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

Dear Listmates,
        I'm an RN with a conventional medical background, but my experiences
with conventional and alternative medicine have caused me to become
passionate about "alternative" medicine.  I suffered for 10 years with a
mysterious illness that was erroneously labeled fibromyalgia, depression,
"stress," etc.  Some years ago, I started a low carb diet for what I self
diagnosed as carbohydrate intolerance.  I got better.  When I
reintroduced bread, I got worse.  My GP said, "so don't eat bread."  Gee
thanks, doc.  That visit was certainly worth $60!  I began to investigate
celiac disease.  I attempted a gluten challenge in preparation for a
conventional celiac work up, but was too ill to tolerate it for more than
just a few days.  Of course, my conventional testing for celiac disease
came out negative.  Four physicians agree that because EnteroLab tests
revealed that I carry two copies of the genes the predispose for celiac
disease, that I probably have celiac disease, but since there's no "hard
diagnostic evidence" I'm simply labeled "gluten intolerant."  Even after
beginning the traditional GF diet, I still did not recover fully.  It
took the help of a skilled naturopath and a year of intense "alternative"
treatments to stop the downward spiral of my declining health.
Conventional medicine completely failed to help me, yet they are the ones
who received the bulk of my health care dollars.
        Five years ago, my eldest adult son started having similar symptoms to
what I had experienced.  His symptoms quickly escalated to include
delusions and hallucinations, both auditory and visual.  His behavior was
erratic.  I delicately, gently talked him into conventional blood tests
for celiac disease, but they came out "negative."  My next step in
handling this difficult situation was to get him to submit to a mouth
swab for a gene test and to donate a stool sample for testing through
EnteroLab.  This was no easy task since his behavior was so
unpredictable.  He did, however, cooperate.  His gene test revealed two
copies of the gene and his stool test came out positive for "gluten
sensitivity with malabsorption" -- equivalent to celiac disease.  He
reluctantly started the GF diet & all his demons vanished, the burdening
fatigue and depression lifted and his muscle pain melted away.  He was
suddenly a happy young man able to control his behavior and hopeful for a
bright future.  He's now living a normal life (except for the GF diet)
completing his bechelors degree in history.  This is something that no
one thought would be possible three years ago when he couldn't even hold
a job.
        Had he stuck to the conventional medicine route, he'd still be sick,
labeled schizophrenic and would have been put on phychotrophic
medications for life.  And I'm sure he'd never succeed in college in this
condition.
        When conventional medicine fails you, it's really valuable to have
alternatives.  In fact, most of us would probably be better off if we
started out with conventional medicine in the first place!
        I consider my and my son's lives rescued by "alternative" medicine.  I
appreciate doctors who have the GUTS to follow their convictions
regardless of peer approval.  My heros in medicine are Kenneth Fine MD,
Jonathan Wright MD, Steven Langer MD, Jacob Teitelbaum MD, Broda Barnes
MD, Weston Price DDS, Sam Ziff DDS, Thomas Dorman MD, Adele Davis PhD.,
Ron Hogan MA, James Braly MD, Uffe Ravnskov MD, Denis Wilson MD, Linus
Pauling PhD., Steven Whiting PhD. etc.  These people have largely been
rejected by their conventional peers, are often called "quacks," suffered
financial losses because of it, but have each in some way contributed to
my family's healing and the healing of thousands of others.  These are
the REAL doctors who have broken the mold and learned to think outside of
the rigid box of conventional medicine in order to become world class
healers.  Most conventional doctors will have a comfortable retirement,
but the real healers work and contribution to society lives on long after
they are dead and buried.  ~Valerie in Tacoma

________________________________________________________________
The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!
Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!

* Visit the Celiac Web Page at www.enabling.org/ia/celiac/index.html *