Is It Celiac?

[ashleigh90]

I'm a 22 year old female and have been suffering from a variety of symptoms including nausea, diarrhea, constipation, bloating, mucus in stool, abdominal pain, gas, minor weight loss, anxiety, hair loss, and a tingling feeling in my toes. I had a variety of tests done including an ultra sound, stool test for parasites/bacteria, colonoscopy and endoscopy.

Everything came back normal except with the colonoscopy/endoscopy. With that they found some polyps (turned out to be benign) and inflammation. The pathologist suggested I get a celiac blood panel done based on the biopsy. So, I'm going to do that soon. (I've had some previous more general blood work done and the only thing they found from that was that my red blood cell count was slightly low at 3.9, but it was so slightly that it was deemed insignificant.) Now I'm waiting to get the celiac blood panel to more specifically look at that as a possibility.

Anyways, pardon my ignorance here , but there's something I'm slightly confused about. I've heard that a biopsy is sort of the gold standard for confirming celiac disease. If the already did a biopsy, wouldn't that show for sure whether or not it was celiac disease? The doctor still seems unsure/unconvinced so I'm really not sure what to make of the situation. I know the test will eventually show what's going on, but I'm just curious if what I'm describing even sounds like celiac or maybe just a gluten sensitivty or something else even?

[Lisa]

The pathologist suggested I get a celiac blood panel done based on the biopsy.

YES Ashleigh! And welcome!!!!

Get a hold of your pathology report and bring it here. It may indeed, offer a diagnosis. Your symptoms surely support it.

But, please continue to eat gluten, if you can tolerate it, until your blood work.

If you can't, a positive dietary response can be a piece of the puzzle as well.