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My 19 year old son has been lactose intolerant for 10 years and was
later diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome.  After going away to
college and losing 10 lbs and some of his hair, we decided there must be
more to this.  He has seen a gastro and has had blood work (all
negative) and had a biopsy with 4 samples taken (all negative.)   While
waiting for results, we placed him on a gluten free diet and his
symptoms subsided.  We were quite surprised to find out that the doctor
felt he was not celiac. Is is possible that the patchy villi were
missed? The diet relieves all of his symptoms.  The doctor feels he has
a gluten allergy.  What is gluten intolerance versus celiac disease?  He
will be seeing an allergist to check out food allergies and in the
meantime are continuing with a GF diet. Please give us some input.

Thanks, Debbie in Cincinnati