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

Thanks for all the responses, both public and private to my rant. I am just
back from a 2-day business trip to Dallas and will have more to say about
that in a minute.

In answer to the question: have I had (or do I plan to have) a biopsy, the
answer is, not at this time, no. They are prohibitively expensive, I am
prohibitively broke, and if I could have one (1) done, I'd probably have my
son Ted done first, since at age two, this is going to affect him for more
years than it will me.

If my healthcare or financial situation changes, I would like to have an
official diagnosis -- and I know it is the position of this List to
encourage a biopsy-proven diagnosis, and I agree with that in principal.
But my life is not that simple.

Anyway, I will try a few more challenges on myself, with wheat and rye and
barley, and oats too, and see what response I get. I have yet to hear of
any celiac-like disease that mimics sprue to the degree that it also
responds to a gf-diet.

To Julie Thomas I say, yes ma'am it sure does feel like hypochondria. When
I started with this list I saw celiac disease =everywhere= at first.
However, before I started on this list -- back in December, when I still
had a decent healthcare plan <ahem> -- I saw my GP because I'd just been
feeling generally poorly. She ran lots of tests and blamed it on my
sinuses, but my sinuses have cleared up and I was still feeling lousy.
Maybe, as someone privately suggested, I can thank my son for saving my
life or if not that at least my quality of life.

(By the way, I suspect I have not been a life-long celiac but probably
sometime during my two pregnancies/major surgery [cesareans] the genetic
factor got triggered in me. I certainly had two feel-lousy pregnancies when
I had thought I'd be one of those glowing Earth Mother types!)

We will see. I am not in the least tempted to cheat but should I ever
decide to go off the diet I would vow to get a workup for celiac disease a
year after I returned to eating gluten.

As for travel: I left feeling scared to travel for the first time in my
life (I claim gypsy blood) and was very nervous about eating out. I love
Indian food and found a bread-like appetizer made with chickpea flour (and
onion and curry powder) that was excellent. Even La Madeleine, Dallas'
premier bakery, had GF macaroons, so now I feel there =is= hope for this
food-a-holic.

However, I ask: how do you cope with people who act like you're being
obsessive-compulsive when you, for example, panic at the thought of them
putting croutons on your chef's salad? I don't want to go on at length
(which, obviously, I do...;) about the potential damage, but neither do I
want to be perceived as crazy. Especially by my manager.

Also, what's the clearest way to describe what you can't have. I say "no
wheat" and then get offered foods which have flour as their primary
ingredient. "But there's no wheat in [pancakes, bread, pasta]!" I think
these people are thinking =whole= wheat is wheat but white flour is not...?

Linda
[log in to unmask]
Midland TX