Questions about Blood Test for Coeliac disease

[gimmiegimmie]

I am being sent for this blood test but for about 2mths now i have been trying to live gluten and wheat free. The Dr said i do not need to eat the 'bad food' b4 going but i remember hearing that you have to eat the 'bad food' to get a real reading. I just looked on line and 1 site said to eat the 'bad food' for at least 6weeks !!!!
Im soooooooooooo confused
Said this to the dr and confused her, she ended up saying to start today and have the test on monday, mum said i only need to start saturday????
HELP
I've only had 1 cake and a plate of pasta and i feel so so so so so ill.

All advise v welcome

gimmie gimmie,
Coeliac disease is a life-long condition. You cannot come off gluten for a few months and then gradually re-introduce it - the effect on yout intestines will be exactly the same as before. Some people (like me) are more-or-less symptom free, but if we continue to take gluten the long term consequences could be fatal.

my dd aged 9 has this too .if not on the gluten free diet over time can lead to bowel cancer our consultant told us this , its a scary thought

AAArrrggghhh, still no result, have taken her off wheat/gluten again as I can't stand to see her in pain. I wish we had a diagnoses.

Piksiminx - sorry she is in so much pain. It is difficult to continue giving your child something which you know is causing the problem. When you do get the results explain you have had to take her off gluten because of the severity of the pain and ask that if they think a biopsy is necessary they do it as soon as possible to avoid her gut hving time to heall and her having to have more gluten for the biopsy.

JUst a word of warning ladies - I have a gluten intolerence that I discovered about 6 yrs ago. I was tested for coeliac but test results are negative. When I eat things with gluten in I feel a bit lethargic, tummy upset, other mildly unpleasant symptoms without TMI! Having said that though - I've tried going gluten free and though it makes me feel a bit better, the consequences of accidentally eating gluten are awful - stomach pains you wouldn't believe and all the rest of it. Because of that I now keep a small amount of gluten in my diet and it seems to keep the worst at bay. I know this might sound a bit barmy, but there are consequences to not keeping it in your diet, healthwise and financial.

Just thought I'd share, hope it helps.

The advantages of having the biopsy are that it seems to be the only way of getting a fully confirmed diagnosis and once you have that you can get gluten-free food on prescription - a big advantage, particularly for a child who doesn't pay for prescriptions as the food can be so expensive.

My OH's nephew had a positive blood test a few months ago and his mother managed to push for a biopsy relatively quickly as he was in so much pain and missing a lot of school (he is 12). I believe that some doctors will give prescriptions for food without the confirmation of a biopsy, but you need an understanding, and knowledgeable GP.

teafortwoandtwofortea - your symptoms, as you say, are classic coeliac symptoms. It can happen that negative biopsy patients later develop coeliac disease - sometimes testing is done in the early stages before too much damage is done, sometimes the biopsy simply doesn't biopsy a bit of gut which is damaged at that time. It has also been suggested that for some patients normal biopsy simply won't show the result: coeliac.info/suppboard/viewtopic.php?t=966&highlight=villi
I realize you don't want to go back on gluten for a further test, but if you are in fact coeliac ingesting a small amount of gluten to protect you against glutening would lay you open to later complications. You could get a gene test to make sure you are not carrying the coeliac gene to be on the safe side.