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Thank you to those of you who responded:  I asked l. If gluten
intolerance and celiac disease were one and the same - intolerance being
perhaps a precursory condition. 2. If the biopsy could have been taken
from an undamaged area, and if all of the villi in the intestine were
affected.

#1: Of the 19 respondents, three were in the same situation
diagnostically and had been wondering the same thing, the other l6
assured me that they were two of the names for the one condition.

#2:  Regarding the biopsy, one person believed that since the biopsy is
taken from the point at which food enters the small intestine, it would
likely experience the most damage, and from that I inferred that if that
were true, a negative was more likely to be an actual negative. However,
there were at least two persons that maintained that since the surface
area of the small intestine is quite large (one person having been told
it was the size of a tennis court) the likelihood of error was equally
large. It being the case that damage is patchy,  most agreed that a
false negative biopsy was more likely than a false positive blood test.

It was unanimously recommended that if the gf diet promotes health and
well-being, it should be followed regardless of the diagnosis, and I am
very much in agreement with that.  I now realize that there are two
reasons to pursue further testing and /or diagnosis, should I decide to
do that:  If  I feel that I could add to the specialist's fund of
knowledge, and if I would in the long run feel less like I am being
treated as either  a hypochondriac  or a chronic complainer.  Since I
feel that the GI pretty much puts me in both categories, I don't
currently feel up to that, but time and more research may help me to do
that.  The nearest support group as far as I can tell, is a three hour
drive.  Of course, as I begin to feel better, that won't seem as
formidable, hopefully.

Thank you very much for sharing your insights, websites, and empathy.

Nancy McPherson, Ashland, OR