Nurse Called And Said..

[Lifenthefastlane]

That the dr said my celiac lab results were in range. So I guess that is that huh? Lol

[frieze]

That the dr said my celiac lab results were in range. So I guess that is that huh? Lol

No, you need to get the actual numbers, and ALL tests that were run. then try the diet for 8-12 weeks.

[Ninja]

That the dr said my celiac lab results were in range. So I guess that is that huh? Lol

Unfortunately, the blood tests have a 20-30% false negative rate. The majority of the antibodies in Celiac reside in the small intestine and any they find when testing your blood are "spill-outs."

Before you go gluten-free you should decide whether or not you want to undergo the endoscopy and biopsy. This approach is still considered the "gold-standard" for diagnosis, albeit its relatively high false negative rate (same as the blood tests). Sometimes the damage is patchy and the doctor may miss the section that is damaged. They need to take at least six biopsies of the small intestine.

Otherwise, try a gluten-free diet! Can't hurt. :-)

[GottaSki]

Always ask for hard or electronic copy of ALL medical tests. I learned the hard way - mistakes happen - ten years ago I was told all my tests were ok by a nurse. I then asked specifically to double check one that had been abnormal in previous years. She said, "yes, all your tests were normal". Nine months later I get a call to make sure I followed up on my abnormal test result with specialist - huh End result cancer! Treatable, but during those months the cancer became far worse - since then I get copies of ALL tests and often find that there is interesting information even in "normal" blood results and other medical reports.

Am I remembering you correctly - severe diarrhea for quite awhile along with some other possible celiac symptoms? If so, you could be Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerant or simply not have enough antibodies in your blood yet. Do make sure you get all the results to confirm what celiac &/or nutrient testing was done. It is not common, but you can be low in Total IgA which can make all IgA antibody tests inaccurate.

Completely removing gluten for three months is really a small price to pay to improve your health now and possibly prevent further health problems.

[Lifenthefastlane]

Okay, Thanks, I will go see about getting the copies today, I am interested in seeing what they are because I called monday and they said they would get back to me because they just received the preliminary results and they weren't sure if that's all they needed.

[kittty]

Like GottaSki I've also been told that blood work was normal when it really wasn't. My doctor's office recently implemented an online system where I can review all past blood work results at any time. Most of these results I'd never seen before, but there were plenty of results that were out of range and no one had ever told me!

Also watch for borderline results. For some of the values there are disputes over what really is low or high, and groups of certain borderline results together can indicate something bad going on.

[Lifenthefastlane]

I went to get the results today and they told me (medical records) that the results still said preliminary so they couldn't release them to me! Ugh!! What the heck does that mean?

[Aprilelayne]

My offices can't provide official results until the are assessed by the specialist.

Like an X-ray, the doctor will tell you their preliminary review, but the radiologist can give you final.

It's probably stuck waiting on someone's desk