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Son's Coeliac test - resuming gluten intake for the correct test result.

Posted , 3 users are following.

adclee
adclee

Hi, my 11 yr old son is going to have a blood test for Coeliac Disease very soon.

We normally keep him off wheat/gluten but he needs to be eating wheat for the test to reveal a positive or negative.

We have four days before the blood test. Will this be enough time for him to eat wheat this week and then for the blood test to be able to reveal an effective result?

Many thanks,

Adam.

1 like, 2 replies

2 Replies

  • marg04364
    marg04364 adclee

    Posted

    Hi Adam, It is recommended that gluten be eaten for 6 weeks prior to testing(equivalent of 4 slices of bread per day (2 for a child). He could have a  HLA-DQ2/8 gene test.  If HLA DQ2/8 gene testing is negative coeliac disease can be safely excluded.  If it is positive, then a gastroscopy/biopsy needs to be done to check for damage to the villi in the intestine.. and gluten must be eaten for 6 weeks prior to this test.   Blood tests often come back false negative.. so it is not reliable. 

     

  • FA54321
    FA54321 adclee

    Posted

    In part, I would agree with Marg04364 in that you need to eat wheat for 6 weeks prior to the test.  Blood tests for coeliac disease are not totally reliable and you can still have a false negative result, if you have coeliac disease, the only definite way is with a biopsy. (By the way this happened to me). If I were in your shoes, I would speak to Coeliac UK. They know more about coeliac disease than many doctors - the advise doctors! Their phone number is 0333 332 2033.
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