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Hello,

I have recently joined this group because I suspect I have Celiac.  My
gliadin antibody bloodwork came back positive, but my biopsies came back
normal.  My GI doc here in NJ is going to do a second biopsy in a month
using a longer endoscopy and get a larger sample of biopsies.  The
combination of my symptoms and my bloodwork makes her think a larger set of
biopsies might be necessary to get positive results.

My question is actually for my sister who lives in Northern KY.  Like me she
has had periodic episodes over the last 25 years where she has:  lost a lot
of weight, felt extreme fatigue, had almost constant diarhea, intestinal
discomfort, and muscle wasting.  Like me (until now) she has yet to
encounter a doctor who really tries to diagnose her problems -- she has been
told: it's how she reacts to stress, she's depressed, she has heavy periods
(she does not!), etc.  But they won't admit they don't know what it is.  She
is currently in the midst of a bad episode of the symptoms I mentioned
above.  She had anemia and fatigue so bad they gave her a transfusion of 3
units of blood last week.  She told both her primary care physician and the
GI doc attending her in the hospital that I was being tested for celiac.
The GI doc gave her a biopsy but did not give her the antibody blood tests.
He said that her blood work and biopsy showed no evidence of either celiac
or of any malabsorption problem.

I would like her to go to a GI doc near her who has experience diagnosing
and treating celiac so she can get a second opinion.  If you know of such a
doctor in:
--Louisville or Covington, Kentucky OR
--Cincinatti, Columbus, or Dayton, OH.
--Heck, I think she'd even go to Indianapolis, Indiana

Please let me know if you can recommend someone.  She's my little sister and
I'm very worried about her.  :)  I'll summarize for the group.

Dawn
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