Should you eat gluten before the blood test?

[GuavaGirl]

My husband just got a blood test for gluten allergy (I'm not actually sure on the specific test that he got, or if there is more than one for this sort of thing), but he hasn't had any wheat or gluten for almost a week.  Will that mess with the results?

He went to his regular doctor.  Are they knowledgeable enough in this or should he see an allergy specialist or naturopath?

We've been looking for the answer to his digestive problems for some time now and regular doctor have been so unhelpful.

[LaughingHyena]

I'm not sure about allergy tests but I recently had a celiac blood test for which I needed to be eating gluten.

[scsigrl]

I am *assuming* a regular Dr. would order the typical Celiac's test and maybe an IgE level if he think's it's an allergy. 

You do need to be eating gluten for the Celiac's test results to be accurate. I would call the Dr. to see if they think being off for a week would be a problem. Also, it depends on how "gluten free" he's been. Are you talking wheat or all gluten including oats (due to x-con). It is not necessary for allergy testing to be on the food.

[jimv]

Sigh.

I specifically asked him if I needed to have eaten gluten recently, as we'd not been eating it for a week or so, and he said no.  HOWEVER, the NIH.gov website states that the test should be done while the person is still eating gluten.  >:(

It's hard to find good doctors these days.

[kjbrown92]

And remember that there is wheat allergy, gluten intolerance, and celiac, which are 3 different things. The G-Free Diet (by Elizabeth Hasselbeck) is pretty good so far (I'm only about 4 chapters in but it seems like it answers a lot of questions for the uninitiated).

Wheat allergy will show up on an IgE blood test, or scratch test (don't need to be eating wheat, I believe).

Celiac will show up on a Celiac blood panel (do have to be consuming gluten).

Gluten intolerance doesn't show up much of anywhere (though it did on the ALCAT test for my kids) though if you remove it from your diet and you get better, it's a pretty good indication that gluten is a problem for you.

[scsigrl]

Originally Posted by kjbrown92 

 The G-Free Diet (by Elizabeth Hasselbeck) is pretty good so far (I'm only about 4 chapters in but it seems like it answers a lot of questions for the uninitiated).

That book is pretty much panned by the Celiac's community.  It contains a lot of wrong information.

[kjbrown92]

Originally Posted by scsigrl 

Originally Posted by kjbrown92 

 The G-Free Diet (by Elizabeth Hasselbeck) is pretty good so far (I'm only about 4 chapters in but it seems like it answers a lot of questions for the uninitiated).

That book is pretty much panned by the Celiac's community.  It contains a lot of wrong information.

So far it's been pretty accurate, but I'm only page 47. Maybe it's because it's also written for people with gluten intolerance, and celiacs don't want anyone horning in on their disease. I wonder where the inaccurate info. is. So far it's right on.
 

[riomidwife]

Originally Posted by kjbrown92 

. Maybe it's because it's also written for people with gluten intolerance, and celiacs don't want anyone horning in on their disease. I wonder where the inaccurate info. is. So far it's right on.
 

That's hilarious.

[joybird]

Gluten intolerance will also show up on an IgG test.  Well, it did for us but who knows.  All allergy tests are notoriously inaccurate anyway.

[elonwy]

The issue a lot of people had with the book was the parts where she talks about eating "a little bit of gluten items" because someone had made it for her and she didn't want to hurt their feelings, and other such episodes where it could seriously compromise someone's health. I believe she is also one of those people that deconstructs a sandwich to eat it (which is a huge no-no). "It's ok to have a little bit" was the thing that really damned her, as I recall. Especially once you find that low level exposure can be just as damaging as high level exposure if it continues over a long period of time, as many recent studies have shown.

To answer the OP, if you are getting tested for gluten intolerance or CD and not a wheat allergy, then you need to be ingesting the equivilant of one serving of gluten containing food (like bread) every day for at least two weeks before the test. This varies a bit based on which test you are actually doing, but is a good baseline for about how much you would need to get in your system to accurately detect the antibodies.

[riomidwife]

Originally Posted by elonwy 

To answer the OP, if you are getting tested for gluten intolerance or CD and not a wheat allergy, then you need to be ingesting the equivilant of one serving of gluten containing food (like bread) every day for at least two weeks before the test.

Can you specify which tests you are referring to for gluten intolerance in CD that require two weeks prior exposure?  And did those guidelines come from the lab itself? Thanks!

[scsigrl]

The testing for gluten intolerance is not the same as CD.  The Celiac's panel (including several different tests including tTG-IgA or tissue transglutaminase-IgA, AGA-IgG or Antigliadin IgG,

AGA-IgA or Antigliadin IGA and Total IGA)

You need to be on gluten before this test.  Also, I have heard it is more like 6 weeks of exposure before testing.  I would call your Dr. about it.

Also, about the book, she said some stuff that's false (like there's gluten in postage stamps and stuff like that).  That was the issue the Celiac's people had, not that it included people who are gluten intolerant.

[riomidwife]

I have not found physicians to be very helpful in this regard, and they often pass on misinformation as well. I contract with a number of labs so I can order many of the tests directly....I posted another thread in search of a run down of all the available tests for the whole spectrum http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/1293618/all-the-gluten-celiac-testing-options#post_16214442

[kjbrown92]

Originally Posted by scsigrl 

Also, about the book, she said some stuff that's false (like there's gluten in postage stamps and stuff like that).  That was the issue the Celiac's people had, not that it included people who are gluten intolerant.

She did say that it could be in the glue on envelopes, so to be safe, always use a sponge. I've heard the same thing. We are intolerant to corn and gluten, and glue is made from both, so we avoid licking any gluey substance. Better safe, than sorry.

I've heard that you have to eat the equivalent of 4 slices of bread per day (for the celiac blood test specifically) so you may want to ask the doctor or the lab.