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     My daughter is our only diagnosed Celiac.  The rest of our immediate
family and my parents have all been tested as a result of her diagnosis.
We have all tested negative.  We were only given the blood test, which
I think was the tissue transglutiminase test.  One of my sons was also
given the endoscopy because he had a slightly elevated level of gliadin (?),
but the biopsy was negative.  We were all tested again last March at
Mercy hospital in Pittsburgh for a study they are doing on family member
of Celiacs.  I am not sure which blood test they did, but, again, we were
all negative.  I, though, have many of the symptoms of CD.  I have
brain-fog, chronic fatigue, white flecks on my nails, apparent lactose
intolerance, sore throat after eating certain foods, frequent sinusitis,
short term memory problems, irritabilty and mood swings after eating
certain things, hypoglycemic like symptoms when I haven't eaten in
a while, a cramp in my left side of my abdomen which follows down
through my colon until I go to the bathroom after eating certain foods.
I have been tested for many possible causes, but was negative.
       This past month, I have experimented on eliminating wheat and
have noticed an elimination of almost all of my symptoms.  I also have
noticed that when I cheat, I get gas and feel very tired and brain fogged,
 and sometimes get a headache.  So, it seems to me that I definitely
benefit from no wheat.  But, I would like to know if I have Celiac Disease
so that I know whether I should be cutting out all gluten.
       Any suggestions on what to do to get an accurate diagnosis?  I
would especially like to hear from any doctors out there who read this.
       Or, should I just believe that I don't have CD and stay away from
wheat?
Thanks,
Laurie

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