IgA deficiency?

[Anonymous]

DD’s bloodwork came back as IgA deficient — have any other moms dealt with this? It looks like it may play a role in Sharon’s anemia and many food intolerances. I’m just learning about it now. Any info or experiences would be very, very welcome.

Thanks,

[Anonymous]

Hi Julie! Hailey just had this test done last week! She had it as part of a celiac panel. Her IgA value was 17 and the reference range on the lab sheet was 82-453, so hers looked considerably low. I did my own research and found that that is actually a reference range for adults and not children. The reference range for a child ages 1-2 is 14-106, so hers is barely normal. I talked to her Ped GI on Friday and he started to tell me that she had a low IgA until I told him about the research I had done. He looked it up for himself and I was right. She is not deficient.

Do you know Sharon’s exact level?

In my research, I found out two things – one that doctor’s mistakenly diagnose an IgA definciency by not looking at the age specific reference range and two some babies are IgA deficient for an unknown reason and spontaneously their IgA’s level normalize by age 4 so an accurate lifelong diagnosis shouldn’t be given until then.

[Anonymous]

Here’s a link to my recent post about this very same thing!

https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4739&a mp;KW=celiac

[Anonymous]

Hi Stacey!

Thanks for your link your thread about this — hellbennt posted the info I found and posted on the yahoo reflux breastfeeding list. Small world, thank heavens!

Sharon’s IgA was .1 G/L, and the Dr said normal range was .17-2.04 (no mention of age, though), and the lab sheet showed the normal range as .2-1.10 (again, no age range mentioned). When I asked the Dr to check Sharon’s results a year ago, her IgA was .06 G/L back then.

In the research I did, I found info about IgA in food absorption really interesting, and wonder if this explains Sharon’s continuing intolerances (still all grains, most fruits and veg, and rice). We did a celiac screen too (results invalid because IgA low), but my sense is that Sharon’s problems are different, since she still can’t even handle rice.

sharonsmom2006-2-20 17:39:21

[Anonymous]

Julie ~ So, the reference range I posted was mg/dL (milogram per deciliter) so I’m thinking yours must be gram per liter (G/L) – so is hers 10 mg/dL? So, hopefully hers is just low and she’s not completey deficient which would be zero IgA’s found. Did the doctor give any insight about this low IgA – anything special that needs to be done?

[Anonymous]

I think that’s right (10 on your scale). Sharon’s ped said that she may be more susceptible to infection, esp. of the mucus membranes (respiratory and gi and urinary), and to make sure she has all of her pnumonacoccal (sp?) immunizations and flu shot, etc. He said there was a super-shot with 23 pneumonacoccal strains covered that we should look into. He thought the ped GI would know more (she doesn’t – that’s an understatement). The ped GI nurse thought an allergist might know more. I’m especially interested about live vaccine safety. I read on the internet that there is a much higher risk of reaction. We have a referral to an allergist, but the appt isn’t until March 29. So, I’m putting off Sharon’s MMR, again. Did Hailey get her MMR and do OK?

The only other thing the ped said was that Sharon shouldn’t get an IVIG (some sort of plasma transfusion??), because she could react. Apparently the plasma needs to be treated somehow before Sharon can gets it.

We saw a naturopath a year ago, and she asked specifically about Sharon’s IgA level (we didn’t know back then). I’ve got a call into her, to see what she suggests. I’ll pass anything I find out along.

It does look like a good % of the population has low IgA levels, and it doesn’t seem to bother most, which is great. But since we’re still trying to figure out what’s up with Sharon’s multi intolerances, this seems a likely issue to investigate. I’d love to have some sort of explanation/roadmap.

[Anonymous]

Julie ~ Yes, please pass anything along that you find out. I’m pretty curious about the whole situation. Hailey did have her MMR and chicken pox vaccines (supposedly the chicken pox vaccine is one to avoid if IgA deficient) and was completely fine. I don’t remember reading anything that said they shouldn’t have the MMR, it was only vaccines that are considered live vaccinations like chicken pox or the old polio vaccine. Is the MMR considered a live vaccine? I didn’t think it was…I’m glad I didn’t know her IgA level at the time because I probably would have postponed it too (or constantly worried about it).

Yes, I also read that a good number of the population has a low IgA level and most have no symptoms or issues. There is a very good possibility that babies especially will grow out of the condition. I see what you mean though about how she’s still have multiple intolerances – I think a link is quite likely. Good luck! I hope you find something out!

[Anonymous]

julie, 3 of my children have just been diagnosed with celiac disease. another one of my children came back IgA deficient with the same number has your daughter. we are doing further testing so that we will be able to know if he also has celiac disease. with your daughter having multiple food sensitivites, this is something that you may want to look into. it is 10 times more likely for someone with celiac to be IgA deficient. celiac can also cause an IgA deficiency. i’ll let you know what we find out after ian has his testing done.

[Anonymous]

Hi Christine,

My ped strongly suspects celiac. sharon’s test was negative, but since she’s got low IgA, and hasn’t had any gluten in her diet for the past 8 mos, it’s inaccurate. Do you know if there are any celiac tests that don’t require the patient to have consumed gluten (and be reacting)? Since Sharon reacts to so much, we’re gluten-free in any case, but it would be helpful to know we should stop trialing.

Do your children with celiac react to other foods as well? Or is everything OK as long as they are gluten-free?

Thanks,

[Anonymous]

julie, my kids don’t appear to have a problem with anything but gluten. we have only been gluten free since jan 1 of this year, but tianna’s rashes are clearing up and kassie’s nausea has improved. molly really hasn’t had obvious symptoms. there is a test i have heard of that is done by a lab called enterolab that is supposed to be able to pick up celiac and non-celiac gluten sensitivies. i think you can order the test yourself with out a doctors prescription. i don’t think that you need to be consuming gluten for the test to work. you could go to the boards at celiac.com and ask about it. i know that a number of people have used it—–i see it being referred to alot.

both of my twins have trouble with reflux and are on prevacid—-i am hoping that we can get them off of the meds eventually—-the doc said it is possible that the celiac is causing their reflux.

[Anonymous]

Hi Christine,

It would be fantastic if being gluten-free cleared up the reflux — hoping for you!!

Thanks for the site link, I’ll check out the test you mentioned.

sharonsmom2006-2-22 11:4:6

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