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

The following is a cel-pro post, reprinted with permission, from a
discussion of how long a suspected celiac must be eating gluten prior to
blood tests and biopsy:

Bill Elkus
Los Angeles

> It is often necessary to prescribe how much gluten to eat.  I  Ask
> patients to eat increasing amounts of gluten, starting from a cracker
> building up to 4 slices of whole bread a day and to keep taking that
> so long as they do not get too ill, but should get definite symptoms.
> When i left it up to the patient, it seems they ate less gluten and
> more sporadically.  It is sometimes hard to wait to persuade the
> patient to wait long enough for damage to occur.  While the standard
> 4 week challenge will pick up most it will not pick up all patients.
> In those patients who remain asymptomatic I continue to wait and
> monitor the antibodies as well as the development of symptoms and
> then biopsy.  I also find it useful to review the original biopsy
> material and other primary information on which the original diagnosis
> was based.  Sampling problems and interpretation are also issues.
>
> There a few people I will not challenge,   People who are so
> nutritionally deplete that might not tolerate the challenge, people
> who give a history of anaphylactic response that could be life
> threatening and possibly those with a history of severe neurologic
> problems.
>
> Joe Murray
> Not Medical Advise