Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×

  • 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

I'm Trying To Interpret My Boyfriend's Test Results, But I'm Not Sure If The Country I'm In Uses The Same Names For Tests. Please Help?

BelleVie

Recommended Posts

BelleVie Enthusiast
BelleVie
Posted

Hello again everyone. 

 

Since I met my boyfriend, he has had chronic dry skin/eczema (especially around his mouth and on his elbows and knees,) a rash on one of his knees that looks just like DH (he has had the rash forever, it comes and goes in cycles but never completely heals, but it only itches a little bit), really bad gas all the time, a bloated mid-section, and abnormal BMs. I don't think he realized that any of this was abnormal until we met, but now he's been very open to information concerning digestive issues/celiac/gluten. He also has a history of acid reflux and dental enamel defects. 

 

He had asthma as a child, extreme skinniness (until he was college age), and currently has tiredness, a geographic tongue, and a history of his body rejecting the Hep. B vaccine. 

 

I convinced him to have a celiac panel done, but I'm having trouble understanding it, because it uses terminology and test names that I'm unfamiliar with. 

 

Here is the panel we got back from the doctor:

 

 

Intrinsic factor Ab - negative

Parietal cell Ab - negative 

Tissue transglutaminase Ab - negative

ASCA - positive

Gliadin Ab - positive  

 

Is Gliadin Ab the old test used? I did read that the ASCA is normally a marker for Crohn's disease, but that it CAN signify celiac.

 

We tried to have his rash biopsied at an English speaking dermatologist but they told us they could not test for DH. 

 

Additionally, a full nutrition work up showed that he (at the time of that test) had low glucose, high creatinine, low chloride, high triglycerides, high HDL and calcium, low phosphorus, low GGTP, very high uric acid, and high albumin. He also has low WBCs, low SEGs, high monocytes, high eosinophigils, and low basophils.

 

Thank you to anyone who can help. Does anyone know if this sounds more like celiac or Crohn's? Is there a way to tell based on lab tests alone? We were, of course, recommended to get a biopsy done, but there isn't a doctor in the country who is familiar with doing celiac biopsies.  (We'd be willing to go to a nearby country, Japan for example, but even there it seems that there are no doctors who can do celiac biopsies.) 

 

 

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

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


pricklypear1971 Community Regular
pricklypear1971
Posted

Can you contact the lab directly for clarification?

BelleVie Enthusiast
BelleVie
Posted
  • Author

Can you contact the lab directly for clarification?

Hm, maybe. But they speak Korean. And I do not.  :D

shadowicewolf Proficient
shadowicewolf
Posted

Hm, maybe. But they speak Korean. And I do not.  :D

Do you have a friend or someone who can interpret them?

BelleVie Enthusiast
BelleVie
Posted
  • Author

That's a good idea. The doctor who did the test advised him that he has potential gluten sensitivity/celiac but that he should get a biopsy. I'm just trying to figure out the likelihood of this being celiac or something else. 

frieze Community Regular
frieze
Posted

if I remember correctly, most medical personnel in Korea will have at least a rudimentary proficiency in English.  Can you get the biopsy done and have the slides sent out?  Korea is not a backward country, it would amaze me that no one there could do the testing ....

BelleVie Enthusiast
BelleVie
Posted
  • Author

if I remember correctly, most medical personnel in Korea will have at least a rudimentary proficiency in English.  Can you get the biopsy done and have the slides sent out?  Korea is not a backward country, it would amaze me that no one there could do the testing ....

I can check into it, but the doctor that I was seeing before is the head doctor at an English medical clinic in Seoul, and he told me that he had previously recommended another patient to have a biopsy done, but that the doctors in the local hospitals (the best ones in the country) basically said "no, we can't do that." I wonder how sending the slides out would work? That's certainly worth checking into. Thanks! 

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

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


pricklypear1971 Community Regular
pricklypear1971
Posted

I can check into it, but the doctor that I was seeing before is the head doctor at an English medical clinic in Seoul, and he told me that he had previously recommended another patient to have a biopsy done, but that the doctors in the local hospitals (the best ones in the country) basically said "no, we can't do that." I wonder how sending the slides out would work? That's certainly worth checking into. Thanks!

