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Need Help From Those With Experience, Blood Test?

arian

By arian
in Super Sensitive People

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arian Apprentice
arian
Posted

I just got my blood test back from the allergist, and he said my body is making antibodies against gluten. The thing is, I just wanted to confirm through him, what I already knew ( I knew before the appointment that I was gluten intolerant from my own elimation diet ) Anyway, heres my question. I haven't eaten ANY gluten in over 2 months, but it's still showing up on the blood test. Does this mean I'm possibly celiac or highly intolerant? For ex. if i was eating gluten everyday for six weeks before the test, would the antibody number be extremely high? thank you!

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T.H. Community Regular
T.H.
Posted

If you have antibodies, my understanding is that this is Celiac Disease; gluten intolerance doesn't involve the antibodies. Not as I understand it, anyway. I believe it is an entirely different physiological reaction than Celiac Disease.

Gluten contamination might be the explanation for the still high numbers, in that case, or if you were severely damaged and had extremely high antibodies, they might not have dropped enough yet. I think the former is more likely, though.

arian Apprentice
arian
Posted
  • Author

If you have antibodies, my understanding is that this is Celiac Disease; gluten intolerance doesn't involve the antibodies. Not as I understand it, anyway. I believe it is an entirely different physiological reaction than Celiac Disease.

Gluten contamination might be the explanation for the still high numbers, in that case, or if you were severely damaged and had extremely high antibodies, they might not have dropped enough yet. I think the former is more likely, though.

Thank you so much, thats what I thought :( the answer to 6 years of problems I think has been discovered, YAY:D I've been dealing with so many problems for so long, and not knowing the answer to what was causing all of it. I think I do now :)

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

What blood tests did he do? Just curious.

and...yes, as TH says, if your antibodies are high, you've got a gluten problem.

Lisa Mentor
Lisa
Posted

Anyway, heres my question. I haven't eaten ANY gluten in over 2 months, but it's still showing up on the blood test. Does this mean I'm possibly celiac or highly intolerant? For ex. if i was eating gluten everyday for six weeks before the test, would the antibody number be extremely high? thank you!

I think you're asking that if you ate a full gluten diet, prior to your testing, would your results be more positive? Maybe, maybe not. But, that's not too important. Positive is Positive. :)

Can you post the type of blood test your allergist recommended and your full results? You have mentioned that you feel better off gluten, that's a piece of the puzzle.

It's also possible, that although you are certain you were 100% gluten free, that you may not have been. Gluten is very tricky and it hides well. Lotions, shampoos, lipsticks/balm, some meds, shared toasters and dining out can be a real challenge...etc. The learning curve is steep.

arian Apprentice
arian
Posted
  • Author

What blood tests did he do? Just curious.

and...yes, as TH says, if your antibodies are high, you've got a gluten problem.

Ok so I asked, and my Ige was no number, but my Igg had a number -.- is that even a celiac test, I thought Iga was celiac test? Man im so bummmed, my allergist is NO help !!! someone help:(

IrishHeart Veteran
IrishHeart
Posted

The antigliadin antibodies IgG and IgA recognize a small piece of the gluten protein called gliadin. These antibodies became available during the late 1970′s and were the first step towards recognizing celiac disease as an autoimmune disorder.

Antigliadin IgG has good sensitivity, while antigliadin IgA has good specificity, and therefore their combined use provided the first reliable screening test for CELIAC DISEASE.

Unfortunately, many normal individuals without CELIAC DISEASE will have an elevated antigliadin IgG, causing much confusion among physicians. The antigliadin IgG is useful in screening individuals who are IgA deficient, as the other antibodies used for routine screening are usually of the IgA class. It is thought that 0.2-0.4% of the general population has selective IgA deficiency, while 2 to 3% or more of celiacs are IgA deficient.

If a patient’s celiac panel is only positive for antigliadin IgG, this is not highly suggestive for CELIAC DISEASE if the patient has a normal total IgA level, corrected for age.

Younger children make less IgA than older children and adults.

A markedly elevated antigliadin IgG, such as greater than three to four times the upper limit of normal for that lab, is highly suggestive of a condition where the gut is leakier to gluten.

This can happen in food allergies, cystic fibrosis, parasitic infections, Crohn’s disease, and other types of autoimmune GI diseases. These antibodies may also be slightly elevated in individuals with no obvious disease.

that information is here:

Open Original Shared Link

Given this information, I would not assume I had Celiac Disease until I had a celiac panel run. The allergist did not run the IgA.....and according to this information, people can have elevated antigliadin IgG and have another condition-- as listed above. Or it could be nothing at all.

IMHO, you may wish to see a gastrointestinal doctor and bring these test results to him/her.? Something is going on and the allergist may not be able to help much further.

You have some information from this IgG test, yes, but I am not really sure if that is enough to say it's celiac disease or not.

Maybe someone else knows more and will chime in here.

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    • trents
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      @Riley, on this forum we sometimes get reports from people with similar experiences as you. That is, their celiac disease seems to go into remission. Typically, that doesn't last. At age 18 you are at your physical-biological peek in life where your body is stronger than it will ever be and it is able to fight well against many threats and abuses. As Wheatwacked pointed out, absence of symptoms is not always a reliable indicator that no damage is being done to the body. I was one of those "silent" celiacs with no symptoms, or at least very minor symptoms, whose body was being slowly damaged for many years before the damage became pronounced enough to warrant investigation, leading to a diagnosis. By that time I had suffered significant bone demineralization and now I suffer with back and neck problems. Please, if you choose to continue consuming gluten, which I do not recommend, at least get tested regularly so that you won't get caught in the silent celiac trap down the road like I did. You really do not outgrow celiac disease. It is baked into the genes. Once the genes get triggered, as far as we know, they are turned on for good. Social rejection is something most celiacs struggle with. Being compliant with the gluten free diet places restrictions on what we can eat and where we can eat. Our friends usually try to work with us at first but then it gets to be a drag and we begin to get left out. We often lose some friends in the process but we also find out who really are our true friends. I think the hardest hits come at those times when friends spontaneously say, "Hey, let's go get some burgers and fries" and you know you can't safely do that. One way to cope in these situations is to have some ready made gluten-free meals packed in the fridge that you can take with you on the spot and still join them but eat safely. Most "real" friends will get used to this and so will you. Perhaps this little video will be helpful to you.  
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