Should I Do A Saliva Test Or...

[Rapptastic]

Hello Anyone who reads this! This is my first post here. I do not know many others with gluten/dairy issues.

In 2001 when I did weight watchers, and had to make sure and eat 3 servings of dairy a day, I started having so much diarrhea that my fingernails were soft and broke off all the time. They had never been that bad before, although I've never had good cuticles, and sometimes had white spots on my fingernails. I started taking calcium, but realized I had a dairy intolerance.

It's been quite a while since then, and it's been hard to get to the point where I don't have any dairy. But I started a job last year, and knew I could never cheat since I didn't want any "leakage" at work. The funny thing was that I still had some diarrhea. It finally hit me...it had to be the gluten.

So I got a book, "Living Gluten-Free for Dummies." Man, what a good book! It felt like my bible, still does, but I'm branching out for more info on gluten intolerance and celiac. I feel I need to know what I have.. for my sister, my son and grandson's sakes.

So my mission is to find out what I have and of course stay on my path of no gluten.

I have not been diagnosed, and I feel I either need to do a saliva test at myceliacID.com or one of the tests at enterolab.com or go see some really good doctor here in KC...although I have been not too happy with doctors in the past. I did get an endoscopy/colonoscopy done in 2005, and the Dr. happily announced to me that I did indeed not have Celiac. I was not happy since to him that was that. And I was left with diarrhea, and GERD, and sleepless nights, and now 6 years later, I still have the same problems along with some joint problems. I do have a doctor, who I haven't seen for long (changed insurance) and she told me I had a Vitamin D deficiency, even though I had wanted a diabetes blood test. It's good to know I was lacking and now I take Vitamin D3 2 x a day, a sublingual Methyl B12 too (after reading). Still want to know about the diabetes test since My grandma, Dad, Mom, Brother, Sister had/have it. Will get that soon but want to know which way to go with the gluten thing which the Dr. does not know about yet.

Any comments about which way I should go? Saliva, stool tests or Dr. visit in KC , and BTW which Doctor? Thanks to anyone who comments.

[mushroom]

Hello, and welcome. You will probably have discovered from your reading that it is very difficul, if not impossible,t to diagnose celiac disease if you are already gluten free. Unfortunately, the saliva and stool testing, while giving some indications, are not considered to be definitive tests by the medical profession, i.e., there is no firm scientific evidence as to their accuracy. The Enterolab stool test can give you information about your genetic predisposition to developing the disease, but your doctor can order this same test for you which might be covered by insurance given your family history.

With such a strong diabetic history in the family it is obvious something is going on, and your symptoms certainly suggest a gluten sensitivity. But without a gluten challenge, proving it at this stage is pretty difficult. It would be interesting to get a copy of your pathology reports of the endoscopy from 2005, but you could have been in the very early stages then. You also need to get all your nutrient levels checked for deficiencies because in celiac there are many besides D and B12. Potassium, calcium, magnesium, folate, B vitamins, and your thyroid needs checking too. But as far as testing at this point, you are pretty much stuck between a rock (no testing) and a hard place (a gluten challenge).