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Hi list--

My question:  have any of you suffered from a non-celiac medical mystery,
only to have your celiac sprue thrown back in your face as the either
mental or physical reason for your unrelated problems?

My story:  I just finished up a 20 month nightmare in which my symptoms
were gastrointestinal (unlike my original symptoms 13 years ago with
then-undiagnosed sprue).  This time around I had constant abdominal pain.
Eventually everything I ingested **that created stool** caused intestinal
constriction and obstructions.  These led the docs to talk about my "food
allergies" and I was given the ubiquitous formal diagnosis of "irritable
bowel" (by a GI doc 5 minutes after his comment "you don't act like
someone with irritable bowel").  Long story short:  the rookie surgeon
who removed my gangrenous appendix missed a stitch (or it slipped or
broke or whatever), leaving me with a (rare) incisional hernia on my
colon **and** a pocket of bacteria between it and the peritoneum which
eventually went crazy every time stool passed through.  Amazing how after
correct diagnosis (outside the HMO) and antibacterial treatment, I can
again eat everything that's gluten-free.

Just curious as to others' experiences on this issue.  I'll summarize
responses.  Thanks for being there--  Diane