TTG 25

[LP023]

I recently had a ttg and the results were 25 and I was told that it was positive by Gastro. I don’t hurt when I eat gluten but I feel awful when I eat vegetables and meat like on a keto diet. Could it be false positive? Is 25 high enough to be a for sure diagnoses? I can go several months with no issues at all and then get sick but eating bread, pasta, pizza and other foods that contain gluten don’t bother me.

[trents]

Welcome to the forum, LP023!

Can you also supply the reference range for negative vs. positive? Without that it is not possible to say whether or not your score represents a strong positive as each lab uses a different standard.

Yes, it is possible that this represents a false positive but not likely. The tTG-IGA is considered to a celiac test with good specificity and good sensitivity. The next logical step is for you to schedule an endoscopy with biopsy of the small bowel lining. That is considered to be the gold standard test for celiac disease.

The fact that you do not experience GI distress when you consume gluten products certainly does not rule out celiac disease. A high percentage of those with active celiac disease do not have GI distress, at least not until the damage to the small bowel villi gets to an advanced stage. We call them "silent celiacs". The fact that you have trouble digesting meat and veggies could very well be caused by a damaged gut from celiac disease.

If you intend to go for the endoscopy/biopsy, make sure you do not start a gluten free diet until that is done.

[Scott Adams]

Did they also run any other celiac disease tests in your panel, for example DPG?

[LP023]

15 hours ago, trents said:

Welcome to the forum, LP023!

Can you also supply the reference range for negative vs. positive? Without that it is not possible to say whether or not your score represents a strong positive as each lab uses a different standard.

Yes, it is possible that this represents a false positive but not likely. The tTG-IGA is considered to a celiac test with good specificity and good sensitivity. The next logical step is for you to schedule an endoscopy with biopsy of the small bowel lining. That is considered to be the gold standard test for celiac disease.

The fact that you do not experience GI distress when you consume gluten products certainly does not rule out celiac disease. A high percentage of those with active celiac disease do not have GI distress, at least not until the damage to the small bowel villi gets to an advanced stage. We call them "silent celiacs". The fact that you have trouble digesting meat and veggies could very well be caused by a damaged gut from celiac disease.

If you intend to go for the endoscopy/biopsy, make sure you do not start a gluten free diet until that is done.

I think 0-3 negative

4-10 week positive and anything over 10 positive. 

[LP023]

2 hours ago, Scott Adams said:

Did they also run any other celiac disease tests in your panel, for example DPG?

Not that I know of. CRP was fine. I guess that’s for inflammation.  Vitamins were fine. Running a colonoscopy, swallow test and upper endo but the wait is long. I haven’t eaten gluten in 4 days. Ate a salad with no dressing and pain started. Mine seems to be vegetables and fruit. Sometimes meat. Makes no sense to me. 

[trents]

If you eliminate or cut back on gluten before all testing is complete you will undermine the results. Since you say gluten doesn't bother you, you should be able to weather that period without undue suffering. Can you do dairy and eggs without discomfort so as to meet protein needs?

[LP023]

Eggs is a no. Dairy sometimes. It’s looking like 2 months before the tests will be done. I thought I would try it for awhile to see what happened if I cut out gluten for a week. I’ve read that the blood test was 98% accurate. 25 is 15 over the positive limit but I’ve seen where some people were in the 100s. I had Covid a year ago and since then I’ve felt hungry non stop and stomach noises are constant. Most days I feel good. Just some really bad weeks scattered in. 

[trents]

If you eliminate or cut back on gluten before all testing is complete you will undermine the results. Since you say gluten doesn't bother you, you should be able to weather that period without undue suffering. Can you do dairy and eggs without discomfort so as to meet protein needs?

The Mayo Clinic Guidelines for the pretest gluten challenge leading up to the endoscopy/biopsy is the daily consumption of two slices of wheat bread (or the gluten equivalent) for two weeks prior. That should help you in your planning.

[Raptorsgal]

Mine ttg. was 80 a lot higher . I also stop gluten it’s been a few days seem to be helping gluten in everything 

[Scott Adams]

As @trents mentioned, be sure not to eliminate gluten until all tests for celiac disease have been completed.

[Raptorsgal]

The doctor pretty sure I had it there’d been no test scheduled if they are it could be months and months .

oat milk and granola are they l always gluten free so confusing 

[trents]

2 minutes ago, Raptorsgal said:

oat milk and granola are they l always gluten free so confusing 

Oats and granola are not necessarily gluten free because of the likelihood of cross contamination with wheat in the field, in transport, in storage and in processing. Milk is gluten free.

[Raptorsgal]

It’s so hard I needed to eat something hopeful things get better waiting for a library book

[RecoveredCeliac]

On 1/26/2023 at 2:12 PM, LP023 said:

25 is 15 over the positive limit 

doesn't matter if other people were hundreds over normal range

ttg iga?    ttg iga is over 99% accurate for celiac

If you have 15 above normal ttg iga then you are definitely positive

 

[LP023]

51 minutes ago, RecoveredCeliac said:

doesn't matter if other people were hundreds over normal range

ttg iga?    ttg iga is over 99% accurate for celiac

If you have 15 above normal ttg iga then you are definitely positive

 

Most likely am positive but I know when I worked in the lab several years ago I learned really quick false positives for several things aren’t as uncommon as we think. Other autoimmune diseases can cause false positives. HIV antibody testing is a huge false positive risk and they say it’s 99% accurate. Every time we had a positive it was sent off for confirmation testing to make sure it was really positive. As far as I know there isn’t another blood test to confirm celiacs if one comes back positive but it’s been awhile since I worked in that field. 

[trents]

3 hours ago, LP023 said:

Most likely am positive but I know when I worked in the lab several years ago I learned really quick false positives for several things aren’t as uncommon as we think. Other autoimmune diseases can cause false positives. HIV antibody testing is a huge false positive risk and they say it’s 99% accurate. Every time we had a positive it was sent off for confirmation testing to make sure it was really positive. As far as I know there isn’t another blood test to confirm celiacs if one comes back positive but it’s been awhile since I worked in that field. 

There are a number of celiac antibody tests that can be ordered. The most popular one with PC physicians is the tTG-IGA, and it may be the best all around test for celiac disease but full panel is always better.

https://celiac.org/about-celiac-disease/screening-and-diagnosis/screening/

[LP023]

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