coeliac test

[SilentAssassin1642]

So after months of fighting I finally got back to the hospital clinic at southampton and they finally agreed to let me have a coeliac test. Good, it has been 15 years and I've never had a test and I'm slightly suspicious with my own health that I may have it.

Well they were loathe to give me the forms, but in the end printed one out, threw it at me and didn't tell me anything more.

The thing I'm really asking here is, does it need to be done as a fasting test? Or can I just pop to the hospital on my lunch break and have it done? I've been putting off having it done because the prof didn't give me any info just gave me the forms and told me to get out

 

[margie]

Hi Sam - sorry that you have had to battle for the test.

I found this link and it looks like you just continue to eat normally.

http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/celiac/

 

[Copepod]

Glad to hear you'll get the test.
If there's a phone number for the hospital biochemistry dept, I'd phone them in one the working days next week.

 

[redrevis]

It took 10 weeks to get my Coeliac test results back. It had taken so long that I went to boots and bought this as I couldn't bare waiting any longer to get the result. this test iirc is 96% accurate. It came back negative so as you can imagine I was relieved. After a 3 page formal complaint letter to the hospital (regarding other issues as well) I got my results back which confirmed what the boots test had told me.

 

[Pumper_Sue]

My GP just ticks the box every year for the test to be done. Practice vampire or the nurse takes the blood sample.
Do be warned though you can get a false negative, which means you will need to have an endoscope done if you have the symptoms and a negative blood test.

 

[Ellie Jones]

Didn't know that coeliac testing was ever part of the standard testing subjected by a diabetic! I certainly never been offered a test nor has my husband (20+ and 30+ year respectively of being diabetic)

But as I am aware through several friends and on a professional bases what symptons are and what being coeliac involves dietary wise then I can safely say that neither of us have either suffered any symptoms so testing would be a waste of time in our cases...

And if we think handling a diet with diabetes in mind is frustrating enough, coeliac disease brings with it a very complex and at times restrictive diet as even if a food/meal is considered to be gluten free it might still be on the banned list for certain manufactueres who also process other foods within the same complex that might contain gluten, so a possiblity of cross-contammination during the processing stage, bit like peanut allerigy, where the suffer doesn't necessary have to eat the peanut, just have to come into contact with an item which been in contact with peanuts😱

 

[redrevis]

Just to add, it is possible to have Coeliacs disease and have no symptoms:

Silent coeliac disease

If you have silent coeliac disease, you will have no symptoms or very mild symptoms. However, damage to your small intestine can still occur, as well as long-term complications, such as osteoporosis (thinning of the bones) or failure to grow at the normal rate.

Source

 

[Bolddog]

This sounds like the blood test.

For this to work you MUST consume a significant amount of gluten every day ( for approx 6 weeks ) prior to the test. ( in any event between false negatives and false positives the test is accurate in about 90% of cases )

If you go on to have a gastroscopy then the same applies, you must consume gluten in significant amounts for the 6 weeks leading up to the test.

( Try not to be tempted to give up gluten thinking that you will find it easy to go back on it for the test - if you are coeliac then you can expect to find this transition back to gluten a terrible experience )

In the event that the tests are negative do bear in mind that some people have a non coeliac gluten intolerance.