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At last! I've read through all the logs, so now if I post a question
that's been asked before, it'll be entirely due to the vagueries of
my memory, not ignorance of the past.

Herewith, a brief intro, a few comments, quotes, and questions.

I am the mother of two children: Miri (born 8/90) and Ted (born 7/93).
Just after Ted's first birthday he began having what I'd call rampant
diarrhea. I looked to his diet first; took him off cow's milk and put
him back on formula: no change. Anything else common every day? Only
wheat. Removed wheat and after a week he improved.

About this same time, Miri developed lactose intolerance. (hmmm.) (My
mom is lactose intolerant. The only other possible family history is
my father's great grand uncle died at age 14 of "inflamation of the
bowels after years of terrible suffering.")

Ted improved so much we let him eat wheat again. He was fine until
I fed him graham crackers too many days in a row. Wheat problems
all over again. Diarrhea is Ted's only obvious symptom. Although
he was tentatively diagnosed with Addison's disease as a newborn,
several tests results were borderline, and he's shown no other
symptoms. He is smaller than his sister was at each age, but not
dramatically so.

I have to agree with Wendy that this diet isn't easy to maintain.
It's very tough learning everything to avoid (especially when you've
got a kid who loves Pasta and Bread) and it's not easy to =make=
all this stuff nor easy to find (in a remote locale) nor cheap to buy.
The one good thing I'll say about it is that it forces us to pay close
attention to our diet and eat fewer processed foods.

We are just beginning to try food challenges since, thanks to this
List, I've learned a lot and Ted's finally starting to digest foods
normally most days. This brings me to my first question: We gave Ted
rye two days in a row. He showed no symptoms until 75 hours later,
when he had diarrhea. Is it common to have that sort of reaction more
than three days later? (We looked for hidden sources of gluten but
found none.)

Anyway (enough history).

My biggest question is about WHEAT INTOLERANCE vs CELIAC SPRUE. If
we define wheat allergy as the sort of thing that gives you a rash
or makes you go achoo! then it's pretty easy to tell a wheat allergy
from CS. However, I'm not sure there is any difference between Wheat
Intolerance (that gives you diarrhea, stomach cramps or bloating or
whatever) and CS. But, reading in lay literature about children's
illness there's stuff about how wheat intolerance is generally outgrown
by age five etc etc and stuff about "Toddler's diarrhea" that usually
clears up in time for kindergarten.

Reading that several of you were diagnosed as children and had long
periods of "remission" before coming down with the Serious Stuff
later in life, I wonder if there =is= such a thing as an Innocent
Case of Wheat Intolerance or whether it's all, really, undiagnosed
sprue. Comments? Anyone out there not CS, not allergic to wheat,
but simply Intolerant? (Boy all this stuff is so unresearched.)

I have been asked why I even worry about it. The answer may be plain
to you who have CS. There are the medical complications to consider
if he does have CS, and then it would be tempting fate to ignore the
GF diet. And if he doesn't I don't want to condemn him to (Wendy's
phrase) "The Diet From Hell" for life.

Finally, thanks to all of your, especially Mr.s Kasarda and Murray,
and the List owners, for the work entailed and the thoughtful
responses to posts on this List. I know Ted and family are not
the only ones experiencing great improvements to the quality of
our lives through knowledge shared here.

Linda Blanchard               <--- who is a writer but clearly
[log in to unmask]          =not= of short stories
Midland, TX, USA