Blood Test Negative, But I'm Immunoglobulin A Deficient

[WilliamM]

Just a short background…

I’ve been experiencing some symptoms of Celiac for quite some time. I get extreme fatigue after I eat, have eczema, frequent and foul smelling gas, panic attacks, vertigo, bloating, and a history of Celiac in my family (both on my mom’s and dad’s sides). My blood test was negative but revealed that I am Immunoglobulin A deficient (<3, 61). I heard that when you are Immunoglobulin A deficient you are 10-15 times more likely to have a false negative. I’ve gone gluten free before and felt significantly different, but am unsure if that was from the gluten or just the diet change. I’m frustrated, and don’t know what to do as my next step. Has anyone had this happen to them, especially with Immunoglobulin A deficiency? Does anyone recommend a next step? I hear that a biopsy is better than blood work. Is this a sure-fire method of detection? Sorry for the long post. A lot is going through my head and it seems like every time I get results back they are inconclusive.

Thanks for the help.

[ravenwoodglass]

Yes I have. So have many others. The biopsy is not a for sure thing either unfortunately. You can either pursue a biopsy, you could go with Enterolab, they do not diagnose celiac but can tell you if you are forming antibodies to gluten or you could just go back on the diet strictly. If the diet helps IMHO that is the best test there is.

[JennyC]

If you are still eating gluten then I would do a combination of things. I would do IgG testing if that has not been already done and a biopsy. If those are inconclusive and you still do not feel like you have your answer, then you might consider genetic tests for celiac. ~97% of celiac patients are either HLA-DQ 02 and/or 0302 (08) positive.

[tarnalberry]

If they do a full panel, being IgA deficient shouldn't stop a diagnosis. But they have to run the IgG antibodies as well. If they didn't... well, they didn't test you very well at all. You might try asking for the IgG antibody tests.