Bloodwork Has Weak Positive

[Mom2-Five]

I am brand new here, and this is my first post. Grateful for this forum already. Thank you.

Here is my bloodwork, questions to follow:

Deamidated gliadin Abs, IgA 26 H units

Negative = 0-19

Weak Positive = 20-30

Moderate to Strong Positive = >30

Deamidated Gliadin Abs, IgG 2 units

Negative = 0-19

Weak Positive = 20-30

Moderate to Strong Positive = >30

t-Transglutaminase tTG IgA 2 U/mL

Negative = 0-3

Weak Positive = 4-10

Positive = >10

t-Transglutaminase tTG IgG <2 U/mL

Negative = 0-5

Weak Positive = 6-9

Positive = >9

Endomysial Antibody IgA Negative

Immunoglobulin A, Qn, Serum 71 mg/dL

70-400 (normal)

So, all of my numbers are normal except the first one. My question is, is there anything else at all that would cause that to be positive other than celiacs disease? Does this one weak positive mean I have celiacs disease? Will celiacs disease cause pain in my upper left quadrant? I recently had a CT scan due to this pain in my upper left quadrant, the CT scan showed "nothing remarkable." So the next move was endoscopy to look around and see if anything was obvious. I asked to have a celiac panel done, and so here I am with a positive number. Since I am having an endoscopy anyhow, it makes sense to go ahead and have the biopsy. But what I am wondering is, can I say "I have celiacs disease" due to that one positive?

Thank you,

Deb

[banjos]

hello! i am no expert but i believe you can have celiac with the one positive test. i had the same mildly positive blood test. my endoscopy showed no signs of celiac according to my dr's. my dr is saying that i don't have celiac but IBS and that i'm lactose intolerant. which is bizarre because i have no problems with dairy. BUT i have seen all of my seemingly unrelated symptoms disappear once going gluten free. since being gluten free i've accidentally consumed it twice and had awful reactions. that's enough proof for me!

i believe that they consider the endoscopy/biopsy the "gold standard" for diagnosing celiac. but you may have negative biopsy results and they may not technically diagnose you as being celiac but it's possible that you should not be consuming gluten.

[Skylark]

It's REALLY hard to get a positive result on any of the blood tests. Nothing other than celiac gives deamidated gliadin. If you feel better when you try the gluten-free diet once your endoscopy is done you can safely assume you are celiac and not gluten intolerant. You might get better information from the biopsy but sometimes the positive bloodwork precedes the positive biopsy. Make sure your doctor takes plenty of biopsies, it should be 7-10. Some doctors only take 3-4 and miss patchy damage.

By the way, go gluten-free no matter what your Dr. tells you. Some doctors want to see both blood and biopsy to diagnose and they keep a lot of people with celiac eating gluten and ill because of it. Developing celiac disease can be a gradual process. It's much better to go gluten-free early than to keep eating gluten and get tons of antibodies and really bad autoimmune damage.

[Mom2-Five]

It's REALLY hard to get a positive result on any of the blood tests. Nothing other than celiac gives deamidated gliadin. If you feel better when you try the gluten-free diet once your endoscopy is done you can safely assume you are celiac and not gluten intolerant. You might get better information from the biopsy but sometimes the positive bloodwork precedes the positive biopsy. Make sure your doctor takes plenty of biopsies, it should be 7-10. Some doctors only take 3-4 and miss patchy damage.

By the way, go gluten-free no matter what your Dr. tells you. Some doctors want to see both blood and biopsy to diagnose and they keep a lot of people with celiac eating gluten and ill because of it. Developing celiac disease can be a gradual process. It's much better to go gluten-free early than to keep eating gluten and get tons of antibodies and really bad autoimmune damage.

Thank you. That is what I was really wondering, is if anything else would give that positive. Is that how this test is viewed by the medical community? It is the only reason for a positive? It is so confusing, all of the different information out there. If it was just me, I wouldn't even feel I needed to know. I'd just go without gluten and if it made me feel better ... but I feel it will help my children to know, for their own possible diagnoses in the future. I have one son with so many issues. He is the only one who has already had a panel done, and everything came back negative.

My paternal grandfather died when he was very young, and when my father was just a boy. All I know really, is that a dr. came and tapped fluid off his stomach area periodically (weekly??), and that he had non-alcholic cirrhosis of the liver. Now there are cousins being diagnosed with celiacs disease, and some of their children. My own father died of heart disease when he was 55. I have had anemia, low energy, depression for years - have been on an anti-depressant for 20 years.

I decided to eat a high gluten diet with the upcoming biopsy, but I don't think I can do it. I am a zombie right now. I don't even know for sure they will do one, because actually I am only going for a consultation with a digestive specialist. I just assumed they would be doing an endoscopy to find the reason for the pain in my gut. That was the whole point of my going to one in the first place. Getting a celiac panel was my idea and my nurse practioner said "OK."

Anyhow, I have no problem at this moment thinking of going gluten free for the rest of my life if I can only get some energy and quality of life in return.

Thanks for replying.

