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I got my results back from Dr. Fasano and was not surprised to see 3's for the celiac antibodies since I had been off gluten for several weeks. What did surprise me was an IgA level of 83. The reference range was 81-463. I wonder if this might explain my relatively low-positives through Enterolab (teens for dairy, soy, yeast)? Is this truly a normal level or is it low? Have others here had their IgA levels looked at? IgA's primary role is to protect the mucosal surfaces of the body, including the GI tract. Low IgA is tied to autoimmune diseases and chronic diarrhea. Could there be a causal connection with MC?
Here's more info about the meaning of low or absent IgA:
http://www.immunedisease.com/patients-a ... iency.html
Low-normal IGA
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Zizzle,
I'll be interested to hear what you learn about this. I believe Marliss has low IgE. The link is interesting, too - it seems to imply that it's not reversible or preventable, but just happens (but I wonder whether that's true, and how they'd know whether you have always had low IgA, or whether it's a new thing?). A friend's 7yo son just tested super-low for IgA. He is clearly not tolerating certain foods well - she's looking into it but it's going to take a while to figure it out on their current path. (See how non-judgmental I can be?)
I wonder whether the low IgA results from gluten sensitivity, and whether a long period of avoiding food offenders might change the profile? Or maybe low IgA makes underlying genetic sensitivity to gluten, such as your proven celiac connection, more likely to 'erupt' into symptoms?
Sorry I have more questions than insight. The linked article describes general low immunity; has it been your experience that you're more likely to be under the weather with what's going around than friends/family?
Best,
Sara
I'll be interested to hear what you learn about this. I believe Marliss has low IgE. The link is interesting, too - it seems to imply that it's not reversible or preventable, but just happens (but I wonder whether that's true, and how they'd know whether you have always had low IgA, or whether it's a new thing?). A friend's 7yo son just tested super-low for IgA. He is clearly not tolerating certain foods well - she's looking into it but it's going to take a while to figure it out on their current path. (See how non-judgmental I can be?)
I wonder whether the low IgA results from gluten sensitivity, and whether a long period of avoiding food offenders might change the profile? Or maybe low IgA makes underlying genetic sensitivity to gluten, such as your proven celiac connection, more likely to 'erupt' into symptoms?
Sorry I have more questions than insight. The linked article describes general low immunity; has it been your experience that you're more likely to be under the weather with what's going around than friends/family?
Best,
Sara
Sara,
You pose all the questions I have in my mind. Of course someone may chime in to say my 83 is perfectly normal, but was it 83 last week or below the "normal" threshhold? I have to admit I do not get more sick than those around me. In fact, I almost never get sick. I didn't even have the sniffles this winter (maybe the GF/DF diet paying off?). However, when I travel overseas, I am GUARANTEED to pick up a GI bug. I have always been that way. Maybe because my IgA is not fully protecting my GI tract mucosa??
I wish we could test a bunch of MCers to look for trends in IgA levels, even if they are in the "normal" range.
You pose all the questions I have in my mind. Of course someone may chime in to say my 83 is perfectly normal, but was it 83 last week or below the "normal" threshhold? I have to admit I do not get more sick than those around me. In fact, I almost never get sick. I didn't even have the sniffles this winter (maybe the GF/DF diet paying off?). However, when I travel overseas, I am GUARANTEED to pick up a GI bug. I have always been that way. Maybe because my IgA is not fully protecting my GI tract mucosa??
I wish we could test a bunch of MCers to look for trends in IgA levels, even if they are in the "normal" range.
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TooManyHats
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In my experience, a doctor will point out a score that is that close to the lower limits of normal even when it technically falls within the range of normal, like yours does. At least that's what I've seen over the last 18 years in medical transcription. It's worth noting how low your score is.
Arlene
Progress, not perfection.
Progress, not perfection.
Zizzle--
I wish we could test a bunch of MC'ers for that. In fact, I wish someone would test a bunch of us for a lot of things. They might learn a lot. Like the fact that MC is not rare, just underdiagnosed. That it is not a disease of elderly women. That it does not resolve on its own. That it's a lot more complicated than they think. That some of us can't tolerate steroids or Asacol-like drugs.
That the FDA should not allow Big Pharma to put "inactive ingredients" into our medications that make us even sicker.
Okay, rant over.
Love,
Mags
I wish we could test a bunch of MC'ers for that. In fact, I wish someone would test a bunch of us for a lot of things. They might learn a lot. Like the fact that MC is not rare, just underdiagnosed. That it is not a disease of elderly women. That it does not resolve on its own. That it's a lot more complicated than they think. That some of us can't tolerate steroids or Asacol-like drugs.
That the FDA should not allow Big Pharma to put "inactive ingredients" into our medications that make us even sicker.
Okay, rant over.
Love,
Mags
Mags,
I'll join you in that rant. I just got an email update from NIH - NIDDK. Guess what? It's IBS Awareness month!!
I'll join you in that rant. I just got an email update from NIH - NIDDK. Guess what? It's IBS Awareness month!!
