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

Hi Everyone,

I have been gluten free now going on 6 weeks and have experienced some great results and feeling MUCH better- it is like I have a new life!  I want to thank everyone for all of the emails, information, websites, forums, listserv posts, the listserv archive keepers- everyone.  The web is so wonderful for this type of application.... and having such instant access to information is simply incredible- I could not imagine being educated about this disease as some of you were many year ago being raised on the Banana diet or other methods... If it were not for these resources it would be very difficult- since neither my Doctor or GI or local nutrititionist really know as much about Celiac now after the past 6 weeks of self-education that I have had.  I am very confident about getting past this and actually enjoying a 12lb weight loss so far on this diet. (I am about 35 lbs. overweight)

Today I had the Small Bowel Series as a final test (hopefully I have not gotten all the bills yet for all this testing.. LOL) to verify if I have any other small intestinal problems- the Endoscope results I had within the first week after diagnosis and results were negative- I insisted to the Doctor that I was responding favorably to the Gluten Free diet and he suggested that I take the Prometheus blood test to confirm.  So I had the blood drawn and the samples were not mailed out immediately and properly by the Hospital where they were supposed to airborne express send them the next day (they forgot somehow...) and delayed a week- I was told that they were refrigerated though and in such a case they would be good for 14 days.  But I got the results last week and they were positive- so I feel certain that I am full celiac.

Prior to going in for the SB Series, I was concerned about the Barium contrast being GF- therefore I asked the Hospital to let me know what they would be using.  The first hospital told me they had "Jars of stuff" that were unmarked.... hmmm.  I canceled that appointment.  Next I tried the Hospital that seemed good where I had the Endoscopy-  they too were uninformed about GF contrast or the manufacturer and ingredients and were basically not helpful.  So, I consulted the archives and found information someone posted about EZ-EM being a company that has Barium contrast that is GF.  So I called a third hospital- that responded favorably and ACTUALLY called back!  They researched what they used- and called me to confirm that they used EZ-EM L-196 and L-150... I was still concerned and called EZ-EM and received an email confirming the GF status.  So today when I went in the Radiology department was most responsive and showed me the bottles ahead of time, etc.   All went OK and no reaction whatsoever.

So perhaps this information might be helpful info to others if anyone needs a small bowel series and is concerned or does not know about the GF status of the barium contrast.

Thanks so much again!

Sincerely,

Dave





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