Making My Way Through The Tests!

[sarah.allgood1019]

Hi. I am new here. I apologize, this may be long.

My son (9 years old) has had an "excema like" rash for about 8 months. His pedi diagnosed it as excema, with NO TESTS. Over the last several months he has given him 2 different steroids, with NO RESULTS. I was also told that excema won't ever go away. During this time, i also found out my son has very irregular bowel movements and ab pain. After thinking about his favorite foods (very gluten heavy) it occurred to me he might have celiac. his pedi REFUSED to test him for it, instead he gave him constipation medicine.

This lead me to think about myself...thinking if this is hereditary, maybe I have it? I am also 5 months pregnant...but my iron levels fluxuate (when not preganant too) My bowels movements are not regular, I have a hard time with weight, and I never really feel good... So, I asked my OBGYN for the test. He said no problem. These are my results:

reticulan IgA Negative

gliadin Ab Iga *64

gliadin ab igG *29

Range <20 neg

>20 postive

TtG Ab IgA *29

range <5 Neg

5-9 Equivocal

>9 Pos

This says positive to me!! At least after what i've read. Does this read positive to those who have experience with this?? and if so, should this be enough to demand my son be tested?

[ravenwoodglass]

It does look like those are positive tests. Whether your ped will consider testing your son based on your positive tests I don't know. If he won't then perhaps seek out another ped. Keep in mind that false negatives with children are even more common than for adults. Don't take him gluten free until he is tested and talk to your doctor about whether they are going to do any more celiac related testing on you (endo) if not you need to get yourself gluten free ASAP.

Also have you taken your son to a dermatologist? If the skin issues he has are actually DH that would be a diagnosis of celiac.

[GFinDC]

Yep, another doctor might be a good idea. DH (dermatitis herpetiformis is a skin condition associated with celiac disease. They can take a biopsy of the skin next to a lesion and have it checked for gliaden antibodies. Sometimes people with DH have fewer intestinal symptoms and damage at first. But it may not stay that way.

[Cara in Boston]

Find a new doctor for your son. Even if you had no family history, he has symptoms that could be celiac so it is not unreasonable to test for it - especially since all the alternatives are not working. See if you have a celiac support group in your area that could recommend a good GI or even a dermatologist that is familiar with DH.

Given your positive blood tests (welcome to the board, by the way) it seems even more likely.

Not sure they will do an endoscopy on you since you are pregnant. I hope they diagnose you based on your blood test and symptoms so you don't have to keep eating gluten just to be tested after your baby is born.

Cara

[sarah.allgood1019]

Thanks!!

No he hasn't seen a dermatologist, because through my insurance it's considered a specialist, and we need a referral..which his pedi refuses to give us too! So, today I am calling a different pedi office and making an appt. Hopefully, that will be on a better track to getting this fixed for him!!