?s for Christine

[Anonymous]

Hi there,

Lucas is four years (and a few months) old and now that our new baby is sleeping and her reflux is under control I think I’m ready to do the celiac blood test. our ped gi had said these results aren’t accurate until after they are four and I had read after age three in some other places….maybe even in one of your posts. Anyways, I want to check with you to see if this sounds right. He said we need to give him gluten for a minimum of two weeks, or up to four weeks and then we can do the blood test– just at the hospital lab. He gave me a little kit to take to the lab and said that was that.

He’s been gluten free since age 17 months, and except for very minor slips and maybe two times trying to trial it for a few days, has had none. We are VERY careful. I’m a worried about his reaction. The doc said a piece of bread was “enough” gluten each day, I asked because I really don’t want to give him that much if I don’t have to. Does this all sound right with what you know from your docs? Also, I am going to look for diarrhea, stomach upset, night wakings (that was our struggle before going GF) and is there anything else really obvious that I should keep an eye out for? The doc said this test is accurate and if it’s negative, it just means he has a protein intolerance and will hopefully grow out of it. Are there other tests for celiac or is this how they normally do it? Thanks in advance for any info you have.

[Anonymous]

personally, i would go for the longer time rather than the shorter time on gluten just to hedge my bets. i’ve heard people say all kinds of things about how long someone needs to be on gluten to get a positive result if they really have celiac disease.

when tianna was at seattle children’s hospital, they thought they were keeping her gluten free—-and her blood tests were over 100 when she came out of there—–the test was 12 when she went in. our ped gi said it didn’t take much and i know that even a crumb can set off the autoimmune reaction.

the test that our doc runs for the first time is a total IgA serum level and a Ttg IgA (tissue transglutaminase). ask your doc what tests he is ordering.

my three girls all had different symptoms from each other—-and i have heard of people with even different symptoms from my girls. my molly didn’t have any symptoms except that i used to think she looked so fragile and thin—-her wrists looked like they would just snap—-but she was as tough as nails.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Christine. Sorry i haven’t gotten back to you sooner, with the holiday I read your reply but didn’t get to respond until now. I will ask the doc what tests he is ordering. He gave me a little kit to take to the hospital lab where the will take the blood for them to use. It sounds like they will send the sample away with this kit? Not totally sure. Thanks for the advice for keeping him on gluten for the longer rather than the shorter time. I was leaning towards doing as little as possible because I’m worried about what his physical (and emotional/behavioral, too) reaction will be like. I’ll let you know when I get more information. Hope you are having a wonderful holiday!

[Author]

Posts