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Hello,

I'm looking for help from people who were originally diagnosed as having an
ulcer.

My wife has celiac, but her symptoms were entirely intestinal in nature.
Two of her relatives (a niece and a cousin) have recently been having
problems that were originally diagnosed as an ulcer, but have been
unresponsive to treatment.

We know that celiac is heriditary and that it can be misdiagnosed as an
ulcer, so we feel that it is a strong possibility that they may have celiac.
The problem is convincing her relatives that it is a strong possibility.

My wife's sister apairantly told her doctor about the possibility of celiac
disease and she tells us that he has already ruled out that possiblity.  The
problem is that the only recent test he has run is a blood test, and I did
not think that celiac could be entirely ruled out by a blood test.

I know that many of you have had trouble getting doctor's to take the
possibility of celiac as a serious consideration.  I've read many letters
from people who had to fight their doctors in order to get a diagnosis (my
own brother went through this difficult prossess).

What I need from all of you is ammunition to get my relatives to insist on
being thoroughly tested for celiac.  They both have ulcer-like symptoms.  I
need to know exactly what it felt like (or as best as you can describe it), and
what other misdiagnosis was made.  I'm hoping that something will ring a
bell with my relatives so they say "That's what I'm going through", so they
will take the idea of celiac disease as a more serious possibility.

                        Thank You in advance,
                        Andy Maines
Karen and Andy Maines