<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Hi all, I'm only member of this list since two weeks and I've been following the discussion about biopsy versus self-diagnosis with great interest. I'll try to keep it short. Resume: I'm a 31 year old Dutch woman (that fits the racial description!?!, although I don't really believe in that one). Since Februar I've got regularly recurring skin problems diagnosed as dermographitis. As it did not lessen but sometimes drove me to the roof I got myself forwarded to an allergologist (?). There they performed tests on contact and food allergy and also wasp/bee stings. As my MD put it: I'm as allergic as a ... door. Especially food, notorious nuts, sesamy, coconut, a list of cereals, corn, pollen of trees, grasses and herbs. Strange that I've never had any severe complaints, and my only severe one now is my skin affliction. I got myself on the allergy list some time ago and found reference to CELIAC. I got the FAQ and read it, getting warmer and warmer. It all sounded so familiar. I just recovered from a nearly three weeks diarrhea after going to Spain. O.K. probably travellers diarrhea, but it took me a long time to recover. I'm nearly always tired, and still I experience that as an abnormal condition. Anyway, having had that diarrhea, having the dermographitis and having allergies for a whole list of cereals, I feel that there is a fat chance I've got CD. I went to my MD armed with a print-out of CELIAC-FAQ(!!!) and I was taken seriously. I have some reserves because one should always take into account the first-year-medical-students-effect, reading on all kinds of diseases makes them go the the doctor more often then necessary. O.K. My MD took me serious and offered me two options: -either try a GF diet and than furtheron a gluten challenge -or go to the gastro... and have a biopsy, he didn't know of any blood tests, he only heared about CD, never saw anyone before. My idea (also formed by your reactions) is that a biopsy would be the best thing to do for me now. If it rules out CD than I probably have to be on a less-cereal containing diet anyway, but not on a GF-diet. If CD is diagnosed than ... GF-diet. I fear that it will be an awful hassle to take a complete GF-diet and than a challenge for who knows how long. I'm now not GF and I'll keep that up until I will be diagnosed I think. My questions to all of you is -do you agree that biopsy would be the best choice for me now? -how nasty exactly is that biopsy? Is it, just like with the dentist when you don't like to take a sedative, it hurts a little, but it saves you lots of trouble (feeling sedated all day) afterwards???? I really like to hear from you. I feel at home with this mailing list alreaddy, although ofcourse I still hope I'm not a CD patient. Kind regards, Nora * Nora Veldman, Laboratory of Crystal and Structural Chemistry * Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research, Utrecht University. * (Kruytgebouw, room N828), Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands. * E-mail: [log in to unmask] * FAX : (31)-30-533940 Office : (31)-30-533902 * Home phone (31)-20-6236554 Amsterdam