normal TTG but not AGA?

[cultureslayer]

Grrr, my regular doctor was out of the office and the other ones won't tell me crap. My TTG and one of my AGA levels were within range, but the other AGA was very high (doctor wouldn't give me details, I was distracted, and he made it clear that he wanted to me make an appointment to talk about it with my regular doc).

Oh well, I'm ditching all my gluten containing foods on my parents tomorrow and going shopping. I've got hashimoto's (hypothyroid) and a long family history of autoimmune diseases so I'm not surprised (my doctor had no idea what was wrong, I asked to be tested for celiac since I thought my unexplained fatigue had some sort of autoimmune origin).
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Lauren
Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional.

[Kathie]

Welcome Lauren,

Glad to hear you are on the path to finding out what's wrong. Hope you start to feel better soon!
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CD by Biopsy 3/25/88

[cultureslayer]

My only concern is that AGA is supposedly less specific than TTG (so it's possible it's not celiac), but I guess the diet is worth a try for a month or two.
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Lauren
Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional.

[aklap]

Hi Lauren,

Welcome!!

The tTG specifically looks for villi damage. If there is not total damage, the tTg can be skewed meaning...if you little damage, it may not be picked up by that test.

the IgA & IgG tests will look for gluten sensitivity. Yes there is a difference between GS and CD. Most docs don't know or acknowledge this. Those used to be the hot test - but not so any more - for CD.

The thing with IgA tests is that a total IgA test must be done in order to see if you are IgA deficient. If you are IgA def. it will skew the IgA test.

When you see your doc or even before. Get a copy of your results. All to often things are missed and the patient is never told. It's easy to get them, just talk to your friendly & helpful medical records person (can you tell what my wife does? heheheh)

Here's the full celiac panel:

A complete Celiac Blood Panel:

antigliadin IgA and IgG (May indicate Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity)
anti-tTG and/or anti-endomysial (Looks for villi damage)
total serum IgA (rules out IgA deficiency)
anti-reticulin IgA (Rarely used but, a very thorough doctor will include this)

More on Diagnostic Testing

Good luck!! Keep us updated. Dont be afraid to ask more questions. It does sound like you're on the right track. Keep up the detective work!!
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Al

“We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teresa

[Kathie]

Yeah, I am not one to comment on the blood tests as they weren't around when I was diagnosed. All I know is that they can come back negative and you can still have Celiac Disease and even with an endoscopy if they don't get samples in the right area, they can miss it there as well. Unfortunately you can't get a definitive diagnosis unless your are consuming gluten.

However once you get on a gluten free diet and work out all the kinks in finding out where hidden gluten resides You will find out pretty quickly because if its CD you will start to feel better.

Some people have to have a 100% diagnosis before they are willing to go gluten free and others choose to try the diet and see what happens. Whatever you decide, welcome to the group, there are a lot of great people here and whatever question you have somebody has probably already been through and we are all more than willing to run our mouths (or fingers as the case may be) and share.
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CD by Biopsy 3/25/88