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Welcome to this online community, @Mina H! 1. Apart from any consideration of crypt hyperplasia, villous atrophy is the hallmark of celiac disease. There are some other things that can cause villous atrophy such as an intolerance to cow's milk protein (CMP), chronic NSAID use, a certain blood pressure med, certain parasitic intestinal infections and a few other medical conditions but they are relatively unlikely compared to celiac disease being the cause, especially in view of the accompanying symptoms you list. 2. The endoscopy with biopsy is still considered to be the gold standard of celiac disease diagnosis, not blood antibody testing. Blood antibody testing is in some ways the "rule out" step for determining whether or not to move on to the second and more definitive stage of diagnosis, namely, the endoscopy/biopsy. There is a movement afoot to diagnose celiac disease based on blood antibody testing alone but only when the TTG-IGA score reach 10x mormal. 3. All the symptoms you describe are classic and scream of celiac disease. If your healthcare system in Japan is unable or unwilling to grant you an official diagnosis based on the biopsy results and your symptoms, your next step would be to engage with the gluten free diet and see if your symptoms improve over a period of weeks/months.

Hi. My biopsy results just came back and it's a little confusing. Here's what the report says (I translated it myself from Japanese): Biopsy report -Chronic duodenitis -The mucosa shows mild to moderate lymphocytic infiltration, and the villi are partially shortened and atrophic. -Mild lymphocytic infiltration is seen in the surface and crypt epithelium. -Crypt hyperplasia is not clearly present, but the findings are considered not inconsistent with celiac disease. (My note: Japanese people like this kind of statement) -No findings of granulomas, specific infectious disease, or malignancy are observed   The GI said he didn't see anything special during the upper endoscopy but sent samples (not sure how many samples he took) for biopsy. 1. So, my question is, does the biopsy report makes sense? (Villi atrophy and lymphocytes are present, but no clear crypt hyperplasia? Can it still be considered MARSH 3a (because of villi atrophy?) and therefore suggestive of Celiac?   I have to say, althought not completely gluten free, recently, I've been trying to avoid gluten when cooking for myself but I would eat pizza or cheese cake or cookies or pasta now and then, maybe at least one-two times a week. I'm quite shocked because ever since I learned that I have a Celiac gene, althought not strict complete gluten free, I really tried not to eat bread or pasta or pizza every meal or everyday (even changed my soy souce to flour-free Tamari sauce), but it was enough to damage the villi. I think many Asian condiments contain gluten, even some vinegar in Japan... 2. Another question is the biopsy result alone enough to confirm I am Celiac, since getting a blood test is not readily available and expensive to do in the country I'm living in (Japan)? Or should I continue eating gluten and wait 8 weeks and pay out-of-pocket for the antibodies test too (super expensive to me though ($500 USD, even endoscopy is practically free/cheap here) because the blood draw will be done by a clinic in Tokyo, but the sample has to be sent to a US lab)? Hoever, I live very far from Tokyo or large cities so there will also be travel costs. *** Background Info: I'm Asian female living in Japan where Celiac is thought to be very rare, so the blood test for antibodies is not readily available even through doctors. I'm not Japanese, by the way. I learned several years ago that I am HLA-DQ2.5 positive (heterozygous). Symptoms: Recently, I've been feeling off whenever I ate something with gluten. But the symptoms were vague like having to run into bathroom, constipation (I suppose more constipation than diarrhea), brain fog/dizziness, tiredness/daytime sleepiness, gassy/bloating or cramps, random abdominal pain (I thought it was due to ovulation or something). I thought it was IBS or something. I also had acid reflux sometimes, successfully controlled or healed through acid watcher's diet etc. The most problematic symptom for me was acid reflux or LPR/silent reflux (I did a Peptest and there was pepsin detected in my saliva even when I didn't particularly felt heartburn!), I thought it was because I ate dark chocolate and drank spearmint tea everyday so stopped. Reflux is why I went to the GI to ask for uppper endoscopy.

Welcome to the forum, @Terrance Donald! Are you actually allergic to gluten or do you say that meaning you either have celiac disease or NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity), neither of which are allergies?

Hello Members, I m looking for suggestions about gluten free seafood options in Ohio near springdale area as i will visit that place in 2 weeks. I m seafood lover but same time allergic to gluten.

Hello Everyone, Quite helpful info. I was looking for same kind of info which finally i found here.