Doctor?

[TiffersAnn]

I am a 27 year old self-diagnosed person with Celiac... only because I can't find a doctor to even give me the proper test. My mother moved to Cincinnati 6 years ago and in the first week she was there, she was diagnosed with Celiac. She had kidney failure, severe weight loss, diverticulitis, and several other severe problems. My sister was then tested positive as well. I lived in denial for 5 years after this discovery because I didn't want to face the fact that I'd have to change my entire lifestyle. A year ago, I started getting more and more reactions to gluten... and I paniced. I called every doctor in the area and either they wouldn't take me, had no idea what it was, or told me that I'd "have to go to where my mother was diagnosed". One doctor even told me that "sure we'll do a skin patch to test you for an allergic reaction to gluten..." It was after that call that I gave up.

I've been gluten-free since October '05...

I guess my question to everybody is... Should I still keep looking for a doctor that will test me properly? I realize that I'd have to eat gluten again for the test.

[Guhlia]

If you feel better on the gluten-free diet, then there's your diagnosis. Tests are faulty and often give false negatives. Why go through the gluten challenge if you don't have to?

[Ursa Major]

After being gluten free for eight months, you might have to be back on gluten for possibly a year or more, before you would test positive. Meaning, you'd first have to destroy your villi again and get sick. Is it worth it? With your mother and sister having a positive diagnosis, and feeling much better gluten free, you really know you have celiac disease, don't you? So, just leave it at that, who needs the aggravation with doctors, anyway? Not to mention the expense.

Just my opinion, of course, it's entirely your choice, nobody can make your decisions for you.

[TiffersAnn]

After being gluten free for eight months, you might have to be back on gluten for possibly a year or more, before you would test positive. Meaning, you'd first have to destroy your villi again and get sick. Is it worth it? With your mother and sister having a positive diagnosis, and feeling much better gluten free, you really know you have celiac disease, don't you? So, just leave it at that, who needs the aggravation with doctors, anyway? Not to mention the expense.

Just my opinion, of course, it's entirely your choice, nobody can make your decisions for you.

Thats true, I guess. I'm just trying to deal with everything. That peice of paperwork might just kick my butt into gear. I live in an area that there are no 'special' markets, no gluten free menus (except Outback), no one has ever heard of it (including my family doctor)... It's very difficult. Thank goodness I enjoy to cook.

[Guhlia]

Go to www.enterolab.com. The tests are a little more expensive as you have to pay out of pocket, but they boast that they're accurate even when you're gluten free.