Only Igg High....am A Celiac?

[shanluts]

Was told I was not Celiac by my GI. I went back to gluten. I feel horrible. Nauseaus all day plus much more. I dug and found my old results. So do you think I have Celiac?

Found my old results (Oct/06)

Gliadin Antibody IGG 31 High Range <11

Gliadin Antibody IGA 6 Range <6

Reticulin igg ab <1:10 Range <1:10

Reticulin IGA AB <1:10 Range <1:10

Tissue Transglut. IGA <3 Range <5

Then found 03/07/11 Everything the same but Gliadin IgG 23.4 High Range <10

What does it mean that eveything is normal BUT the Gliadin IgG?

[beachbirdie]

Was told I was not Celiac by my GI. I went back to gluten. I feel horrible. Nauseaus all day plus much more. I dug and found my old results. So do you think I have Celiac?

Found my old results (Oct/06)

Gliadin Antibody IGG 31 High Range <11

Gliadin Antibody IGA 6 Range <6

Reticulin igg ab <1:10 Range <1:10

Reticulin IGA AB <1:10 Range <1:10

Tissue Transglut. IGA <3 Range <5

Then found 03/07/11 Everything the same but Gliadin IgG 23.4 High Range <10

What does it mean that eveything is normal BUT the Gliadin IgG?

Well, first of all, since they do not appear to have done a total serum IgA, none of the IgA results mean a thing. If your total IgA is insufficient, ALL your IgA tests will most likely be low.

Second, your body is making antibodies against gluten. Your body does not like gluten. Your doc is a twit who should have done further testing. Especially considering you feel sick while eating gluten!

We can't answer the question definitively because we are not doctors, but there is an extremely high likelihood that yes, in spite of what your doctor said, you might have celiac.

Is there anything on your lab report that indicates whether the gliadin antibodies are "deamidated gliadin peptides"? Those are newer and more sensitive/specific than the old AGA (anti-gliadin antibody) tests. If your test was DGP, the likelihood is even higher for celiac.

[shanluts]

Thank you. I am going to a new Dr tomorrow.

Nothing else on the test results. I plan to get retested IF my insurance will cover it. Last visit the dr only used promethius and my insurance wouldnt pay. They said it would be about $1000!

Can I assume that with high IGG I am gluten intolerant? Not necessarily celiac?

[beachbirdie]

Thank you. I am going to a new Dr tomorrow.

Nothing else on the test results. I plan to get retested IF my insurance will cover it. Last visit the dr only used promethius and my insurance wouldnt pay. They said it would be about $1000!

Can I assume that with high IGG I am gluten intolerant? Not necessarily celiac?

Well, you can probably safely assume gluten intolerance at this point. Gluten is obviously making you feel sick. It's hard to say "celiac" for sure, because the IgG antibodies are less specific than the IgA ones, and without the EMA or TtG being positive, there is a chance your IgG elevation could be from another condition (see paragraph below). Still, you can see, there is a 91% chance it IS celiac.

Unfortunately, that leaves you in the boat of "maybe yes, maybe no". I've seen you wrestling with this on some other threads. If you are going to do more testing, you really need to make sure they do the total IgA along with everything else.

Gluten intolerance is a real condition, and can have a lot of negative effects on your life just like full-blown celiac; just without the flattened villi. Do you need a hard-copy celiac diagnosis for some reason?

Here's an explanation of the antibodies from an article on this site:

Anti-Gliadin Antibodies:

Both IgA and IgG anti-gliadin antibodies (AGA) are detected in sera of patients with gluten sensitive enteropathy (celiac disease). IgG anti-gliadin antibodies are more sensitive but are less specific markers for disease compared with IgA class antibodies. IgA anti-gliadin antibodies are less sensitive but are more specific. In clinical trials, the IgA antibodies have a specificity of 97% but the sensitivity is only 71%. That means that, if a patient is IgA positive, there is a 97% probability that they have celiac disease. Conversely, if the patient is IgA negative, there is only a 71% probability that the patient is truly negative for celiac disease. Therefore, a positive result is a strong indication that the patient has the disease but a negative result does not necessarily mean that they don not have it. False positive results are rather uncommon but false negative results can occur. On the other hand, the IgG anti-gliadin antibodies are 91% specific and have an 87% sensitivity. This means that they will show positive results more readily but there is not as strong a correlation with celiac disease. It is less specific. Patients with other conditions but not afflicted with celiac disease will occasionally show positive results. IgG anti-gliadin antibodies are detectable in approximately 21% of patients with other gastrointestinal disorders. This test might yield false positive results but is less likely to yield false negative results.

[shanluts]

Well, you can probably safely assume gluten intolerance at this point. Gluten is obviously making you feel sick. It's hard to say "celiac" for sure, because the IgG antibodies are less specific than the IgA ones, and without the EMA or TtG being positive, there is a chance your IgG elevation could be from another condition (see paragraph below). Still, you can see, there is a 91% chance it IS celiac.

Unfortunately, that leaves you in the boat of "maybe yes, maybe no". I've seen you wrestling with this on some other threads. If you are going to do more testing, you really need to make sure they do the total IgA along with everything else.

Gluten intolerance is a real condition, and can have a lot of negative effects on your life just like full-blown celiac; just without the flattened villi. Do you need a hard-copy celiac diagnosis for some reason?