[Mom2-Five]

hello! i am no expert but i believe you can have celiac with the one positive test. i had the same mildly positive blood test. my endoscopy showed no signs of celiac according to my dr's. my dr is saying that i don't have celiac but IBS and that i'm lactose intolerant. which is bizarre because i have no problems with dairy. BUT i have seen all of my seemingly unrelated symptoms disappear once going gluten free. since being gluten free i've accidentally consumed it twice and had awful reactions. that's enough proof for me!

i believe that they consider the endoscopy/biopsy the "gold standard" for diagnosing celiac. but you may have negative biopsy results and they may not technically diagnose you as being celiac but it's possible that you should not be consuming gluten.

Thanks - isn't it frustrating how the drs. seem to differ in how they all look at this stuff. I look forward to being gluten free asap.

[MitziG]

Your "weak positive" is like being "a little bit pregnant". That test is very specific for gliadin antibodies.

Some of your IGA tests may be showing negative due to the fact that your serum IGA is very low- 1 point away from being deficient. (70-400 was normal, you were 71) IGA deficiency not only makes IGA tests invalid, but it is a common red flag for celiac disease.

Your doctors may or may not agree, depending on how well versed they are in celiac. When your endoscopy is done, be sure they take several samples (4 is bare minimum) many take only 1 or 2. Celiac is often patchy, and easy to miss. After your endoscopy, do not wait for a dx- just go gluten-free. You will likely see a quick reduction in your pain. Hopefully, your biopsy will back up the bloodwork, but don't dismiss celiac if it doesn't. Testing for it is still a very flawed science!

[Skylark]

Thank you. That is what I was really wondering, is if anything else would give that positive. Is that how this test is viewed by the medical community? It is the only reason for a positive? It is so confusing, all of the different information out there. If it was just me, I wouldn't even feel I needed to know. I'd just go without gluten and if it made me feel better ... but I feel it will help my children to know, for their own possible diagnoses in the future. I have one son with so many issues. He is the only one who has already had a panel done, and everything came back negative.

There is nothing else that would give a true positive. Sometimes people with a positive blood test result don't have a positive biopsy, though. Then the doctor has to decide whether it could be a false positive from a lab error, or what the likelihood is that the biopsy missed damage. There are other things doctors take into consideration too, like family history, genetic tests, and your symptoms and response to the diet.

You have a lot of things that support celiac disease with the family history and strong response to gluten on top of the blood test.

[Cara in Boston]

While you are waiting to finish the testing, start the ball rolling with your children.

You had a positive blood test. All first degree relatives need to be tested as well - even if there are no symptoms.

You know how long it takes to sort all this out, the sooner you start, the sooner you can get answers for your children. If any are positive, they can start gluten free with you.

Cara

[nora-n]

That positive test is the latest and most specific test for celiac, besides the old EMA test.

It was developed to catch patchy celiac disease (since the EMA and the ttg tests are designed to catch total villous atrophy but nowadays most newly diagnosed celiacs have patchy celiac)

[beachbirdie]

Thank you. That is what I was really wondering, is if anything else would give that positive. Is that how this test is viewed by the medical community? It is the only reason for a positive? It is so confusing, all of the different information out there. If it was just me, I wouldn't even feel I needed to know. I'd just go without gluten and if it made me feel better ... but I feel it will help my children to know, for their own possible diagnoses in the future. I have one son with so many issues. He is the only one who has already had a panel done, and everything came back negative.

My paternal grandfather died when he was very young, and when my father was just a boy. All I know really, is that a dr. came and tapped fluid off his stomach area periodically (weekly??), and that he had non-alcholic cirrhosis of the liver. Now there are cousins being diagnosed with celiacs disease, and some of their children. My own father died of heart disease when he was 55. I have had anemia, low energy, depression for years - have been on an anti-depressant for 20 years.

I decided to eat a high gluten diet with the upcoming biopsy, but I don't think I can do it. I am a zombie right now. I don't even know for sure they will do one, because actually I am only going for a consultation with a digestive specialist. I just assumed they would be doing an endoscopy to find the reason for the pain in my gut. That was the whole point of my going to one in the first place. Getting a celiac panel was my idea and my nurse practioner said "OK."

Anyhow, I have no problem at this moment thinking of going gluten free for the rest of my life if I can only get some energy and quality of life in return.

Thanks for replying.

Non-alcoholic cirrhosis is a frequent companion to celiac. It is (as other posters have already said) highly likely that many of your family have celiac, even if they do not have "classic" symptoms.

The biopsy is not perfect and misses a lot of people. Your positive test is plenty of evidence that gluten is dangerous for you.

[Mom2-Five]

Non-alcoholic cirrhosis is a frequent companion to celiac. It is (as other posters have already said) highly likely that many of your family have celiac, even if they do not have "classic" symptoms.

The biopsy is not perfect and misses a lot of people. Your positive test is plenty of evidence that gluten is dangerous for you.

I just wanted to say thank you for all of the information. I plan to call my primary to start the ball rolling with my children getting their celiac panels done. My first consultation with gastro is Friday. I'm sure an endo will be scheduled at that time.

And I'm sure I'll be back here scouring the boards for information

So glad you are all here.