Enterolab results

[Suwharris@aol.com]

Good morning all, first off I want to say how much I appreciate
this group! Very concerned about my fecal fat score of 1194 units. My GP did the elastase test, which was normal. Thankful it’s not my pancreas, but what else can cause such a high score? My doc put me on Creon before the pancreatic test, which seemed to help. She said to continue it, that it won’t hurt me. I’m not so sure, so I’m asking you all, the experts, your thoughts on this.
What can cause such a high score and what should I do about it?Thank you so much,
Susan

[tex]

Hi Susan,

A fecal fat score is a measure of damage to the villi of the small intestine. A fecal fat score that high is almost surely the result of years of damage by gluten. Intestinal damage is cumulative, so the longer we react, the greater the degree of damage. Likewise, the longer we react, the higher our anti-gliadin antibody level. Is your anti-gliadin antibody level still high? If so, then the intestinal damage is very likely mostly or all the result of gluten damage. A level this high is in the celiac range.

If you're gluten free, it might be that your fecal fat score was previously much higher. It takes a long time to get back to normal. But if it's not declining, your diet may be cross-contaminated with gluten (or soy, if you're soy-sensitive). If you're certain that your diet is squeaky clean, then you may just need more healing time.

Testing pancreas enzyme output will usually show reduced production for us, because MC usually inflames the pancreas also, but this is slowly resolved as we heal, after we tighten our diet.

At least, those are my thoughts.

How long have you been GF?

Tex

[Suwharris@aol.com]

Thank you for your thoughts, Tex! I’ve been gluten-free for about 6 weeks. My anti-gliadin IgA is 126, but I had tested negative for celiac disease right before my MC diagnosis in Nov. 2020. Is there anything I can do to heal the damage other than eat gluten, soy, a and lactose-free? I’ve also cut out eggs. Thank you again so much for your insight,
Susan

[tex]

Hi Susan,

That explains your high anti-gliadin antibody result and your high fecal fat score. No need to worry. Just stick to a safe diet — you'll heal. It took years for those scores to reach those high levels, and it will take years for those high scores to decline to normal levels. Very little intestinal healing occurs in six weeks. You'll be fine if you stick to a safe diet.

Tex

[Suwharris@aol.com]

Thank you so much, Tex! That’s a relief; will just stick to the diet however long it takes to heal. I greatly appreciate you,
Susan