Hey guys it's me again! So we all know now I have very low ferritin and am on twice weekly b12 shots. Feeling alive finally! BUT, my stomach issues and not absorbing a lot of other vitamins well sent me to the gastroenterologist. He saw my blood work from my naturopath. I told him naturopath diagnosed me with autoimmune atrophic gastritis and he chuckled and said "you're too young, and that parietal cell antibody blood work is most likely a false positive and only a biopsy of your stomach will prove it. I think it's celiac even though you got blood work done it's not always correct"
So I'm getting an endoscopy and colonoscopy next month. Irked me he laughed at it but kind of good he wants to see for himself right? I don't really believe my positive parietal cell antibody is false..it was high too. I think the cut off was 20 and mine was 35 and bolded "HIGH".
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Ladyawkward
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Hi Ladyawkward. Your doctor is right about one thing. The pariatel call antibody blood test is no longer recommended as a diagnostic test for PA. It can give a false positive result (as well as a false negative).
Have you had IF antibodies tested. This can give false negatives, but if it's positive, then you definately have PA.
He's wrong about the autoimmune atrophic gastritis. If you have PA, then you do have have autoimmune atrophic gastritis..and you're not too young to have this.
But I'd agree with your GP...you would need to have an endoscopy and colonoscopy, together with stomach biopsies to diagnose this properly. And presumably they'll test for coeliac's at the same time?
So...you may well be symptomatic (perhaps what your naturopath picked up on) but the endoscopy and biopsies are needed for a definitive diagnosis.
And you're right, it is good that he wants to see for himself.
Good luck with the 'oscopies' and let us know how you get on 😀.
Yup, I agree with all that Foggyme says. Even if you tested positive for IFAA and GPCAA then a gastroscopy would still be a good idea. It will confirm the diagnosis of Autoimmune Metaplastic Gastric Atrophy, plus two other useful things -
It will be able to tell if you have coeliacs disease from the duodenal biopsy.
Anybody with PA really should have their stomach checked out for tumours. If present (unlikely) these will almost certainly be indolent - but will need checking once a year. People with AMGA are more likely to have these tumours because of the high levels of gastrin it causes.
Speaking of which - ask the gastro for a gastrin blood test to see if that is raised.
Okay. Dec 12 is my scopes and I don't see him before then. I'm just worried everything will be "normal" but my stomach is just so messed up. Even allergy pills don't absorb because they don't work. I've tried like 20 brands and my allergies don't let up.
Nope only celiac testing, thyroid stuff which I have to re test next week and a cbc and parietal cell. I believe I have PA and autoimmune atrophic gastritis because I have been responding so well to b12 and iron treatment. I was taking b12 pills and iron pills since a kid since I didn't eat meat and was only getting sicker as the years passed.
But yes he is testing biopsy celiac and I asked him about the parietal thing and he said yes we test everything
Hi! Just a couple things I thought I'd mention in case they're helpful. First, in case your doctor didn't say it, be sure you're eating gluten leading up to your endoscopy. If you quit ahead of it, it may be hard for them to diagnose you (this is the case for the blood tests, but I assume the same is true for endoscopy/colonoscopy -- although I'm sure a wise source on this site will correct me if I'm wrong!).
Although the title suggests it has more of a psychological angle, it talks about "leaky gut" and how to repair it. I am just about the start reading it so can't tell you much more than that, but the books comes highly recommended from a friend who had Crohn's, rheumatoid arthritis and a few other issues and nearly died -- but then followed this diet and is healthier than ever.
I hope you find the answers you need and start feeling better soon! Good luck to you!
Hey thanks! My other dr said she KNOWS my gut is leaking and wanted me to turn in a stool sample but never did. I'm on 60 billion probiotics and drink a lot of kombucha and I'm vegan but I'm sure theres a lot more I could be doing so I'll check it out. She wants to set me up with a dietician and such when we see each other again but I want to get the procedure out of the way first so mid December I'll go back to her.
My best friend has crohns and she eats TERRIBLE and drinks like a fish. She won't listen to me and has been seriously ill for years.
Heehee, great excuse to gorge on bread, right?!?! The friend who referred me to that book now does testing and coaching for others with these problems. If you ever want me to connect you, I'd be happy to (but she does charge).
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IF & Parietal Cell antibodies 
POSITIVE Gastric Parietal Cell AB/ Low Methylmalonic acid and Homocysteine. 
Positive IFA, Negative Parietal Cell, B-12 injections affect IFA test 
Low b12, iron deficient, positive for parietal cell autoantibodies, but apparently no PA??
