Help interpreting test results

[armadillo]

Hey everyone!

I'm a 20 year old student and today my doctor told me that me that I (likely) have celiac disease. To confirm the diagnosis, she's ordering an endoscopy, but I'm not sure how long this will take due to wait-times. She told me to cut gluten out of my diet, but I've also read that you should still eat gluten leading up to the endoscopy. Basically, I want some help interpreting my bloodwork results to see if it's very likely I have celiac disease, and if I should start cutting gluten or wait an indefinite amount of time for the test.

Deamidated Gliadin peptide+Tissue
transglutaminase Ab IgA+IgG; IA
Result: POSITIVE

Tissue Transglutaminase AbIgA; IA
Result: 56

Tissue Transglutaminase Ab IgG; IA
Result: 4

Deamidated Gliadin peptide Ab IgA; IA
Result: 29

Deamidated Gliadin peptide Ab IgG; IA
Result: 9
 

[armadillo]

7 minutes ago, armadillo said:

Hey everyone!

I'm a 20 year old student and today my doctor told me that me that I (likely) have celiac disease. To confirm the diagnosis, she's ordering an endoscopy, but I'm not sure how long this will take due to wait-times. She told me to cut gluten out of my diet, but I've also read that you should still eat gluten leading up to the endoscopy. Basically, I want some help interpreting my bloodwork results to see if it's very likely I have celiac disease, and if I should start cutting gluten or wait an indefinite amount of time for the test.

Deamidated Gliadin peptide+Tissue
transglutaminase Ab IgA+IgG; IA
Result: POSITIVE

Tissue Transglutaminase AbIgA; IA
Result: 56

Tissue Transglutaminase Ab IgG; IA
Result: 4

Deamidated Gliadin peptide Ab IgA; IA
Result: 29

Deamidated Gliadin peptide Ab IgG; IA
Result: 9
 

Also, I forgot to add but this is the range given. Result Range indication for tTG-IgA and IgG and DGP (Deamidated Gliadin Peptide) IgA and IgG
Negative: <20
Weak Positive: 20-30
Moderate to Strong Positive: >30

[cristiana]

Hi Armadillo and welcome to the forum!

I'd agree with your doctor looking at those figures.

It is usual for patients with suspected celiac disease to have a follow-up endoscopy to confirm the diagnosis.  It is important to continue eating gluten before the endoscopy - as I understand it, that's about two slices of normal (gluten containing) bread or the equivalent per day, for two weeks before the endoscopy (compared with six weeks before a celiac blood test).  

Does eating gluten cause you a lot of symptoms?   If so, I quite understand that you would want  to give up eating gluten ASAP.   However,  sometimes people find that when they give up gluten their reaction to it can become more severe if they reintroduce it a few months later.   That is something you may wish to reflect upon, when deciding the timing of your endoscopy as you will need to be consuming gluten in the run up to the test.

Do you have the option of having a follow-up endoscopy quite quickly? As your doctor is recommending one, and if you feel able to do it, there is perhaps some merit in getting it out of the way so that you can get on with your gluten free diet without having to interrupt it for a gluten challenge prior to an endoscopy further down the line.

Cristiana

Edited October 21, 2021 by cristiana

[cristiana]

Quote

Basically, I want some help interpreting my bloodwork results to see if it's very likely I have celiac disease, and if I should start cutting gluten or wait an indefinite amount of time for the test.

 

My apologies... I didn't read the last part of this sentence properly.   I see your problem... not knowing how long the wait will be makes it a bit more difficult to know what to do.  This is a problem that is besetting our healthcare system in the UK.  Can you get sort of approximate idea of how long the wait times are from your doctor?   

[trents]

It does look like from the number that you have celiac disease. Judging by the way you spelled "celiac" it doesn't look like you are in the UK.

Most definitely, you should be consuming a significant amount of gluten daily right up until the day of the endoscopy/biopsy. Your doctor gave you a bum steer by telling you to go gluten free.

What are your symptoms if any and how severe? 

[armadillo]

1 hour ago, cristiana said:

Basically, I want some help interpreting my bloodwork results to see if it's very likely I have celiac disease, and if I should start cutting gluten or wait an indefinite amount of time for the test.

 

My apologies... I didn't read the last part of this sentence properly.   I see your problem... not knowing how long the wait will be makes it a bit more difficult to know what to do.  This is a problem that is besetting our healthcare system in the UK.  Can you get sort of approximate idea of how long the wait times are from your doctor?   

Hi! Thanks for your responses.

With COVID, all non-critical surgeries and some other procedures have been postponed here. With that, my best guess is that the wait-time could be months. I'll try to phone my doctor back to see if they have a better estimate.

Also, I wasn't aware that your symptoms might get worse after being off gluten for awhile! If that's the case, I might try to have the minimum required amount while starting a transition to an otherwise gluten-free diet.

Thank you for the help!!

[trents]

Just to be clear, the symptoms don't get worse after being off gluten for a while unless you go back on gluten. What happens is you lose whatever tolerance you had before going gluten free.

[armadillo]

On 10/21/2021 at 8:07 AM, trents said:

It does look like from the number that you have celiac disease. Judging by the way you spelled "celiac" it doesn't look like you are in the UK.

Most definitely, you should be consuming a significant amount of gluten daily right up until the day of the endoscopy/biopsy. Your doctor gave you a bum steer by telling you to go gluten free.

What are your symptoms if any and how severe? 

Hi! Thanks for the reply.

My doctor informing me that I might have celiac's was quite surprising for me, considering that no one in my family has the disease (that I know of) and I didn't know much about it until a few days ago.

And you're right, I'm in Canada. Wait-times for medical procedures here are quite long right now, which is why I'm unsure about how long until I can get diagnosed.

My symptoms manifest in the form of stomach cramps and pain after eating gluten, bloating, gas, and other digestive problems. I also have iron-deficiency (which I take vitamins for) and skin problems. While these symptoms are manageable, they are quite annoying to deal with for an indefinite amount of time.