Visit the Microscopic Colitis Foundation Website
Hello! I'm new here. I just received my gluten results from Enterolab yesterday.
Fecal Anti-gliadin IgA 237 Units (Normal Range is less than 10 Units)
I was really shocked, because I had convinced myself it was going to come out negative. I had been on a candida cleanse, and when I added back wheat, I was feeling really ill, so I sent off for the test. But after I continued eating more wheat week after week, the symptoms lessened somewhat to the level they have always been.
So I am wondering, does a higher score mean I have a higher probability of having Celiac- or does it matter? Severe osteoporosis runs in my family and I know that can be related to Celiac. My mom, grandmother and great grandmother all have osteoporosis. I have also been very underweight my entire life, and unable to gain weight even if I try. I am about to turn 30.
I have an appointment with my gastroenterologist tomorrow morning. I think I am going to get tested for Celiac.
Enterolab Gluten Test Results
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Hi Ashley,
Welcome to the board. Yes, generally, a higher score suggests a higher risk of celiac disease, especially if you might happen to have a celiac gene. In view of your family history of osteoporosis, I would suspect that if you don't have celiac disease at the moment, you eventually will have, if you continue to eat gluten.
I agree that it would be a very good idea to get tested for celiac disease, and that recommendation generally applies to anyone who has osteoporosis, or a family history of osteoporisis.
Again, welcome aboard, and thanks for posting.
Tex
Welcome to the board. Yes, generally, a higher score suggests a higher risk of celiac disease, especially if you might happen to have a celiac gene. In view of your family history of osteoporosis, I would suspect that if you don't have celiac disease at the moment, you eventually will have, if you continue to eat gluten.
I agree that it would be a very good idea to get tested for celiac disease, and that recommendation generally applies to anyone who has osteoporosis, or a family history of osteoporisis.
Again, welcome aboard, and thanks for posting.
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.
Ashley - I don't think the number means you are more sensitive to gluten. Dr. Fine's says that it means that you have been reacting longer, i.e. the higher the number the longer you've been reacting. Don't be surprised if you're celiac test is negative. Mine was and my antigiladin antibodies was over 500. Celiac doesn't usually show up in the blood until your small intestines are severely damaged.
Denise
"Be the change you want to see in this world."
Mahatma Gandhi
"Be the change you want to see in this world."
Mahatma Gandhi
Denise,
You have a celiac gene. Your fecal fat score was also 534. You might not have had fully developed celiac disease when you had the test, but I'll bet a GF cookie that if you had continued to eat gluten, you would have eventually tested positive. You are almost certainly a celiac, but the celiac tests are so inadequate that they simply didn't detect it.
Remember, those tests diagnose about one in one hundred celiacs.
Hugs,
Tex
You have a celiac gene. Your fecal fat score was also 534. You might not have had fully developed celiac disease when you had the test, but I'll bet a GF cookie that if you had continued to eat gluten, you would have eventually tested positive. You are almost certainly a celiac, but the celiac tests are so inadequate that they simply didn't detect it.
Remember, those tests diagnose about one in one hundred celiacs.
Hugs,
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 saw my gastroenterologist today. She wants me to do an endoscopy in 2 weeks to test for Celiac. And then I will have to wait 2 more weeks for the results. She said that even if I just have a gluten intolerance and don't have Celiac, that it would be good for me to be on a gluten free diet. Hopefully I don't have Celiac, but we'll see.
Ashley,
Welcome, and congratulations on getting your testing done and finding out this important info.
I have never been Dx with celiac disease, but like Denise, I have a celiac gene (and Denise and I also have a non-celiac gene that predisposes to gluten sensitivity). I had elevated anti-gliadin antibodies as well as anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies, and I'm calling that "good as done" for a diagnosis for myself
So I answered your question for myself*, where you asked "celiac/or does it matter?" - that to me it doesn't matter to know for sure whether I had accumulated that damage to the small intestine... as Tex says, I surely would have damaged that and probably other body systems if I had continued eating gluten... and maybe already have some damage that hasn't bubbled up to the level of crisis that my MC symptoms did.
As you can tell (putting it mildly), I think your doctor's right - with your family and personal history and your Enterolab results, avoiding gluten seems like a really important step to safeguard your health. I'm envious you found this out before you're 30, though I'm truly sorry you had to have a health bump in the road at such a young age.
My mother also had severe osteoporosis, and I now wonder which of her other health problems might have been related to gluten sensitivity (celiac or otherwise). Since fixing my diet, I have had improvement in several things I would not have associated with gluten or digestion at all, and I bet you will be avoiding some of those little nagging nuisances of middle age, by catching this when you did. (Not to mention, you won't spend quite so many decades perfecting recipes that you have to re-write or abandon...)
Welcome - thanks for sharing your results, and I hope you'll find this forum as much of a help as I have,
Sara
*and I don't mean to suggest that my answer is correct for you - this might be a little bugaboo of mine, since I was just pondering a post about it in another topic. I am willing to have my doctors suffer the uncertainty whether I have 'real' celiac or not, and to go on hoping that I found out in time that I must not have gluten in my diet, whether or not I have averted the full blown celiac diagnostic criteria - at least for now, I know what I need to know, to manage my health. I did share my gene-test results with my brother & his kids, and for your other family members this could be eye-opening.
Welcome, and congratulations on getting your testing done and finding out this important info.
