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

On 6/13/05 I  wrote:  
My 72 year old mom has  been GF for 2 months now after finding  out that 2 of
her daughters have  CD.  Her "rare skin rash" has been  clearing up for the
first time  ever.  She has more energy and feels better  than ever.

Upon  realizing that 3 of her mother's sisters had cancer (2  colon/  stomach
and 1 bladder) (possibly from undiagnosed CD?), she is going  to  have a
colonoscopy.  At the same time, her doctor wants her to have  an  intestinal 
biopsy
done to test for CD.

He says she only   needs to be on wheat for 1 month prior  to having the
biopsy done.   (By the way, she has never been a big wheat  eater.  2 months 
ago  she
had the diagnostic blood test for CD done, but it  was negative --  perhaps
because she doesn't normally eat a lot of  gluten?)

Is  one month of gluten enough time?
#######
Thank you for all your  many responses!  (Mom has decided not to have the 
biopsy.)
 
15 people said don't go  back on gluten for the test.
4 said they don't know  how much time.
2 had the same question I  did.
5 had a specific amount  of time they thought she should be back on wheat as 
follows:
  2 days (after  being off wheat for 5 weeks)
  1  month
  1-2  months
  2-3  months
  3  months
 
The majority felt she  should not go back on gluten because of all the 
possible risks of reinjuring her  body just for the purpose of having that injury 
show up on a test.  Many  also talked about how there are many false negatives 
for the biopsy (and also  for the blood test), so why put your body through all 
that torture when a test  may not even catch the damage anyhow (some added 
that many people send their  results to Dr. Fasano since he is better than most 
at reading the test  results).  Others said that an official diagnosis is not 
as important as  her feeling well, so why risk it.
 
#######
Here are some excerpts of  responses:
 
Please do not be fooled  into thinking one month is long enough. I went 
through hell for 1 month and the  equivalent of three slices of bread a day and 
eating anything else that I  wanted. It did not get the desired result and I was 
then told that I needed to  be on it for 6 weeks as minimum and 6 slices of 
bread a day. Needless to say I  am unwilling to go again and will remain gluten 
free as it gives me the result I  want. Good health. My tissue typing puts me 
in the coeliac risk group and I am  happy with that
#########
 
So, even tho I am proven to have Celiac, I have had 2 negative biopsies  (1 
before diagnosis, & 1 after.  Enterolab/Dr. Kenneth Fine has an excellent 
article out entitled Early Diagnosis of Gluten Sensitivity:  Before the Villi are 
Gone.  (http://www.celiac.com/)  You can get  it from Enterolab’s website at 
_www.Enterolab.com_ (http://www.enterolab.com/) . 
######### 
Sherri in  STL

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