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Hello, fellow listmembers!

I am very grateful for all the help and support this list gives me and
would value your opinions on the following:

I am one of those coeliacs who was first diagnosed as an infant with all
the "classical symptoms", then came off the GF diet at around age 7 (as was
the medical advice at that time) and remained with no obvious symptoms
until I was rediagnosed as an adult in 1994 (aged 39) with much more vague
symptoms like fatigue and anaemia.  Since then I have been very careful in
following a GF diet (though I must point out that this includes Codex
alimentarius wheatstarch).  In other words, I have never experienced as an
adult what I definitely know to be a gluten reaction.

I have, however, had odd episodes of queasiness, nausea and general tummy
upset and some of these were after eating out. I know that many coeliacs
become more sensitive the longer they are on a GF diet and I also realise
that gluten reactions can vary.   I would like to be able to judge whether
this type of episode is a gluten reaction or just, say a tummy bug or a
reaction to badly cooked or overspiced food that everyone experiences from
time to time.  I would like to know what MY reaction to gluten is.

So my question is:   Should I give myself a deliberate mini-challenge (say
a few slices of ordinary toast) so that I can more accurately assess what
my own reaction to gluten is now like?  Is the risk of damage too high?  Or
would the long-term benefits (of being able to trace sources of hidden
gluten more easily) outweigh this risk?

My gastro-enterologist said he wouldn't recommend it per se but could
appreciate that it might help me assess future symptoms.  He felt that a
small challenge would probably be OK.  What do other listmembers think?

If people email me privately, I'll summarize replies to the list.

Thanks in advance,
Liz (Ward), Dublin, Ireland