This April, raise awareness about IBS, a condition affecting up to 45 million Americans.
April marks the 14th Annual Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Awareness Month, sponsored by the International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (IFFGD). IBS Awareness Month is intended to increase awareness of IBS among health care professionals and the public. IBS can cause chronic abdominal pain, cramps, bloating, gas, constipation, and diarrhea. Symptoms can come and go and can vary from mild to severe. IBS affects between 25 and 45 million people in the United States—10 to 15 percent of the population. About two in three IBS sufferers are female. IBS affects people of all ages, even children.
IBS isn’t life threatening, but it can have a major effect on quality of life. No cure exists for IBS, but symptoms may be controlled through diet, medication, and stress management.
The National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NDDIC) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has free resources about IBS and related digestive disorders available to the public, including
Constipation
Constipation in Children
Diarrhea
Gas in the Digestive Tract
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Children
Irritable Bowel Syndrome: What You Need to Know
What I need to know about Constipation
What I need to know about Diarrhea
What I need to know about Gas
What I need to know about Irritable Bowel Syndrome
To download publications about IBS or other digestive diseases, visit www.digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/a-z.asp.
To order publications in bulk, visit www.catalog.niddk.nih.gov/materials.cfm?CH=NDDIC or call 1–800–891–5389.
Get the word out about IBS this April. If you or someone you know suffers from IBS symptoms, talk with a doctor and encourage others to do the same.
Mags & Zizzle, thanks for carrying the 'rant' flag forward! I'm heading back to the kitchen preparing Passover dishes (and wishing I didn't have to share them, kind of, because they may be the only things I can eat when we bring them to our friends' seder)... let me just say to all, Happy IBS Awareness Month!
If only there were as much 'awareness' at the NIH as we're sharing here ;)
I wish we could cross-compare in even more detail, too. Maybe we can have a giant picnic one day, catered by the only people we trust (ourselves!), and with blood draws and testing as the main party game. Distance participation strongly encouraged, too. I would *love* that.
Zizzle - I barely had a sniffle this past winter, too. Regarding your IgA... with most tests they have no idea whether there's a meaningful difference between "normal" and "low normal" - and probably, with many tests, there's a huge range within which people are functioning amazingly well. That can be a Bad Thing, in that it keeps things from becoming addressed until they've gone horribly and irreparably wrong, but of course it's a good thing, if it keeps us functioning through minor bumps in the road.
Best of health,
Sara
If only there were as much 'awareness' at the NIH as we're sharing here ;)
I wish we could cross-compare in even more detail, too. Maybe we can have a giant picnic one day, catered by the only people we trust (ourselves!), and with blood draws and testing as the main party game. Distance participation strongly encouraged, too. I would *love* that.
Zizzle - I barely had a sniffle this past winter, too. Regarding your IgA... with most tests they have no idea whether there's a meaningful difference between "normal" and "low normal" - and probably, with many tests, there's a huge range within which people are functioning amazingly well. That can be a Bad Thing, in that it keeps things from becoming addressed until they've gone horribly and irreparably wrong, but of course it's a good thing, if it keeps us functioning through minor bumps in the road.
Best of health,
Sara
Zizzle,
Selective IgA deficiency is genetic, I believe, and therefore, a lifelong condition. IMO, yes, your borderline IgA production capability almost surely played a part in limiting the size of the numerical results of your Enterolab tests.
Tex
Selective IgA deficiency is genetic, I believe, and therefore, a lifelong condition. IMO, yes, your borderline IgA production capability almost surely played a part in limiting the size of the numerical results of your Enterolab tests.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
I wonder how "rare" MC would be if they gave all 45 million of those IBS sufferers a colonoscopy with biopsies? As a matter of fact, I just recalled a boyfriend I had in my twenties who had all of the symptoms. I can't believe I did not realize it before, but he really did have to go to the bathroom everywhere we went. I have much more sympathy now!
Mags
Mags
Hi Zizzle,
Your IgA figure is normal. On the lower end, but perfectly normal.
Mine is low. Mine varies from 0.07 to 0.09 with a reference range of 0.7 to 4.something. On your measurement scale with a ref range 81 - 463, I would be about 8.1. So you have about ten times as much IgA as me. I have a primary immune deficiency so it doesn't get better. Yours is a single reading, so it may well be much higher next time it is checked.
It may impact on your enterolab score fractionally, but I would bet their margins of error are such that with any normal level IgA (such as yours) the results are basically valid.
Lyn
Your IgA figure is normal. On the lower end, but perfectly normal.
Mine is low. Mine varies from 0.07 to 0.09 with a reference range of 0.7 to 4.something. On your measurement scale with a ref range 81 - 463, I would be about 8.1. So you have about ten times as much IgA as me. I have a primary immune deficiency so it doesn't get better. Yours is a single reading, so it may well be much higher next time it is checked.
It may impact on your enterolab score fractionally, but I would bet their margins of error are such that with any normal level IgA (such as yours) the results are basically valid.
Lyn