Here's an explanation of the antibodies from an article on this site:

Anti-Gliadin Antibodies:

Both IgA and IgG anti-gliadin antibodies (AGA) are detected in sera of patients with gluten sensitive enteropathy (celiac disease). IgG anti-gliadin antibodies are more sensitive but are less specific markers for disease compared with IgA class antibodies. IgA anti-gliadin antibodies are less sensitive but are more specific. In clinical trials, the IgA antibodies have a specificity of 97% but the sensitivity is only 71%. That means that, if a patient is IgA positive, there is a 97% probability that they have celiac disease. Conversely, if the patient is IgA negative, there is only a 71% probability that the patient is truly negative for celiac disease. Therefore, a positive result is a strong indication that the patient has the disease but a negative result does not necessarily mean that they don not have it. False positive results are rather uncommon but false negative results can occur. On the other hand, the IgG anti-gliadin antibodies are 91% specific and have an 87% sensitivity. This means that they will show positive results more readily but there is not as strong a correlation with celiac disease. It is less specific. Patients with other conditions but not afflicted with celiac disease will occasionally show positive results. IgG anti-gliadin antibodies are detectable in approximately 21% of patients with other gastrointestinal disorders. This test might yield false positive results but is less likely to yield false negative results.

Thank you for the great response! I dont know IF there is a hard reason that I NEED to know. It would suck to be the 3% the is negative and eat gluten free ON ONE HAND. On the other hand I feel better off of gluten. Maybe I wonder if gluten intolerant can cause the same diseases? Maybe I am wanting someone to say my symptoms are something else. I honestly have no interest in going to the dr tomorrow. I kinda hope you would say yep you have it! And I would be done

[beachbirdie]

Thank you for the great response! I dont know IF there is a hard reason that I NEED to know. It would suck to be the 3% the is negative and eat gluten free ON ONE HAND. On the other hand I feel better off of gluten. Maybe I wonder if gluten intolerant can cause the same diseases? Maybe I am wanting someone to say my symptoms are something else. I honestly have no interest in going to the dr tomorrow. I kinda hope you would say yep you have it! And I would be done

I do hope that the new doctor is a little more intuitive and a little more curious than the one you've been working with! It is definitely unpleasant to be going through all this. It is expensive, and it is a huge hassle. On the other hand, getting health improvements is worth it!

It is extremely important to get that total serum IgA. Finding out that is insufficient would push this more in the direction of celiac. Open Original Shared Link of how the tests are used...might be a little more informational than the other one.

I sure wish, for your sake, this could be more cut and dried. Celiac diagnosis is just not all that exact for a lot of people.

Seeing the difference in yourself on and off gluten is a huge factor but I know what you mean about being the 3%. It was difficult for me to allow myself to think I had to be off gluten forever because I also have a weird test presentation (positive only on TtG Igg). I LOVE and ADORE sourdough bread. No gluten-free substitute for a good,crusty San Francisco sourdough! My doc made it a lot easier for me to get on the gluten-free path.

[squirmingitch]

One thing shalnuts; if you still intend to go to the doc & get tested again. You MUST be consuming & HAVE BEEN consuming gluten. You can not have been off gluten for even a week. Otherwise the tests get screwed up b/c of that.

[Skylark]

Most "gliadin IgG" these days is deamidated gliadin peptide, not the AGA Beachbirdie posted about. That is a very sensitive and specific test for celiac and it's the IgG that tends to be positive. If you know what lab ran the 2011 test you can call them and check what you got. If you have gliadin peptide IgG positive and feel awful on gluten I'd say you can consider yourself celiac.

[squirmingitch]

Skylark, here's the whole story:

https://www.celiac.com/forums/topic/94090-lost-and-confused-so-sick-please-advise/page__p__804336__fromsearch__1#entry804336

She was dx'd celiac 9 years ago. Went gluten-free for 5 yrs. but still felt bad, went back to doc & doc said go back to gluten & take immodium. She's just had a series of BAD docs.

[Skylark]

Thanks for the rest of the story. Yeah, it sure sounds like celiac. Damn doctors.

[Takala]

Really. It's like there's a secret society of them which is determined to not diagnose people. Pardon me, I wasn't skeletal and I had neuropathy and was falling over my own feet literally so therefore it just couldn't be that ! blah, blah, blah.

To original poster. You were diagnosed, so stop eating the ****ed gluten ! None of us get to "100% normal" even if we eat perfectly, because we can be temporarily knocked down by cross contamination, or still have some other related diseases or conditions which we have to deal with, but most of us get to very high or at least acceptable functioning.

[beachbirdie]

Most "gliadin IgG" these days is deamidated gliadin peptide, not the AGA Beachbirdie posted about. That is a very sensitive and specific test for celiac and it's the IgG that tends to be positive. If you know what lab ran the 2011 test you can call them and check what you got. If you have gliadin peptide IgG positive and feel awful on gluten I'd say you can consider yourself celiac.

Not if you get it from my doctor's lab. It's why I asked for clarification.

She has been frustrated because she cannot get them to do the DGP. She's now going to be sending her celiac testing outside the local health conglomerate collective monopoly errr....system, even though people will likely have to drive 25 miles to get the tests.

[Skylark]

You know, I really wish people would keep their story in one thread. It's impossible to help someone with all the relevant info scattered about.