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A good friend and co-worker has been out of work for the past month and confided in me yesterday that he was having terrible gastronomic problems-- gas, abdominal pain, diarrhea, weight loss-- but the doctors cannot determine what he has.  Of course, I immediately thought of celiac disease as these were the precise symtoms my husband had shortly before his CD diagnosis.
   
  My friend tells me that his doctors have performed every test out there, including those looking for CD (upper and lower GI series with biopsies of the small intestine and blood tests).  They have also ruled out cancer, crohn's, etc.  He's had a CT, ultrasound, and other diagnostic tests which have shown nothing.  Currently, he's awaiting approval for hospitalization.  The doctors are baffled and have given him the ever-vague "irritable bowel syndrome" diagnosis that so many people get when the doctors can't figure out what's wrong with them.
   
  Here's his deal:  He was diagnosed with diabetes in August of 2006 (which he has managed to control with meds and diet).  Around that time, he began to have abdominal problems.  Over the past two months, his abdominal pain has increased to at least a 5-7 on the pain scale (he lives with chronic joint pain, so he believes this is a conservative estimate), and he feels this way all day long, every day to the point of his being unable to sleep at night.
   
  They have placed him on the following diets, to no avail:  dairy-free, low protein, low carb, no carb, gluten-free (although he admits that he just cut out the obvious stuff and didn't look for "hidden" gluten).
   
  My questions:  has anyone experienced this sort of thing where the tests for CD come back negative only to be diagnosed later?  Should he try a strict GF diet, just in case?  (I mean, what has he got to lose, right?)  Are there any complications arising from diabetes that could produce these symptoms?
   
  Any help would be greatly appreciated!  (And, I'll summarize any helpful info I receive)
   
  Vidalia in Raleigh, NC

 
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