Is my GP sending me for the right tests?

[SugarSpike]

I had a blood test aug last year for coeliac, however I had already started cutting out major sources of gluten by that point, I had eaten as much as I could a week prior to the test but didnt realise you had to be eating eat for alot longer than that. I got a negative result.

Ive been avoiding gluten but not strictly for the past year, etc, I find when I do eat it my symptoms worse now.

A different gp has ordered some more blood tests and I just wanted to check they are the right ones before I go ahead and eat gluten for the next 6 weeks

Investigations required:

TTG

Anti-TTG(Coeliac screen)(TTG1=No(TTG=Yes)

Investigations required:

IGA

Immunoglobulin A

Can anybody interpret these?

I remember reading about the best tests for diagnosis and some people have Iga deficiency, but its all very confusing to be honest

[poing]

I think he's got it covered on the blood tests. TTG is the autoantigen in coeliac disease, and they look for IgA type antibodies to TTG. The IGA immunoglobulin A test is to check for IgA deficiency and if you have that then they will automatically run the TTG test using IgG antibodies instead of IgA type.

However, a diagnosis is only usually made on a duodenal biopsy, which is still considered the gold standard. A small percentage of people with coeliac disease don't come up positive in the blood tests.

If you already know that you benefit from a gluten free diet, then I doubt that you would want to do another gluten challenge at some point in the future for a biopsy. If you're going to the trouble of doing a gluten challenge, then you want to be as sure as you can be, and that would mean having a biopsy.

When I got to the point where I'd been tested for coeliac disease, come up negative, but had ongoing symptoms suggestive of coeliac disease a year later, that was the point at which I got referred to a gastroenterologist. I was checked out more thoroughly and for more than just coeliac disease. It might be time to ask for a referral.

I am not sure if you need a referral to get the biopsy done. It would be worth discussing your options a bit more with your doctor.