GalaxyDuster

Hello, everyone. I wanted to let you know about the results of my biopsy. I do not have celiac disease. All they found was signs of chronic inflammation in the antrum of my stomach. They believe it is from the 1200-1600 mg of ibuprofen I'm taking every day, combined with acid reflux. I will have a gastric emptying study done just to make sure there is...

CyclingLady, were you deficient in IGA as well? I'm just asking because my TTG was negative (less than 1), but my IGA was normal. I'm still waiting for my biopsy result, I should have it by next week. I'm just curious if a negative TTG with a normal IGA is possible with celiac.

They should test your immunoglobulins, IGA, IGE, IGM. I had a weird flare-up of dermatographic itching rashes and hives about five years ago, when all my problems really started (dermatographic means if you gently scratch - or sometimes even touch - the skin, it leaves a bright red streak. Like, you can write your name on your arm in lines of long red hives...

Hi. I wanted to let you all know, I had my upper endoscopy on Friday (5/26). I'm still waiting for my biopsy results. They took samples of the esophagus, stomach and duodenum. They said I had a very reddened, inflamed antrum (lower part of stomach, before the duodenum starts). I'll let you know how it turned out, either way.

Thank you all very much. I actually cried when I got the answer. I wanted an explanation that I could "fix." Now I'm back to thinking I'm just weak and possibly crazy. I know I'm not crazy, but you know.

Well guys, my blood test came back negative for celiac disease. Total IGA =161 (normal), IGA-TTG was < 1. I'm really quite surprised. My GI appointment was bumped up to 5/10 at least, so I won't wait til June to see them. My quest to find out where my lost 40 lbs went continues. Thank you all for your kidness and expertise while I waited for my answer...

That explains EVERYTHING. I had Aetna PPO about 4 years ago, and it was horrible. Absolutely horrible, and expensive. They jacked up the price the year Obamacare came out, from $550 a month (family) to $725 a month and I got stuck paying it for a year. I dropped them like a rock when open season came around. They are a greedy and worthless insurance company...

Hi Ahhhnold (is that like Shwartzenegger?! ), I am also waiting for my endoscopy. In the meantime, the people on this message board suggested that I request the celiac antibody panel to be drawn. Do you know if that was included in your blood work? If not, you can ask your primary care doctor to order it while you wait. That might shed light on just what...

I know what you mean. On one hand, I don't want celiac disease, but on the other hand, it would be a "fixable" problem that would explain so many of my health problems... all the way back to age 11, honestly! From my understanding, from the very nice and knowledgeable people here, only one test being flagged high counts as a positive or potential positive...

Blood was drawn this afternoon... they said I could get results tomorrow or even the next day! I also have a GI appt scheduled for June 9th. I am so glad I will have at least some kind of answer pretty soon. I'll let you all know. Thanks again for being so helpful!

I got my script from the doc... it's for total IGA and TTG-IGA. Guess that's a good start? It also says "fasting" on the requisition, do I really need to be?

Thank you so much. It's so nice to have such friendly and helpful people to talk to while I await my answers. I had an interesting experience yesterday... I ate a bowl of Kraft mac n cheese... then passed out for 4 hours and woke up vomiting. I've had a lot of experiences like that after eating over the past 2 years, but I never put those pieces together...

I just wanted to say, because of your post I did ask my primary care doctor's office to order this antibody panel for me, and they thought it was a very good idea. I should be able to have it done next week (still waiting for my GI referral). Thank you!

I would definitely recommend getting tested first. Everything I've read so far (it's been less than 2 weeks of a learning curve, but I'm learning!) has said your antibody tests and endoscopy/biopsy tests may come out as false negatives if you start a gluten free diet first. Believe me, I've thought about trying it just to relieve this very long-standing suffering...

At this point, if I was to diagnose myself on symptoms alone, I'd be absolutely sure that this is what I have. 10 days ago, I would have never even considered it. Now I just feel so confused and crazy and unsure. What am I even going to do if this is not my answer? The pain in my back is so severe. I would love to have my answer and just make it go away....