Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Bloodwork....

prairiemamma

Recommended Posts

prairiemamma Apprentice
prairiemamma
Posted

How accurate is the Celiac panel bloodwork? My son's bloodwork is positive. His tTG was 1.5 but the DGP? Is 35.1. The pedestrian doesn't want to send him for a biopsy quite yet. He just turned 4 and has other special needs and he doesn't want to have to put him through the biopsy if he doesn't have to. He put him on the gluten-free diet immediately for a 3m trial, and will rerun the bloodwork. If I see significant improvement in the next few weeks, he wants to do the biopsy.

So can you have positive bloodwork like his and not have celiac? Sounds like a sure thing to me, but maybe I'm wrong.

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

The DGP is pretty specific for celiac disease. I would say the chances he has it are about 99% :)

rosetapper23 Explorer
rosetapper23
Posted

Why would the pediatrician want to do a biopsy after a few weeks on a gluten-free diet? That makes no sense! If there's an improvement on the diet, then your child has celiac. Even if there is no improvement in symptoms yet, his intestinal lining could heal enough after a few weeks so that the biopsy would come out negative anyway. It's pointless.

Takala Enthusiast
Takala
Posted

The longer the kid stays on a gluten free diet, the less likely is a positive biopsy which would give a definite diagnosis because he or she may in that time begin to heal..... waiting for the biopsy does not make any sense.

Now, if your child is on the gluten free diet faithfully, you see improvements in symptoms, AND his bloodwork shows an improvement towards that of a normal person, (drop in antibodies to gluten) then that would mean that is it also highly likely he/she is celiac. And if the doctor is willing to diagnose formally just on that, that is fine. It's when they do it half-@$$3d, like waiting months after the start of the gluten-free diet, and then biopsying and declaring that "nope, it can't be celiac" that it gets ridiculous.

The only reason to do a biopsy would be to look for "other things wrong" if the diet didn't seem to be working.

Hopefully the doctor also said try to cut lactose out (at least temporarily) because celiac damage also hinders the ability to digest milk sugars... this ability may come back after awhile on the diet. Milk and soy seem to be the 2 big "other" categories of foods that can bother celiacs.

MitziG Enthusiast
MitziG
Posted

Agreed. It would be a bad idea to biopsy after he has been gluten-free even a few weeks. Children heal quickly, and the biopsy looks for damage. If they see no damage, they will tell you he doesn't have celiac, when in reality, he just healed.

The blood tests are very accurate. If your doc won't biopsy now, get him to agree to dx him based on a positive response to a gluten-free diet and improved bloodwork after being gluten-free. His antibodies should drop significantly within a few months. Then you have your rreal answer.

prairiemamma Apprentice
prairiemamma
Posted
  • Author

Agreed. It would be a bad idea to biopsy after he has been gluten-free even a few weeks. Children heal quickly, and the biopsy looks for damage. If they see no damage, they will tell you he doesn't have celiac, when in reality, he just healed.

The blood tests are very accurate. If your doc won't biopsy now, get him to agree to dx him based on a positive response to a gluten-free diet and improved bloodwork after being gluten-free. His antibodies should drop significantly within a few months. Then you have your rreal answer.

That is exactly what I'm going to do. (go on bloodwork after being gluten-free). So, how long do you think it would take for his antibodies to drop? Do you think 3 months is long enough or would they drop sooner/later?

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      131,720
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Donna Spivey
    Newest Member
    Donna Spivey
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.4k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Who's Online (See full list)

    • There are no registered users currently online
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • Rejoicephd
      Draft gluten-free ciders… can they be trusted ?

      By Rejoicephd · Posted

      @Scott Adams That's actually exactly what I ended up asking for— vodka tonic with Titos.  I saw on their website that Tito's is certified gluten-free (maybe many of the clear vodkas are, I don't know, I just happened to look up Tito's in advance). I should have actually specified the 'splash' though, because I think with the amount of tonic she put in there, it did still end up fairly sweet.  Anyway, I think I've almost got this drink order down!
    • Wends
      Inconclusive results

      By Wends · Posted

      Be interesting to see the effects of dairy reintroduction with gluten. As well as milk protein sensitivity in and of itself the casein part particularly has been shown to mimic gluten in about 50% of celiacs. Keep us posted!
    • deanna1ynne
      Inconclusive results

      By deanna1ynne · Posted

      She has been dairy free for six years, so she’d already been dairy free for two years at her last testing and was dairy free for the entire gluten challenge this year as well (that had positive results). However, now that we’re doing another biopsy in six weeks, we decided to do everything we can to try to “see” the effects, so we decided this past week to add back in dairy temporarily for breakfast (milk and cereal combo like you said).
    • Gigi2025
      How Come Gluten Didnt Bother Me In Italy

      By Gigi2025 · Posted

      Hi Christiana, Many thanks for your response.  Interestingly, I too cannot eat wheat in France without feeling effects (much less than in the US, but won't indulge nonetheless).  I also understand children are screened for celiac in Italy prior to starting their education. Wise idea as it seems my grandson has the beginning symptoms (several celiacs in his dad's family), but parents continue to think he's just being difficult.  Argh.  There's a test I took that diagnosed gluten sensitivity in 2014 via Entero Labs, and am planning on having done again.  Truth be told, I'm hoping it's the bromine/additives/preservatives as I miss breads and pastas terribly when home here in the states!  Be well and here's to our guts healing ❤️
    • Wends
      Inconclusive results

      By Wends · Posted

      Lol that’s so true! Hope you get clarity, it’s tough when there’s doubt. There’s so much known about celiac disease with all the scientific research that’s been done so far yet practically and clinically there’s also so much unknown, still. Out of curiosity what’s her dairy consumption like? Even compared to early years to now? Has that changed? Calcium is dependent in the mechanism of antigen presenting cells in the gut. High calcium foods with gluten grains can initiate inflammation greater.  This is why breakfast cereals and milk combo long term can be a ticking time bomb for genetically susceptible celiacs (not a scientific statement by any means but my current personal opinion based on reasoning at present). Milk and wheat are the top culprits for food sensitivity. Especially in childhood. There are also patient cases of antibodies normalising in celiac children who had milk protein intolerance/ delayed type allergy. Some asymptomatic. There were a couple of cases of suspected celiacs that turned out to have milk protein intolerance that normalised antibodies on a gluten containing diet. Then there were others that only normalised antibodies once gluten and milk was eliminated. Milk kept the antibodies positive. Celiac disease is complicated to say the least.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.