When I was diagnosed with celiac disease, I had six blood tests. All of them were positive for celiac disease. My TTG IGA was over 300 when positive was 10. At the time, my non-gastroenterologist said, “You have celiac sprue. You can go to the GI and get an endoscopy, but you have celiac. Go gluten free and follow up with your GI in a year.”

After a year, my TTG IGA was still over 100. My Marsh score from an endoscopy was still Marsh 3c. Another year later and I was close to normal, my TTG IGA was 12 when 10 was negative. My biopsy was still Marsh 3b. In the third year, I finally got into the “normal” range. Another two years later, so 5 years after diagnosis my endoscopy results were in the “normal” range. I have not been out of normal since my blood tests normalized.

Research from 2017 indicates the TTG IGA and EMA tests are poor indicators of small intestinal healing. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S001650851735624X

What is my point? Just because your blood tests are “normal” does not show intestinal healing. Make sure you get routine follow-up visits. This should include endoscopy. Visit periodically with your gastroenterologist to confirm proper healing and management of your celiac disease.

I want you to be healthy and live a really long time with this disease! #glutensensitivity #glutenfreerecipes #glutenfree #celiacdisease #celiac