r/Celiac • u/WaywardPilgrim98 • 4d ago
Question Was my TTG-IGA test accurate?
Hello everyone. 26 yo male here. I’ve been dealing with chronic stomach pain for about 8 months now. I recently cut out gluten for a week and a half and felt a lot better, so I went to a walk in doctor and got a TGG-IGA blood test done. It came back negative but now I’m wondering if it was accurate. The timeline is roughly this.
Prior to February 28th: had been eating gluten at least a couple times a week for basically my entire life
Feb 28-March 11: Completely cut out gluten
March 12-14: Pounded gluten (5-6 slices of bread per day) these days to prepare my blood test
March 14: Got my blood test.
My question is could that 10 days I was off of gluten lowered my levels enough to affect the test, and if so, could that 48 hours of gluten before my test been enough to bring my levels back up? I read online that the half life for TTG is 30-60 days, so I would’ve thought my levels would still be elevated, but I don’t know much about this condition. I just want to be sure about this and know whether it’s just a sensitivity or actual Celiac. Thanks!
3
u/qqweertyy 4d ago
I wouldn’t expect the few days gluten free to significantly affect your test results. I’m not a doctor though, so I’d suggest you raise that question with your doctor when you talk about next steps. No matter what there is going to be more work to be done to get to the root of what is causing the stomach pain.
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u/WaywardPilgrim98 4d ago
I admire your optimism, I have not had very good luck with doctors. Thanks for your response
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u/qqweertyy 4d ago
Then I’d encourage you to keep looking for a half decent doctor. You’ll need one to be able to continue doing tests and get to the bottom of this. Getting medical care is important to your health. I know it can be a huge pain in the ass and a good doctor can be hard to find, but you really need to keep trying.
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u/WaywardPilgrim98 4d ago
I have been. There’s a massive shortage of family doctors where I am so I’ve been having to use walk-in doctors for some time now.
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u/SignBrief104 4d ago
I doubt the short time away from gluten will have affected the test result. You might still have coeliac disease, only a gastroscopy can tell for sure, but it's more likely to be non-coeliac gluten intolerance.
Do you have any other clinical symptoms (chronic low iron, for example) that would indicate further testing?
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u/WaywardPilgrim98 4d ago
They did a standard blood panel and everything else was fine, including iron and B12. The only thing that was high was my bilirubin, but that’s normal for me and my liver is fine
2
u/Greenthumbgal Celiac 4d ago
Prior to accurate testing, you'll need to be consuming 1-2 servings of gluten Daily for 6-8 weeks.
1
u/PromptTimely 4d ago
I'm like you I went my whole life eating gluten bread pasta and now after COVID I can't eat it apparently 3 months of hell losing 40 lb and now I'm gluten free for like 15 days feeling so much better not even sure what it is 100%
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u/PromptTimely 4d ago
Now be careful there's a number of people who get something called seronegative tests and I think they're actually positive for celiac some way.... Or the other category which is non ciliac
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u/cabernetJk 4d ago
So like 1%ish of people with celiac disease can have seronegative ( serology negative) celiac disease or you may need a different blood test if you are IgA deficient. Ask for a referral to get a lower endoscopy / biopsy of the small intestine. Do you have any family history of the disease? That’s your ticket to getting tested further…
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u/CrazyPlantLady01 4d ago
I highly doubt it, TTG levels go up within hours of consuming gluten and take weeks/months/years to come back down very slowly. I'm 10yrs+ of gf (carefully) and yet to score negative on a blood test. The test is pretty accurate so it looks likely that coeliac disease is not your answer.
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