Pete Dixon

It's been suggested that I clarify my claim of being celiac. Something of some importance as I am making the claim that at least for myself using hookworms has improved my life as a celiac, and making that claim on a celiac-oriented site no less.

Celiac.com Sponsor (A13):
I have never had a positive biopsy test for celiac disease. There, I've said it.

That said, I maintain that there is very little doubt that I am celiac, and the only reason I don't have that positive test is that I get far, far too sick to be able to do the 6-8 gluten prep pre-biopsy. I'm talking non-stop diarrhea and vomiting for that entire period of the prep - often simultaneous diarrhea and vomiting - all to tell me something I already know. I refused to do that gluten eating prep back in 2008, and I will never do it in the future.

My aunt and cousin on my father side are both certified celiacs with identical celiac symptoms to me, though without my colitis. I also experienced dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) on my temple, though I didn't know that's what it was at the time. My celiac disease activated when I was 42 and a half and carried on till I was 45 when I recognized it was gluten that was making me sick. My up to 11x a day bouts of diarrhea ended the day when I stopped consuming gluten.

Over the next 10 years (2008-2018) I was glutened about 20x, mostly concentrated in the beginning when I was learning the ropes. Surprises like flour being put into packages of pistachios, a generic antihistamine's capsule being made from gluten instead of corn starch like the brand name antihistamine. During those years I did everything I could to avoid gluten exposures, rarely eating out of the home and never knowingly taking chances. My gluten exposures always resulted in violent reactions.

I apologize if anyone feels misled, but for me the evidence is overwhelming that natively I am a highly reactive celiac. To prove that though I would have to kill off my hookworms, wait perhaps another 6 months until their effects on my immune system were totally gone, and then endure 1.5-2 months of torture to prove something I don't need proof of. Ain't gonna happen.

Anyway, for the remaining doubters, I put to you the following: I deliberately infect myself with hookworms. Who in their right mind would do that without good reason?