesterday we did the biopsy, after the test he said everything looked OK but the biopsy results wont be in for a week or so, since it looks "OK" is that a good sign that it might not be Celiac's? should the doctor be able to see apparent damage with his scope? Just curious I hate waiting..

[Skylark]

The damage they look on your biopsy is microscopic. They are looking for damage to the tiny, fingerlike projections on your intestinal lining, called villi. If the celiac is really severe the Dr. can see inflammation or visible changes to the shape of the intestines, called scalloping, but usually things looking OK to the naked eye doesn't mean much. Sorry.

As far as the blood tests, do you know what was positive? The biopsy can show false negative. Celiac damage can be patchy and inexperienced doctors do not take enough biopsy samples. You should still go off gluten if you had positive celiac blood tests - you might be rid of that pesky IBS for good!

I had "IBS" for years. Two weeks off gluten and it was better. Two months and it was completely gone.

[Jsny1010]

I cant remember but i think it was the anti-gladlin or something like tgt-a or ATgt the doctor said it pretty fast, that was in the high 20's where it should have been below 11, and one other was elevated but my regular doctor gp didnt want to interpret the resulds so he sent me to the gi guy.. i guess i just have to wait for the results though he seems like he has been doing this for years, the doctors in his 70's i think lol

[mushroom]

It is always a good idea to get copies of all your testing results. Sometimes doctors just glance at them and do not give you the correct information. Other times if something is just slightly abovve normal they will call it negative. If I were you I would get a copy of my blood results, and we would all love if you would post them here, with the ranges, so we got a chance to interpret them too

[Jsny1010]

Will do, i'll see my GP tomorrow - i'll ask for a copy and see what it says and post it here, im glad there are web groups like this one weather it turns out im positive or not

[Roda]

It doesn't mean a hill of beans that he said your intestines looked alright visibally with his eye. The pathologist has to look at it microscopically. I was told by my GI that my intestinal lining look mostly good with only slight inflammation. My biopsy was positive with villi blunting. Even with that and my positive blood work he "gave" me the option to go gluten free immediatly or recheck everything in three months. Huh? I went gluten free and I was diagnosed with celiac.

Even if your biopsy comes back negative, give the diet a try anyway. It sounds like you are celiac. Biopsies can have false negatives due to: inexperienced GI, inexperienced pathologist intepereting the samples, too few samples taken, patchy damage that is missed on biopsy, damage past the area the scope can reach.

[Jsny1010]

Here are my blood test results..

Gliadin IgA Antibodies 7

Gliadin IgG Antibodies 28

Transglutaminase IgA 3.5

Transglutaminase IgG 4.4

Not sure about the endomysial its confusing but says

Endomysial IgA. Positive REFERENCE RANGE:

Negative. Endomysial AB (IgA titer) 1:10 titer. Reference Range: < 1:5

Not sure what that means. My regular doctor didn't have any info.

[Jsny1010]

Oh and the ranges..

<11

<11

<4

<6

And titer 1:5

[Skylark]

Endomysial IgA. Positive REFERENCE RANGE:

Negative. Endomysial AB (IgA titer) 1:10 titer. Reference Range: < 1:5

Not sure what that means. My regular doctor didn't have any info.

It means you're celiac. You don't need to wait any more.

Endomysial IgA is an autoimmune antibody to your intestines that is very specific for celiac disease. You need to be on the gluten-free diet because even if your biopsy is negative now and your doctor doesn't diagnose celiac it's usually only a matter of time before the autoimmune damage gets bad enough to see on biopsy. The anti-gliadin IgG shows that the endomysial is not a mistake and you are reacting to gluten along with the autoimmunity.

When they test endomysial antibodies they dilute your blood. The more they can dilute it and still get a reaction, the more antibodies you have. A normal person's serum is not reactive at 1:5. Your serum was still reactive at 1:10, meaning you have at least twice the "normal" amount of endomysial antibodies.

[Jsny1010]

It means you're celiac. You don't need to wait any more.

Thanks, I didnt realize that was the important part of the test, ive been mostly gluten free since December but im thinking i might as well go 100% off gluten and get rid of the issues I have with food!

[Takala]

Even if the Gastro doc's office calls you back and says that the biopsy was "negative," you should go on a true gluten free diet anyway.

Lactose intolerance is also a sign of celiac, you may heal up enough to be able to eat cheese and yogurt again.

Some doctors still use the so-called "gold standard" of insisting that both the blood tests AND the biopsy be positive for damage before bestowing the Official Celiac Diagnosis Seal of Approval

[Jsny1010]

Thank you everyone,

Takala, yeah my GP told me "If the result comes back negative you dont have celiac" but I think some of the people on here have done more research and study on the bloodwork and celiac disease than he has.. i'll find out what they tell me on Monday, the doctor WONT tell me over the phone its been a nightmare this week, their "sedation" didnt work on me so i got the awesome experience of having a scope put down my throat, atleast I got some good food after it was over.

Today is my Day #1!

[Skylark]

Yay! Welcome to the gluten-free club. I hope you feel a lot better off gluten.