<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

My brief story. I am a 52 year-old guy in pretty good health. For the last
six months or so, I had been suffering from indigestion, diagnosed as
gastro-intestinal reflux disease, along with mild bowel irregularities. My
doctor and specialist had me on Prevacid, and I adjusted my diet to exclude
fats and spices, which seemed to aggravate the indigestion, adding more
cereals and skim milk. The indigestion did not abate and the bowel problems
worsened. Last Monday, in-passing, my gastro-enterologist mentioned the
possibility of lactose intolerance, but did not suggest any action. I
looked up lactose intolerance on Lycos and found a link to Scott Adams' WWW
site on Celiac. Based on what I learned there, I started a gluten-free diet
last Tuesday and started using Lact-Aid when eating dairy products.

After two days, I feel great. The bowel problems are almost entirely
resolved, and psychologically, I'm a new man. I feel as if a cloud has been
lifted from over my head. Because of the rapid response, I suspect lactose
intolerance may be the primary problem, but am concerned that gluten
intolerance may be the core problem.

My questions:

I plan to contact the specialist on Monday to ask for a sigmoidoscopy and
biopsy for Celiac.

Should I also request a blood test?

Presumably, it will take about a week or so to schedule the test, so that
if I were to continue the gluten free diet, I would have been on it for
about two weeks before the biopsy. Is this too long? Should I revert to my
normal diet before the biopsy/blood test?

Advice and suggestions from this group are welcome and appreciated.

Joel

Joel H. Elias
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