I have never been Dx with celiac disease, but like Denise, I have a celiac gene (and Denise and I also have a non-celiac gene that predisposes to gluten sensitivity). I had elevated anti-gliadin antibodies as well as anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies, and I'm calling that "good as done" for a diagnosis for myself
So I answered your question for myself*, where you asked "celiac/or does it matter?" - that to me it doesn't matter to know for sure whether I had accumulated that damage to the small intestine... as Tex says, I surely would have damaged that and probably other body systems if I had continued eating gluten... and maybe already have some damage that hasn't bubbled up to the level of crisis that my MC symptoms did.As you can tell (putting it mildly), I think your doctor's right - with your family and personal history and your Enterolab results, avoiding gluten seems like a really important step to safeguard your health. I'm envious you found this out before you're 30, though I'm truly sorry you had to have a health bump in the road at such a young age.
My mother also had severe osteoporosis, and I now wonder which of her other health problems might have been related to gluten sensitivity (celiac or otherwise). Since fixing my diet, I have had improvement in several things I would not have associated with gluten or digestion at all, and I bet you will be avoiding some of those little nagging nuisances of middle age, by catching this when you did. (Not to mention, you won't spend quite so many decades perfecting recipes that you have to re-write or abandon...)
Welcome - thanks for sharing your results, and I hope you'll find this forum as much of a help as I have,
Sara
*and I don't mean to suggest that my answer is correct for you - this might be a little bugaboo of mine, since I was just pondering a post about it in another topic. I am willing to have my doctors suffer the uncertainty whether I have 'real' celiac or not, and to go on hoping that I found out in time that I must not have gluten in my diet, whether or not I have averted the full blown celiac diagnostic criteria - at least for now, I know what I need to know, to manage my health. I did share my gene-test results with my brother & his kids, and for your other family members this could be eye-opening.
Thank you all for your sharing your stories and experiences. Ya'll are wonderful. 
I will be glad to have the endoscopy results. Knowing me, I won't have the discipline to 100% eliminate gluten from my diet unless I turn out to have Celiac. Eliminating it at home will be easy, but it seems so difficult to tell if food could have gluten or be cross contaminated in restaurants. So I probably won't worry about that quite as much, as long as I don't have Celiac.
This whole thing is kind of hard for me to swallow, because bread is my favorite food group- I eat tons of it! And I love baking. Now I won't be able to make any of my old favorite recipes. I've done a little experimenting with gluten-free baking and it is a frustrating endeavor so far.
I will be glad to have the endoscopy results. Knowing me, I won't have the discipline to 100% eliminate gluten from my diet unless I turn out to have Celiac. Eliminating it at home will be easy, but it seems so difficult to tell if food could have gluten or be cross contaminated in restaurants. So I probably won't worry about that quite as much, as long as I don't have Celiac.
This whole thing is kind of hard for me to swallow, because bread is my favorite food group- I eat tons of it! And I love baking. Now I won't be able to make any of my old favorite recipes. I've done a little experimenting with gluten-free baking and it is a frustrating endeavor so far.
I went in for my endoscopy today. My doctor said that it looks like I may have gastroparesis and she took 4 biopsies from my stomach and 8 from my small intestine. I still have to wait two weeks to find out if I have celiac from the biopsy samples. She sent me home with lots of paperwork about gastroparesis and a low residue, low fiber diet, along with a brochure on celiac disease and the celiac diet. It is all a little overwhelming!
As Zizzle mentioned, gastroparesis is not uncommon with MC. In fact, I had frequent episodes of it, back when I was reacting, but I never bothered to get a diagnosis, because I was pretty sure that it was connected with MC. It's also the most common gastrointestinal issue associated with diabetes. Both conditions are closely associated with gluten-sensitivity.
IMO, someday, researchers will discover that gastroparesis is caused by enteric neuropathy, due to untreated gluten-sensitivity. There are already a few researchers suggesting that gastroparesis may be caused by enteric neuropathy, as noted in this research report published about a month ago:
FWIW, in my case, it apparently caused permanent damage to certain enteric nerves, because, for example, I lost the ability to feel hunger pangs, and the ability to tell when my appetite was satiated, and those nerve sensations never returned after I achieved remission - the loss was permanent.
It sounds as though your doctor may be pretty well informed. Please update us when you get the followup results, and good luck with your treatment program.
Tex
IMO, someday, researchers will discover that gastroparesis is caused by enteric neuropathy, due to untreated gluten-sensitivity. There are already a few researchers suggesting that gastroparesis may be caused by enteric neuropathy, as noted in this research report published about a month ago:
http://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/746363_4These findings raise the possibility that endoscopic diagnosis of enteric neuropathy may be clinically feasible in gastroparesis.
FWIW, in my case, it apparently caused permanent damage to certain enteric nerves, because, for example, I lost the ability to feel hunger pangs, and the ability to tell when my appetite was satiated, and those nerve sensations never returned after I achieved remission - the loss was permanent.
It sounds as though your doctor may be pretty well informed. Please update us when you get the followup results, and good luck with your treatment program.
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.
Zizzle, I have actually never been diagnosed with MC, LC or CC, and I started coming here because there were so many people discussing gluten sensitivity and celiac. I was just diagnosed with gluten sensitivity a month ago and as of today my doctor believes I have gastroparesis.
Tex, that is very interesting about the possible correlation between gluten sensitivity and gastroparesis.
I never had even heard about gastroparesis before today, but it makes perfect sense because my symptoms match it perfectly. My doctor said I need to start the low fiber, low residue diet right away, as well as the gluten free diet, and then we will just wait for the celiac results.
Tex, that is very interesting about the possible correlation between gluten sensitivity and gastroparesis.
I never had even heard about gastroparesis before today, but it makes perfect sense because my symptoms match it perfectly. My doctor said I need to start the low fiber, low residue diet right away, as well as the gluten free diet, and then we will just wait for the celiac results.