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In response to Wendy,
I have Dermititis Herpitiformis...

For me, having an outward sign of an internal problem, was a blessing.
No one would have ever thought to check my GI tract.  The Drs. I had
gone to gave me different answers.  I had been checked for everything
from stress (which was obvious) to cancer of the bone marrow and Aids.
I had different pieces to a puzzle,  but nobody put them all together.

The most prominent problems were what I thought was a chronic,
painful, yeast infection (10 yrs.), continuing sinus infections
(15yrs.  and too many antibiotics) and alopecia areata (baldness in
spots).  The DH was the last manifestation of an ongoing problem.  My
hands were cracked and bleeding.  Sometimes I couldn't open a door.
I'm a derma-hygienist, so this affected my career.  The third Dr.
that finally saw me, could diagnose and knew the connection between DH
and CD.  What a BLESSING!!!

Getting off gluten has cleared my skin and most of the other problems.
As I have been gluten-free, to the best of my ability, when I react to
something, it's no longer within 5 min.  of ingesting it.  It takes
sometimes 10 hours.  What happens is that our bodies have a chance to
heal and rebuild the immune system.  What bother us once, may not even
effect us now.  It does not mean it isn't causing internal damage.

I am looking forward to the summary from Wendy and what others have
experienced.  I understand her dilema totally.  I think that it is
important to understand and show compassion to those who, although
they may understand the findings with celiac, do not understand the
reason that their bodies are not as sensitive as they had been.
Please be kind in your responses to each person that post to the list.
I think it is essential to understand that each person is coming from
a different place and not all of us have the same reactions or
understanding of the disorder.

Katie, Lynnwood, WA
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