Celiac disease is an immune system condition that occurs when the body cannot process bread as it is typically processed- i.e., as gluten rather than standard carbohydrates.
Many people with celiac disease experience symptoms of malabsorption, such as severe stomach pain, diarrhea, change in metabolism and/or digestion, and/or insufficient or incorrect intake of nutrients. Because nutrients are crucial to your health, this can be a big deal!
It is therefore important to diagnose yourself if you have celiac disease. You can do this at home by testing for thegluten in foods and how well they are absorbed.
This article will discuss how to test for celiac disease at home using nonequilibrium glycoprotein (EGP) testing. There are several companies that provide this test, but we will use Abt Associates® because it is an established company that offers this test.
Abt Associates® is a licensed physician-administered test.
Contents:
Get blood samples
If you are a member of the military, you may be able to get a sample of your blood taken at an army or navy base to test for celiac disease.
If you are a non-military person, you can get the test done at a national celiac disease testing center. These centers have information about where to go, take your blood, and have more confidence in the results.
The test can be done at home using a reagent applied to your skin. If this is not safe for you, there are alternatives like an ELISA test or biochemistry tested. Neither of these require any change to your clothes or surroundings as they are performed at the same location as the exam.
Getting the diagnosis and taking steps to keep yourself healthy on top of having a reliable source for gluten free foods is important.
Store in refrigerator
Most cases of celiac disease are detected when a person is under the supervision of a health care provider. This is because people with celiac disease are more likely to eat fresh and natural foods, and sometimes food that has been subjected to raw or unpasteurized ingredients can change the health of it.
However, if someone does not have access to a healthcare provider, then it is important that they can test for celiac disease at home. There are several ways to do this, and the best is to mix it in with their daily chores. For example, if someone washing the dishes had to have had some food on their hands while washing, then they could give them the opportunity to clean their own dishes.
Another way is having them watch some cooking or dining instructions.
Take out kit and instructions
If you are also worried about gluten and/or poor health while taking the test, it is best to take the kit at a physician-recommended time. You can do this at home, but be careful!
The kit takes several minutes to complete, and during that time your doctor will evaluate you. When your doctor concludes the test, he or she will send you an email with instructions on how to mail the kit back in for a second opinion.
If your celiac disease is severe, your doctor may recommend a different test methodology: Take out a piece of paper similar to a letter, write down the word celiac on it, and call it AACE Certified Alimentary Transport System (CAT). This method may be easier for some doctors to use than the current “test out of box” method.
Follow instructions to collect blood sample
Before you can test for celiac disease, you must have a blood sample collected. This is done using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent test (ELITT) kit.
Elitts are used to collect a blood sample because they require red blood cells to be present. Red blood cells help transport the test proteins into your body.
When preparing your elixer, you must first wash your hands and face with soap and water, then put a few drops of oil on your fingers and take one caplet per day with food. You can also place the caplet in warm water until needed.
Put blood sample in provided container
It is recommended that you test for celiac disease by having a positive response to a gluten-free diet. Though it is not necessary, it is helpful to have a response to the condition in case of an allergen or intolerance.
You can do this test at home by putting a small amount of the blood sample in a container and letting your body use its normal process for processing blood and vitamin D. You can also place the sample in your refrigerator and let the body process it through its diet, if this fails to produce a response for you.
This is because vitamin D helps in maintaining calcium absorption, so if you do not get enough with the diet alone, you may need to take something with your calcium. However, there are several Celiac tests that can be done at home, so whether you need that or not depends on your individual needs.
Send to lab for testing
If your paragraphing does not work, try sending to a lab for testing. There are several online companies that offer test to home kit, or send to a local laboratory for testing.
This can be difficult if you are limited in how you can test for celiac disease, but not the business of taking a saliva or blood sample. You can still help yourself by checking for gluten in your food, making sure to ask your doctor if there are certain foods that may remain unprocessed or may require more testing.
Many people test for celiac disease at home with a retest kit. These are typically sent back and forth between two doctors to see if a positive result was an error or an underrecognition of disease.
Try using these tests at home to see if you have any concerns about your health care provider does not cover all of the criteria for celiac disease.
Wait for results
If test results are positive for celiac disease, do not eat any gluten-related products until you receive a written notification from your doctor that your condition has been corrected. This includes test results, manufacturers’ product labels, and any other documentation related to Celiac Disease.
Instead, you can wait until you get a new device test or until your doctor tells you it has been corrected. Most experts recommend waiting about two weeks before eating any new gluten-free foods.
If the test shows a negative result, do not give up! There may still be some problem with your gut if you have have symptoms of poor gut health such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea, and/or vomiting. Many people with Celiac disease have a low threshold for the symptoms of gluten toxicity.
Some people with Celiac disease fail the initial testing due to having a low threshold for symptom recognition.
Consult doctor if positive
It is important to be familiar with the test for celiac disease at home. A diagnosis of celiac disease can be difficult to spot as an illness, with people with healthy stomachs and intestines who eat gluten-related products may not experience the expected symptoms.
Even when a person with celiac disease appears healthy, a negative test for celiac cannot rule out the condition. The test for villitis, another possible symptom of gluten intolerance, does not detect villus-repressed positive responses (VPRs), which are key components of the immune system response to gluten.
Both tests are discussed in more detail in this article. Their differences are illustrated in the following video clip and diagram.