Help with IgA

[Jeffb]

I have been having constant nausea and vommitting for years and it seems to be progressively getting worse over the last few months. My doctor sent me for blood work and my tissue transglutaminase IgA results were 89.4 and the reference range is 0.0-20.0 and I'm not exactly sure what this means I know that's extremely high but does that confirm I have celiac disease. I also have been diagnosed with diverticulosis can that be a link to celiac disease anybody that could help me understand why I am feeling this way and what these results mean would be greatly appreciated it is interfering with my life and have been off work a lot in the last few months with these sypmtoms

[mushroom]

Hi and welcome.

Your tTG score is very definitely elevated. Did the doctor run any of the other celiac tests and does he plan to send you to a GI for an endoscopy with biopsy to confirm the results as celiac disease? While that is the most likely cause, there are other things that can cause an elevated tTG. As for the diverticulosis, that can be present with or without celiac disease. It is generally caused by a low fiber diet and/or excessive constipation and the latter, of course, is often associated with celiac.

[Jeffb]

My doctor is trying to get me into a GI specialist and he has put me zofran to try an control the nausea but all it has seemed to do is increase my diarhea and give me an extreme headache. It hasn't really reduced the nausea but based on the IgA results it is probably a good bet that I have celiac disease? Any suggestions on how to control the nausea and get back to a semi normal life? This is really frustrating and has been debilitating since last Wednesday and doesn't seem to be letting up. I am also experiencing extreme fatigue for the last week I have pretty much slept all day and then all night and always seem to be tired.

[Skylark]

Hi and welcome to the board. You're sure in the right place.

TTG is an autoimmune test, most commonly caused by celiac. It can also be caused by inflammatory bowel diseases so your Dr. will usually tell you to keep eating gluten (celiac testing does NOT work gluten-free) and send you to a GI. If you can't get to a specialist quickly, you might be able to work with your Dr. to get the follow-up celiac blood testing instead of a referral. You'd need anti-endomysial IgA (also called anti-EMA) and anti-deamidated gliadin peptide IgG and IgA. Those tests are specific for celiac.

If the specific celiac tests come back positive you could opt to forgo a GI visit and endoscopy and start on the gluten-free diet. If you have more than one positive blood test and improve off gluten it's reasonably certain you're celiac even without the biopsy "gold standard" diagnosis. It might get you back on your feet a little faster.

[Jeffb]

Thank you all for the information have an an appointment in 2 hours and will ask about the follow up blood work. They said that my GI referral was sent may June last year and will take about a year to get in so I would be looking at another 2-3 months before I get in and can't wait that long to get back on my feet. Will post again after I see my doctor this afternoon to get more opinions. Again thank you all for the informative feedback.

[ravenwoodglass]

While it may not be the case for all my diverticulosis was a direct result of celiac. Before I was diagnosed I had diverticuli throughout my entire large intestine. It was the most extensive case my GI had ever seen. When I had another colonoscopy done 5 years after diagnosis the diverticuli were almost completely resolved.

As was mentioned do stay on gluten until all celiac related testing is done then do give the diet a good strict try no matter what the other test results are.

[cassP]

dont know what ur diet is right now- but a little fyi- zofran has gluten in it... which makes me so ANGRY.. cause zofran totally helps with nausea. well, i only had the kind thru the IV which did not contain gluten and it worked fairly quickly.. was so sad to find the prescription had gluten