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

Inconclusive Biopsy?


sisterdayna

Recommended Posts

sisterdayna Newbie

I am new to this site. Came here hoping to get some answers. I have an 11 yo ds who is diabetic/asthmatic/autistic. He was having a lot of emotional and gastro problems so I did a trial off gluten. When I did, his blood sugars dropped drastically. We had to cut his insulin in half! We did this diet for at least a year, but he was in and out of the hospital with various asthma/diabetes related issues. He was on and off of antibiotics and at some point developed C-diff. During that time, not knowing his ailment, we assumed glutens must not be the problem and took him off the diet. This was probably 4-6 months ago. He continued to have debilitating stomach and gastro problems. 2 Weeks ago he finally had a scope done. The results today were this: inflamation, and slight atrophy and blunting of the villus. Now they want blood tests. We've done blood tests in the past, and they are always negative. I thought the abnormal villus (no matter how slight) was THE evidence of celiacs. Now, after all this time, they want blood tests to verify the biopsies? I'm confused. Can someone help me grasp this? :(


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



Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):



Rachel--24 Collaborator

Have they checked if he is IgA deficicient because that would cause him to have negative blood tests even if he were Celiac? Yes, the fact that he has blunted villi means he should not be consuming gluten. For some reason doctors always seem reluctant to diagnose Celiac. Ultimately, you dont need a doctors permission when it comes to putting your son on the diet. In my opinion all the evidence points to him having Celiac. Did any of his symptoms clear up while he was gluten-free?

ravenwoodglass Mentor
I am new to this site. Came here hoping to get some answers. I have an 11 yo ds who is diabetic/asthmatic/autistic. He was having a lot of emotional and gastro problems so I did a trial off gluten. When I did, his blood sugars dropped drastically. We had to cut his insulin in half! We did this diet for at least a year, but he was in and out of the hospital with various asthma/diabetes related issues. He was on and off of antibiotics and at some point developed C-diff. During that time, not knowing his ailment, we assumed glutens must not be the problem and took him off the diet. This was probably 4-6 months ago. He continued to have debilitating stomach and gastro problems. 2 Weeks ago he finally had a scope done. The results today were this: inflamation, and slight atrophy and blunting of the villus. Now they want blood tests. We've done blood tests in the past, and they are always negative. I thought the abnormal villus (no matter how slight) was THE evidence of celiacs. Now, after all this time, they want blood tests to verify the biopsies? I'm confused. Can someone help me grasp this? :(

To my knowledge those were positive biopsy results have you asked the doctor why he wants more bloodwork? I would take all test results in to another doctor for a second opinion if this one says he should just keep eating gluten.

sisterdayna Newbie

You know, it's hard to say whether he had positive results with the diet. I think he did, but the C-diff muddled everything up. I know we put him back on the gluten yesterday, and today he feels awful. He woke up in pain. If nothing else, this is proving to him that he needs the diet.

We have not had the IGa testing. That might be the problem though, because all of us have negative results. on the blood test. He has one sister who has a thru-the-roof IGA. Does that mean anything?

Archived

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


  • 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
      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
      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
      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
      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
      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...