<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Hi Everyone: I just want to say that I appreciate the replies that I have gotten from many of you on this list with regards to my frustration in finding a good doctor or doctors who can help or at least refer to someone who has specialty in the area of autoimmune disorders. It has been a horrific battle for me to get help with my medical issues. This post may be a bit different than usual but I would appreciate you letting me air my experience with intent to find a way to go public with all of this. I have been a very sick Celiac since Nov 1996. I was probably a subtle Celiac since a teenager. Since 1996, I had a hole in my heart which was repaired with a device eliminating open heart surgery, a fairly large thyroid goiter of the right side removed along with a hysterectomy with an endometriosis, fibroid tumors diagnosis. Now, realistically, I do not cultivate the activity of running to doctors offices and going under the knife for the sheer joy of it. However, these things appeared and had to be dealt with. They all gave me symptoms and had physical signs that were obvious to ultrasounds, scans, echos and etc (luckily). Then, I am diagnosed with Celiac disease in 1999 after three years of running from doctor to doctor telling them that when I get eat, I get sick and stools are slimy, odorous, diarrhea like and plenty in great amounts along with weakness, out of breath when climbing stairs, and anemia which kept me debilitated. These doctors, which were many from different disciplines, said that the problems were well in the head. If I could get a prescription for Paxil on each visit, I would have a stock pile for years. Finally, one doctor who I had to pay dearly for out of my pocket gave me the Celiac diagnosis. I am on the gluten free diet. I do have residual issues from before the diagnosis. Is this all in my head, or is it possible that something else is going on when I feel it in parts of my body? I am being sarcastic here. But, the law of averages says that if a person does not feel good enough to function fully, something else is wrong. Yet, I have not been able to get doctors to take me seriously. I have written down what is going on, drawn the figure of a human body outlining areas where symptoms are occurring. They look at and say oh this good. Yet I walk out the door with empty. I must say that Dr Joe Murray was excellent in taking care of me but his specialty is only in Celiac. Guys, I am at the end of my rope here. I need to help my husband who had a brain injury resulting from a fall while installing a satellite receiver (part of our business) in December. He sustained a subdural hematoma which put him in the hospital for four days. He was trying to advocate for me all along but always struggled to do so. We learned that he had another huge fall at two years old and now in Dec which resulted in brain damage to a part of his brain. He will be following up for testing soon. All the time, I thought he did not care to advocate. The truth is, he could not. There is too much on the plate. You would think that doctors would look at patients when they come in as if visualizing that they have other things in life rather than running from doctor to doctor. Or, maybe that patient is at the end of his/her rope with other problems. I am not talking about myself. I am speaking of others who have other issues in their personal life while trying to get a diagnosis for themselves or family members. Too bad the system is the way it is. Lisa