Blood Test Questions

[kittty]

I know this topic has been mentioned several times before, but I wanted to ask specifically about what my doctor said yesterday.

She wants me to get tested for all common food allergies, as well as celiacs. I told her that I've been gluten free for four months, but she said that the test can still come back positive for the antibodies even with no gluten in my system. Is this really true? I need to read up more on these tests because I know nothing about them.

The instructions she wrote to the lab were for "celiac sprue panel", but does that mean a full panel of many different types of tests, or just a single basic test?

She also said that if eating gluten is working for me, that she's still going to consider me gluten sensitive even if the results come back negative, and that there was no need for me to start eating gluten again to get the biopsy, etc.

[beachbirdie]

I know this topic has been mentioned several times before, but I wanted to ask specifically about what my doctor said yesterday.

She wants me to get tested for all common food allergies, as well as celiacs. I told her that I've been gluten free for four months, but she said that the test can still come back positive for the antibodies even with no gluten in my system. Is this really true? I need to read up more on these tests because I know nothing about them.

The instructions she wrote to the lab were for "celiac sprue panel", but does that mean a full panel of many different types of tests, or just a single basic test?

She also said that if eating gluten is working for me, that she's still going to consider me gluten sensitive even if the results come back negative, and that there was no need for me to start eating gluten again to get the biopsy, etc.

While your doc is great in that she will consider you gluten sensitive, she is wrong about the antibodies. If you have been gluten free for four months, you are very likely to test negative. And if you were to have a biopsy you would also likely turn up negative. If you don't have a compelling reason for an "official" diagnosis, there is nothing wrong with you staying gluten free. Sounds like it has been very good for you!

What symptoms were you having that prompted the doc to do testing now?

[MitziG]

It doesn't hurt to have the tests done, but you are most likely going to test negative after being gluten-free 4 months. Some people who had very high antibodies to begin with may still show a positive however. It took my son over a year of being 100% gluten-free before he tested negative. So it could show something...just don't count on it. And if it is negative, do not take that as your not having Celiac!