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

Thank you everyone for sharing with me your experiences with mainstream and alternative medicine, and how it relates to your diagnosis and decision to go on the GF diet.

Out of the couple dozen responses I received, only one person said that they had experienced disbelief on the part of an M.D. as to their CD status.

An overwhelming majority of those who responded felt that a gluten challenge was unnecessary for their purposes, because they improved so much on the GF diet, and nobody in health care questioned them when they said they were celiac.

"Listen to your gut" was the message, no pun intended. Several people wrote that they had been diagnosed by alternative practitioners or even figured it out for themselves. Others had been formally diagnosed with the biopsy; others went to M.D.s who did the blood test only and prescribed the GF diet.

Only one response was skeptical of using chiropractors and kinesiologists with nutrition expertise, and a handful of responses said they had found relief and support from alternative therapies where mainstream medicine had not been willing to test them for the disease or had misdiagnosed them.

As for hospitals, all said that they say they are celiac no matter how they were diagnosed, and that they had good experiences getting GF food and were believed by doctors. IVs are gluten-free.

One particularly insightful reply said that her whole family of four was diagnosed without the biopsy, and that as she has been comfortable with CD over time, she feels less of a need for the biopsy.

I was also told that sticking to the diet is extremely important, more important than getting the biopsy. I was told by another that their doctor considered improvement on the diet, coupled with the positive antibodies, his gold standard, in his professional judgment.

Nobody who replied has been denied insurance, and all but one were not questioned by doctors or required to show some biopsy stamp of approval.

For a disease like this where there are so many symptoms that can seem like other things, there is not unanimity among health professionals. What I got out of reading all the replies was not to worry about what other people think, to follow the diet strictly, and listen to my gut.

SaraEllen


---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Small Business $15K Web Design Giveaway - Enter today

*Support summarization of posts, reply to the SENDER not the CELIAC List*