I'm really confused and new to all of this. I really hope someone can help me!

My 17 month old daughter was recently given a blood planel to test for Celiac due to severe GI symptoms for the past 6 months and contact dermititis on her face and bum. After seeing just about every pediatrician at our local clinic and being told five different possible causes (none of which seemed to be working) I requested that a blood test be done. (My sister and niece are both Celiacs.)

Well, the head of the clinic called me with the results and said they were inconclusive. She admitted that she really doesn't know much about the disease, but said that she would still give the diagnosis of Celiac and recommended a gluten-free diet due to the inconclusive blood test and GI symptoms. She said that Ali's lab values were a 23 and that normal was 24-101. So, she was only slightly deficient. Deficient in what?!? What values was she referring to?!? She was talking so fast and just said to follow up with Ali's regular pediatrician this week. We also were referred to a pedi GI, but can't have her seen until September.

HELP!!! I'm so totally confused and frustrated with all of this. The diet does seem to be helping, but it's only been 10 days. She still has her good days and her bad days, but I'm seeing a steady improvement. I'm fairly confident that Ali does have Celiac given the family history. I just want more info and to talk to a doctor who knows what's going on!

Thanks folks! I appreciate the shoulders to lean on through all of this.

i think that maybe it might be a good idea to go into the clinic and get a copy of the paper work that shows the blood test results. i'm still guessing that it is total IgA serum levels they checked.

one of my kids is IgA deficient and his levels were almost non-existent. i don't think that just slightly deficient would make that much of a difference on a blood test. it doesn't sound like they ran the appropriate tests for celiac disease.

maybe you could request that they do a Ttg test right away before you get too far into the gluten free diet since it is so long before you see the ped gi. if your daughter is already gluten free, the gi isn't going to be able to tell you anymore than you know right now.