<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> At last! I've read through all the logs, so now if I post a question that's been asked before, it'll be entirely due to the vagueries of my memory, not ignorance of the past. Herewith, a brief intro, a few comments, quotes, and questions. I am the mother of two children: Miri (born 8/90) and Ted (born 7/93). Just after Ted's first birthday he began having what I'd call rampant diarrhea. I looked to his diet first; took him off cow's milk and put him back on formula: no change. Anything else common every day? Only wheat. Removed wheat and after a week he improved. About this same time, Miri developed lactose intolerance. (hmmm.) (My mom is lactose intolerant. The only other possible family history is my father's great grand uncle died at age 14 of "inflamation of the bowels after years of terrible suffering.") Ted improved so much we let him eat wheat again. He was fine until I fed him graham crackers too many days in a row. Wheat problems all over again. Diarrhea is Ted's only obvious symptom. Although he was tentatively diagnosed with Addison's disease as a newborn, several tests results were borderline, and he's shown no other symptoms. He is smaller than his sister was at each age, but not dramatically so. I have to agree with Wendy that this diet isn't easy to maintain. It's very tough learning everything to avoid (especially when you've got a kid who loves Pasta and Bread) and it's not easy to =make= all this stuff nor easy to find (in a remote locale) nor cheap to buy. The one good thing I'll say about it is that it forces us to pay close attention to our diet and eat fewer processed foods. We are just beginning to try food challenges since, thanks to this List, I've learned a lot and Ted's finally starting to digest foods normally most days. This brings me to my first question: We gave Ted rye two days in a row. He showed no symptoms until 75 hours later, when he had diarrhea. Is it common to have that sort of reaction more than three days later? (We looked for hidden sources of gluten but found none.) Anyway (enough history). My biggest question is about WHEAT INTOLERANCE vs CELIAC SPRUE. If we define wheat allergy as the sort of thing that gives you a rash or makes you go achoo! then it's pretty easy to tell a wheat allergy from CS. However, I'm not sure there is any difference between Wheat Intolerance (that gives you diarrhea, stomach cramps or bloating or whatever) and CS. But, reading in lay literature about children's illness there's stuff about how wheat intolerance is generally outgrown by age five etc etc and stuff about "Toddler's diarrhea" that usually clears up in time for kindergarten. Reading that several of you were diagnosed as children and had long periods of "remission" before coming down with the Serious Stuff later in life, I wonder if there =is= such a thing as an Innocent Case of Wheat Intolerance or whether it's all, really, undiagnosed sprue. Comments? Anyone out there not CS, not allergic to wheat, but simply Intolerant? (Boy all this stuff is so unresearched.) I have been asked why I even worry about it. The answer may be plain to you who have CS. There are the medical complications to consider if he does have CS, and then it would be tempting fate to ignore the GF diet. And if he doesn't I don't want to condemn him to (Wendy's phrase) "The Diet From Hell" for life. Finally, thanks to all of your, especially Mr.s Kasarda and Murray, and the List owners, for the work entailed and the thoughtful responses to posts on this List. I know Ted and family are not the only ones experiencing great improvements to the quality of our lives through knowledge shared here. Linda Blanchard <--- who is a writer but clearly [log in to unmask] =not= of short stories Midland, TX, USA