Momma4

That's what I thought. I had someone tell me today that being dairy free would impact the biopsy. I didn't think they were right. Thank you.

Hi there Nora. Your right, it is Ferritin. Yes, I think we do have the home tests here, but I haven't really looked into them. I really have no idea what version of the gliadin test was done. It just says Gliadin IgG, and Gliadin IgA. I didn't know that some labs generalize the tests and just call it Gliadin Ab. That's interesting.

I have a question about the biopsy. I know going gluten free before the biopsy will affect the results, but will going dairy free make any difference?

Just a small update on the blood work I had done last week. Turns out I have very low iron 6 (10-291) and low hemoglobin 118 (120-160). It will still be a month before I get the celiac test results back. Maybe it's just a coincidence, or maybe the pieces of the puzzle are starting to fit together.

mom2, we live in Ontario. Actually, I live in a border city to the USA, it's just that the closest childrens hospital has a huge wait list. We must have a shortage of pediatric GI's here. I can check to see if my son can be put on a cancellation list.

Cara, so your son had high IgG too? So it is possible to be celiac with a high IgG (and positive biopsy)?It kind of bothers me that they didn't do a total IgA for my son. I do think that based on his symptoms and the high IgG, he is at the very least gluten intolerant. The wait is just to see the GI. I'm not sure they will schedule the endoscopy without seeing the GI first, but I can check. It is hard feeding him foods that are causing problems for him. In fact, he was up at 3am this morning with diarreha and pain. I really feel bad for him if he does have Celiac. He already has a peanut and pea allergy, so we already are more limited in what kind of foods he can have. I have been looking at some of the store bought gluten free foods, in case we need them and even some of those he cant have if they contain nuts or even chick pea flour. We will have to be very careful in that respect.

Thanks for the responses,I guess I feel a little better knowing that I am on the right track with all of this.

Well, I called my doctor today to ask for celiac testing and he told me to come right in to get the lab form. Just had the test done so we shall see what the results are. I will be phoning my kids pediatrician on Monday to have them tested as well.

I will definetly be tested and will get my husband tested as well. I have always had GI issues, but have always thought of it as normal. It wasn't until I started researching for my son that I see my 'normal' may not be so normal after all. We will get all the kids tested now because we have to stay on gluten until the biopsy is done anyway.

Well, I know it seems like the 7 month wait is due to insurance companies, but we live in Canada and have free healthcare. We really do have great healthcare, but there are significant delays if you need certain specialists, like a pediatric GI. So we are stuck waiting.

I asked the doctor about testing the other 3, and he seemed to want to wait and I agreed. However, that was BEFORE I knew it was a 7 month wait to see the GI. I will be calling him to get the other ones tested ASAP now. And yes, I will want them to do the biopsy on my son.

So, I still wonder, can a positive IgG still indicate celiac? Or is it just a sensitivity? They did not do a total IgA.

We finally got blood test results for my 10 yr old son after waiting over a month for them.

The results show tTG IgA 13 <20 negative

Gliadin Ab IgA 9 <23 negative

Gliadin Ab IgG 55 <28 positive

He has all the classic symptoms of Celiac such as weight loss, diarrhea, stomach pain, mouth sores, gas, bloating, difficulty sleeping, lactose intollerant, caveties and itchy skin. His doctor said the positive result of the IgG doesn't confirm he has Celiac, so he is sending us to a paediatric GI and hour and a half away from where we live. That's fine, but I was also told we wont get an appointment probably until the end of NOVEMBER!

There was a peculiar statement on the lab results that also stated "elevated IgG Gliadin antibodies indicate that DH cannot be ruled out". So I wonder does Gliadin IgG only show for DH or can it show Celiac(without DH)as well? (I know that DH is a manifestation of Celiac) I have also posted pictures of my 2 yr olds rash that I wondered if it could be DH. My other kids(I have 4) also have various symptoms of Celiac, to a lesser extent.

