<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

I have a few questions, but first I have to rant.

I'm 39 and almost immediately after hernia surgery in March 1999,
I began to have difficulty sleeping. Just as I was about to doze off, my
whole body would jerk, waking me up. Several doctors insisted this was
just due to stress (this will be a recurring theme). A few weeks
later my pooping changed---it was a lot more quantity than usual,
almost diarrhea, lighter colored and irritated my butt to the point
where it would bleed almost every time. Doctors also insisted
this was due to stress, or perhaps IBS. They did do a "flexible
sygmoidoscopy" (boy, was I glad it was flexible!). It showed
nothing unusual and at that point my HMO was not eager to pursue
the matter.

Interestingly, an eerily similar (though more mild) situtation had happened
to me before. In 1985 I had my appendix removed (while visiting Taiwan)
and I'd felt the jerking, and had difficulty sleeping (I don't recall
very significant pooping problems). That went on for many months
but finally, slowly (very slowly) cleared up.

This situation (bad sleeping and bad pooping) continued for many months.
Any time I complained to a docter, they would suggest antidepressants,
which I steadfastly refused to take since I wanted to find out
what was wrong, not just cover up the symptoms. It got to the
point where about once a week I would not sleep at all, and almost
every time I would poop, my butt would bleed.

I experimented with a few sensible things (I'm a mathematician, so I was
very scientific in my approach). I found that folic acid (400mcg twice
a day) eliminated the jerks, which helped somewhat with the sleeping.
Though I still knew something was not right.

Eventually, someone at work (who has a corn allergy) suggested it could
be related to food. So I did a thorough search, and figured that
Celiac disease seemed most likely. When I suggested this to my HMO
doctor, she brushed it off as if it was a ridiculous suggestion.
So I did another "science project", using myself as a guinea pig.
I cut out gluten for 2 weeks (as best I could). After about 5 days
I felt much much better. So to complete my project I went back to
eating a "normal" diet and found that within a week all of the
old problems were back.

I then went gluten-free (again, as best I could) and after about 2 weeks
finally convinced another doctor to do the blood tests. The IgG test
came back positive and the IgA test was negative. About 3 gluten-free
weeks later, I saw a gastro doctor and he did the antiendomysial
test, which also came back negative.

I am really PO'ed at my HMO. I have no confidence in their ability to
do anything right. If I had not insisted, I'd still be suffering just
like before. So my question is, Why should I get the biopsy done? I feel
better on a gluten-free diet, and don't want to feel lousy again
(I've messed up the diet a couple times and felt lousy for a few
miserable days). Is there anything else that is likely to cause similar
symptoms? Is there any other way to get a "ver probable" sort of diagnosis?

I'd appreciate any advice and/or suggestions. Thanks.

Mark Stamp