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Larry Leveen & Jenny Rackley both wanted to know more about biopsies.

I can only say that I did decide to have a biopsy, even after
eliminating all the obvious gluten from my diet made me feel so much
better-no gas or bloating, no nausea, hardly any diarrhea, no more
giant size digestive sounds, and more energy.

 One word gives my reason to get the biopsy: respect. The first thing
out of my father-in-law's mouth when I talked about it  (he's a
retired doctor), was, "Is this your own idea, or did you get a
diagnosis?" I realized right away, especially having worked with
doctors for over 20 years, that other medical men, including
dentists, were not going to respect my opinion or experience unless
it had the official seal of approval of a medical professional's
announcement. You can imagine the hassle down the road, trying to get
GF food in hospitals, GF treatment in the dentist's chair, etc., etc.,
etc.

My own internist wasn't sure why I wanted to go through with the
biopsy when I felt so much better (he said, condescendingly, that it
is "really  called non-tropical sprue" and extremely rare ! and
unlikely to be my problem), but he freely admitted it was not his
field, and referred me to a GI specialist.

To my great relief, Dr. Bedine took me seriously, and agreed that my
history and genetic background were consistent with celiac disease,
and commented that CD was more prevalent in people of Irish descent
(my father is mostly Irish) than of any other group. He decided to
cut to the chase, and scheduled me for the biopsy, in March.

Now comes the bummer part:
Yes, you should be eating gluten when you get the biopsy, as the poor
intestine will start healing just as soon as it has the chance, and
the biopsy could turn out negative. So I have to be eating a "normal"
diet for several weeks (I was gluten-free for 3 weeks) to mess my
intestine up again for the biopsy. If it is negative, he says there
are other problems that could account for my symptoms, and he'll look
at them next, if necessary.
I hope that won't be necessary, as I feel even more rotten than I did
before.

I haven't had any other tests, like blood or sputum tests, and don't
know any more about them than I've read on this wonderful list and on
the webpages devoted to celiac disease. Hoping this helps.

Bobbi in Baltimore
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