Does anyone know what the blood for Celiac is normal?

haley · Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 14 Location: Nevada

Hello please tell me the normal blood work for Celiac? Laughing

My doctor took it, and he says I have it, normal is 17 and I was 75. Does anyone know what he is saying?
Also he said all Gas doctors don't know about Celiac. Reading the forums I have learned it all. Thank you so much for everything. Very Happy

Haley
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I just started CD about two months ago, and learning alot from the message's people post. Thank you very one for your help.

aklap · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 8607 Location: WI, USA

Hi Haley,

Each lab has different reference ranges for their tests. If you go out of that range of "normal" that's when red flags are raised. If you are at 75 when a "normal" is around 17 it's very possible you do have celiac.

Do you know what test they ran? There are several tests in a Celiac Panel the tend to look for different things. It's alway a good idea to copies of your test results.

Have they scheduled a biopsy to be taken? Most times when there is positive blood work they'll check your intestines for villi damage (the gold standard for celiac diagnosis).

Your doc is correct - not all gastro's know about CD - or at least correctly diagnosing it! And they certainly don't have a clue about gluten sensitivity aka gluten intolerance (this is when you don't have CD - but gluten still give you problems)

Glad you are here and learning all you can!
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Al

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

lablady · Joined: 14 Jul 2005 Posts: 8

I was an endoscopy nurse for 10 years AFTER my husband was diagnosed with celiac disease. Most likely the test your doctor ran was a tissue transglutaminase. The normal level is below 20. If your level was 75 you most likely have celiac disease. The gastroenterologist still think the duodenal biopsy is the gold standard for positive diagnosis., BUT the key is that they must take several biopsies, and even if they come back negative (saying you don't have celiac disease) you must question that. I have seen several cases where the bloodwork was positive and the biopsies negative, but celiac disease was the answer. You have 20 feet of small intestine. With all the villi the total area is about the size of a tennis court. When the biopsies are taken there are usually 3 -5 pieces of tisssue the size of a pen point. Is it easy to miss affected villi? YES. So, I think you need to look at the total picture... blood tests, symptoms, endoscopy reports, and how you feel once you are on a gluten free diet. My youngest daughter was diagnosed a year ago...her only symptom was thining hair (vitamin deficiency). She was 17 then. I could go on, but this is enough for now. Good luck>

aklap · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 8607 Location: WI, USA

lablady · Joined: 14 Jul 2005 Posts: 8

Hi Alkap,
I live in Massachusetts. The awareness is MUCH better than it was when my husband was diagnosed 11 years ago. I now work in pediatrics. In my area most of the endocrine doctors screen any kids with short stature for celiac disease. Also, the Gastroenterologists are much more likely to order bloodwork for celiac disease as part of their general screening. On the primary care side it's hard for me to know because I don't work in that area. One year agowhen I asked for testing for my youngest daughter (18 years) they asked why I wanted it because she wasn't having any gastrointestinal symptoms. She tested positive with a tissue transglutaminase of 128. Normal is below 20. Her only symptom was thinning hair. She has no other known medical problems. I did not have her undergo endoscopy because I was afraid of negative results which might cloud the isssue. She had no GI symptoms. After a few weeks on aGF diet her tTG was below 20. She then did her own gluten challenge and her level went up to 186! I think many have become aware in my area because I'm pretty vocal about educating anyone I can. We have more and more GF foods available in local grocery and health food stores all the time. To get back to your question, it's getting better all the time with more medical people and the general public awareness.

Judy · Joined: 01 Aug 2005 Posts: 235 Location: Massachusetts

HI Lablady! I live in Massachusetts, too. I'm about 25 miles west of Boston. What area are you? I have to agree - they are much more aware than they were 25+ years ago when my hubby was diagnosed. His only symptom was excessive burping (no stomach pain) and the DH. He went to at least 5 doctors to get a diagnosis without any success. They thought he had a staff infection and tested the rest of our family to see if we were carriers! Then they sent him to an infectious disease doctor and she was no help. He finally went to see the head of dermatology at U. Mass in Worcester and had a skin biopsy and got the results. He handed him a mimeographed sheet of vague information and said "avoid wheat". THAT WAS IT!! So I agree - things have changed so much, its amazing! The best thing that has happened is the internet - so much great information and websites to order the food needed to keep celiacs healthy.
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Judy

SueznRN · Guest

Hello,
I am newly diagnosed and find these posts to be very helpful. Thank you! Question: I had a biopsy done via endoscopy which came out positive for celiac. Why then would the doctor order the tissue transglutenase blood work AFTER this? Anyone know?
Thanks!
Susan

aklap · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 8607 Location: WI, USA

lablady · Joined: 14 Jul 2005 Posts: 8

I work at UMassMemorial Hospital in Worcester, Judy. To SueznRn, I'm not sure why your doctor ordered the tTG. Probably to double check and or maybe for his own knowledge or research or all of the above. Some doctors want to see more than one positive test which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The tTG is still a relatively new test , as is much of the information is, so the more we all learn about symptoms, testing and treatment, the better off we all are. I hope you're feeling better.

Andi · Guest

My daughters' ped. ran the ttg on them, but I'm not familiar with it. My dr. did not run that test on me, that I am aware of. I think he just ran the gliadin and total serum one. Could someone explain more about these please?
Thanks so much!
Andi

Guest · Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2005 12:32 pm Post subject: Re: Blood Work Question

ccwright · Joined: 03 May 2005 Posts: 44

My doctor also ordered the blood tests after the endoscopy biopsy came back positive for celiac. I guess he just wanted to confirm his diagnosis. Who knows.
Chris
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Chris

biodiesel · Guest

When i was diagnosed my doc said that biopsy was no longer gold standard for some of the reasons stated above and that the newer blood tests are definative...

Any thoughts?