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Hello everyone!

I received 51 replies to my question. Thank you all very much!!! Most of the
messages I got were very encouraging.

First to the simple question about how bad the biopsie is:
Most people did not have any problems and they were sedated. One girl from
Sweden wrote she wasn't - and would never do that again. One mentioned
throwing up after and another one said, that the throat should be sprayed
after the anesthesia and not before. If it is done before it can cause kind
of a suffocation feeling.

Secondly regarding pregnancy almost everyone stressed on the importance of
being GF during the pregnancy. But of course also on being GF in general
once you are diagnosed.

I must apologize for probably not making my point clear enough. I knew that
the purpose of eating gluten before the biopsie is to see the damage that
occurs. What I was wondering is, why I should be doing that because I have
been diagnosed years ago already. I would think in my case I would want to
be GF and then do a biopsie to see how well healed everything is. That's
what's important regarding pregnancy and proper absorption and not the
assessment of the damage that has occurred I think. Sorry for the confusion
that this has caused to some people.

I would say about 80% of the replies were not in favor of another biopsie.
Because of me being diagnosed already they did not see the need. At least
they said I should get a second opinion. They felt that I should go GF right
now, wait a few months and then start trying. Some people suggested, that
just the blood work should be sufficient. Also getting B12 and folic acid
levels tested was a suggestion. I actually did that about a week ago and the
results were very satisfying. Also in my routine physical in March
everything was good.

A few also mentioned how difficult it is to get accurate results and that it
might be redundant to run the tests because of all the errors that can
occur.

The people who were in favor for another biopsie thought that I would
benefit from knowing the extent of the damage. For one because of pure
medical reasons and then also for the psychological reason of being faced
with the damage I have done to myself by cheating.

Thanks to the women who encouraged me by letting me know, they've had
healthy children. Some of them did not know they had CD during their
pregnancies.

So what am I going to do now? Well, I started my much stricter diet last
Sunday and so far I am doing well. It's amazing, all those years I did not
really see the need for a strict diet (it's not that I was cheating that bad
though) and now something seems to have clicked. I don't feel the urge for
that piece of cake anymore. Kind of like for smokers who reach the point of
were they really want to stop. I guess everybody has to find his/her
personal reason for quitting. For some it's easy by just looking at the
medical facts. But I am sure there are people like me out there for whom
going on the diet is much tougher and it takes them a while to do it. For
whatever reasons.

I will see another gastro who is on my insurance plan, but I am not sure how
good that will be. The first one I saw is a celiac specialist, so what can
this one tell me now? At least I will do the bloodwork and if they talk me
into it, also the biopsie (that's if the insurance agrees on paying). I do
not want to do a gluten challenge though.

Now that I committed to the diet I could use some tips on travelling. What
do you recommend as easy to pack snacks for on the road? We will be
travelling from LA to San Francisco and to Yosemite. I assume there are lots
of health food stores around, right?

Thanks again everyone,
Kerstin
Atlanta, GA