Question by Kate: Is iron deficiency consistent with Celiac Disease?
Is it possible to be tested with normal iron count, but still have Celiac?
Thanks for the answers, to clarify, I DID have normal iron in the test.
So is it still possible to have Celiac disease? Is iron consistently low with CD?
Best answer:
Answer by Binka
Most people who have Celiac Disease do tend to be anemic. If you just have low iron levels though you probably don’t have Celiac Disease. If you want to test yourself for the disease just start eating a gluten free diet. You should see improvements in the way you feel, your bowel movements and other things within 2 weeks to a month. You don’t necessarily need to go through the tests to figure out if you have it or not. Also diet is pretty much the only way to treat Celiac.
Give your answer to this question below!
Yes – these are two different problems. You can have iron anemia for a variety of reasons, one particular reason is malabsorption from the digestive system. One of the problems caused by Celiac disease is malabsorption, and occasionally, its iron that is not absorbed, but not everyone with celiac disease has a malabsorption problem, and not all malabsorption problems involve iron.
Not everyone with celiac will be anemic. The best way to get a diagnosis of celiac is to CONTINUE eating gluten and get an antibody test for celiac- it wont work if you’re on a gluten free diet.
If you just adopt a gluten free diet at home, it may not resolve your symptoms for months, especially since you can’t avoid all sources of gluten without nutritional counseling. This might ‘trick’ you into believing you don’t have celiac, even if you do.
Basically, head to the doc.