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Hello,
I have searched the archives, followed links, and read any number
of articles. Unfortunately, I remain confused. I apologize if I missed
something and am sending this unnecessarily. I did find a post with
text from a New Zealand doctor helpful. Any help you are able to
offer is much appreciated. Here is the story...

I went to the docs quite a few times over the last 10 years with
seemingly unrelated symptoms ranging from fatigue, persistent
constipation (and the obvious flatulence associated with this),
terrible hives, a pealing mouth, a clear scaly rash, and a frequent
unsettled stomach. Only last December did a doctor suggest that
maybe I had a dietary problem. She put me on an elimination diet.
Re-introduction was very specific--taking approximately 2 months
due to reintroduction of problem foods. In the end, I reported that
eggs, wheat, cucumbers, and citrus caused some reactions. Eggs
and wheat seemed to be the biggest troubles. At that point, she
declared that I had celiac disease and should remain gluten free. I
had been on a number of celiac websites and read enough to know
to ask if I should get a biopsy. She said that my symptoms were
sufficiently systematic that the results of my food trials were
enough to diagnose. However, as a compromise, she did
bloodwork. Unfortunately, at the point of the bloodwork, I had  been
gluten free (with the exception of 2 trials) for 2.5 months. The
results came back "negative." Specifically:

Tissue Transglutaminase AB IGA = 5
Gliadin AB IGG=13
Gliadin AB  IGA=14
Folate, Serum=10.8 ng/mL
Vitamin B12, serum=521 pg/mL

She said that the tests were inconclusive b/c I had been off gluten
for so long, but that I should stay off gluten forever.

Also, my 6 year old daughter has had a number of medical issues.
Specifically, she has some issues with a distended belly (but not
daily), some out-of-the-blue tummy aches (probably only once
every couple weeks), severe "growing pains" over the last year at
night, persistent constipation, occasional troubles with fatigue, and
trouble with wetting her pants (nearly daily) over the last 1.5 years--
after being successfully toilet trained at age 3. Due to my
"diagnosis" and because of these issues, her blood was recently
drawn. (While she also ate gluten-free at dinner since before
Christmas, she ingested gluten during breakfast and lunch
throughout this period). Here are the results:

Tissue Transglutaminase AB IGA=3
Gliadin AB IGA=19
Gliadin AB IGG=53
Reticulin AB IGA qualifier (TNP screening test)= negative, so the
titer was not performed.
She also had elevated levels of calcium and a high bun/creatinine
ratio (whatever that is).

The doctor claims that this is sufficient to diagnose my daughter.
However, from my reading, that seems unlikely given that the IGA
levels are not higher and the negative tissue transglutaminase and
Reticulin tests.

I am considering asking the doctor to perform a RAST test on both
of us, a lactose intolerance test on my daughter and possibly going
back on gluten myself and having my blood re-drawn after a period
of time.

I would appreciate any feedback that you might offer. Be advised
that I am on travel until Friday and so, unfortunately, if anyone
emails me, you will get a bounce back email telling you that I am
out of the office. However, I will be on the net checking emails.

Have a wonderful day!
Tammy in VA
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