Diagnosis Question

[Panonim]

Hi everyone

I'm new here, I'm new to all of this celiac stuff actually. I have no official diagnosis, but I strongly suspect that my "eczema" is actually DH. Celiac runs in my mom's family, and apparantly several of her uncles and aunts have also had DH in their lifetime.

Anyway, I could write a whole novel about my thoughts on all of this, but to spare you that boredom, my main question here is, can I still get an accurate DH biopsy & diagnosis after going gluten-free? In my city, the wait to see a dermatologist is about 4-6 months. And it seems that not every derm is actually aware of what DH is, the link to Celiac, and how to properly biopsy and diagnose it. The thought of continuing to eat gluten for the next 4-6 months just to wait to see a Dr who *hopefully* knows what I'm talking about and doesn't just brush me off, is nauseating to me. I officially went gluten-free on April 23, 2010 because I just felt I had to do it, to see if it helped my skin. My skin is so bad right now that I felt I had to do *something*.

As of this point, I see no improvement in my skin, actually it's gotten considerably worse. It can get worse before it gets better right? I need reassurance. This is awfully depressing.

I would like a positive diagnosis, just for my own peace of mind, but I won't go back to eating gluten just to be tested for it. So, having been gluten-free for about 2 weeks now, would I still be able to get an accurate DH diagnosis if I saw a derm in a few months? I've heard the antibodies stay in your skin for quite a while, that's why it takes so long for the DH to clear up, am I right? So I'm hoping that even gluten-free, I could still see a derm and get an accurate diagnosis??

Thanks for your thoughts