I guess I just feel kind of lost and unsure what that result means. I think that he probably has Celiac, but I am kind of left hanging until November to discuss this with a (hopefully) specialist. Has anyone had similar results? Any thoughts on the results would be appreciated.

Poor thing! I totally feel for you! My 2 year old has rashes that start out looking like this but then he scratches so much they go a deep red color. His also comes and goes, but never seems to go totally away. I am no expert on this, as I just posted the same question a few days ago about my son, with pictures. However, I will say that your sons rash looks more severe and covers more of his body than my sons. I hope you get some answers soon!

When I showed the doctor the rash, he said he wanted to wait until we get results for my 10 yr old son. Its been a month and we are still waiting. He doesn't want me using anything but cortisone cream at this point. We don't have a dermatologist locally (she retired last year), so I will have to travel an hour and a half away to see one. That's ok though, as we will have to travel to the same location to se a pediatric GI anyway. He's still itching, but it seems to be lessening a bit.

Wow, there is so much to learn. I will research what ingredients are in all the products I use on him.

And Prickly, it would invalidate a skin biopsy, but not the blood test right? (I wouldn't do the oral or injectable steroids)

I can ask his doctor about that. He gave me a cortisone cream to put on it. Will that help? We slather him with cream daily. Like I said, it comes and goes (but never really goes completely away). It just seems to be really bad lately. And he's always itching it.

Thanks for your comments everyone. We don't have any diagnosed celiacs in the family, but lots of gastrointestinal issues and autoimmune disorders. I had always assumed that he just had eczema. It has always flared up and then subsided. But then a couple weeks ago when my 10 yr old was tested, I started doing research on celiac disease. What struck me was the symmetry of the rash. He also has some under his armpits on both sides. Today he told me his back hurts. He has been lactose intolerant since he was 12 months too.

I took him to his doctor today to show him the rash. I asked if it could be DH but he really didn't know much about it at all. He asked me to tell him about DH and then he said to wait until we get the results for my other son, and if he's positive then all 4 of my kids will be tested. So I guess the waiting game continues for now.

I'm not sure my link to these pictures will work, but I will try. My 10 yr old son is being tested for Celiac. He has all the classic signs. However, my 2 yr old has a rash that concerns me, after reading about DH. Does anyone have any thoughts if this looks like DH. It is extremely itchy, and he cries when he can't 'get to it' to itch it. He seems to get it on both sides of his body at the same time. If my link to the photos doesn't work, any advice on how to upload photos from an iPhone would be great.

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Thanks for your reply. I will continue to look for answers for my son. Where I live, it takes a month to get the results. I guess I needed some validation through this forum in connecting his symptoms to Celiac. When the doctor said he was giong to test him, I did some research on Celiac and was shocked to see the similarities. Thanks again for listening.

My 10 year old son is in the process of being tested for Celiac disease after years of stomach pain and diarrhea. I concluded that he was lactose intolerant in January '12 (because my 4th child was diagnosed at 12 months with lactose intolerance-but he still has diarrhea sometimes). We went lactose free and avioded as much dairy as possible but the stomach pain and diarrhea continued, although to a lesser extent. Because of this, we went back to the doctor in March and the doctor said he had lost weight since January. Some days I think it may just be lactose intolerance and other days I think it could be Celiac. Aside from stomach pain, diarrhea, weight loss and lactose intolerance, other symptoms he has are constant mouth sores, difficulty sleeping, inattention, gas and bloating, itchy skin. He has had some brown spots on his teeth. He has had one cavity and delayed eruption of adult teeth(the dentist had to pull a baby tooth because it just wasnt going to come out as there wasn't anything behind it yet to push it out). He does have a peanut allergy as well. We also have autoimmune disorders in our family (RA, Hypothyroidism). I do have other children with similar issues, although not as severe as my oldest. I guess I'm wondering if anyone else has had similar issues with their children. Am I just reading too much into his symptoms? Or do you think it could be Celiac? I'm a little confused as to what to do next if the tests do come back negative. Any thoughts would be appreciated.