I would contact the University of Chicago Celiac Center. They are known for their online communication and resources.

BelleVie Enthusiast
BelleVie
Posted
  • Author

Thanks, pricklypear. I'll do that. 

Archived

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

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


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      128,390
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    Ozz lock
    Newest Member
    Ozz lock
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.1k
    • Total Posts
      70.9k
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • trents
      Negative biopsy and seeking doctor recs in Los Angeles

      By trents · Posted

      If you have been eating the gluten equivalent of 4-6 slices of wheat bread daily for say, 4 weeks, I think a repeat blood test would be valid.
    • englishbunny
      Negative biopsy and seeking doctor recs in Los Angeles

      By englishbunny · Posted

      it did include Total Immunoglobin A which was 135, and said to be in normal range. when i did the blood test in January I would say I was on a "light' gluten diet, but def not gluten free.  I didn't have any clue about the celiac thing then.  Since then I have been eating a tonne of gluten for the purpose of the endoscopy....so I'm debating just getting my blood test redone right away to see if it has changed so I'm not waiting another month...
    • trents
      Negative biopsy and seeking doctor recs in Los Angeles

      By trents · Posted

      Welcome to the forum, @englishbunny! Did your celiac panel include a test for "Total IGA"? That is a test for IGA deficiency. If you are IGA deficient, other IGA test resultls will likely be falsely low. Were you by any chance already practicing a reduced gluten free diet when the blood draw was done?
    • englishbunny
      Negative biopsy and seeking doctor recs in Los Angeles

      By englishbunny · Posted

      I'm upset & confused and really need help finding a new gastro who specializes in celiac in California.  Also will welcome any insights on my results. I tested with an isolated positive for deamidated IGA a few months ago (it was 124.3, all other values on celiac panel <1.0), I also have low ferritin and Hashimotos. Mild gastro symptoms which don't seem to get significantly worse with gluten but I can't really tell... my main issues being extreme fatigue and joint pain. The celiac panel was done by my endocrinologist to try and get to the bottom of my fatigue and I was shocked to have a positive result. Just got negative biposy result from endoscopy. Doctor only took two biopsies from small intestine (from an area that appeared red), and both are normal. Problem is his Physician's Assistant can't give me an answer whether I have celiac or not, or what possible reason I might have for having positive antibodies if I don't have it. She wants me to retest bloods in a month and says in the meantime to either "eat gluten or not, it's up to you, but your bloodwork won't be accurate if you don't" I asked if it could be I have early stage celiac so the damage is patchy and missed by only having two samples taken, and she said doctor would've seen damaged areas when performing endoscopy (?) and that it's a good sign if my whole intestine isn't damaged all over, so even if there is spotty damage I am fine.  This doesn't exactly seem satisfactory, and seems to be contrary to so much of the reading and research I have done. I haven't seen the doctor except at my endoscopy, and he was pretty arrogant and didn't take much time to talk. I can't see him or even talk to him for another month. I'm really confused about what I should do. I don't want to just "wait and see" if I have celiac and do real damage in the meantime. Because I know celiac is more that just 'not eating bread' and if I am going to make such a huge lifestyle adjustment I need an actual diagnosis. So in summary I want to find another doctor in CA, preferably Los Angeles but I don't care at this stage if they can do telehealth! I just need some real answers from someone who doesn't talk in riddles. So recommendations would be highly welcomed. I have Blue Shield CA insurance, loads of gastros in LA don’t take insurance at all 😣
    • trents
      Oats gluten free?

      By trents · Posted

      Okay, Lori, we can agree on the term "gluten-like". My concern here is that you and other celiacs who do experience celiac reactions to other grains besides wheat, barley and rye are trying to make this normative for the whole celiac community when it isn't. And using the term "gluten" to refer to these other grain proteins is going to be confusing to new celiacs trying to figure out what grains they actually do need to avoid and which they don't. Your experience is not normative so please don't proselytize as if it were.
×
×
  • Create New...