<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> At 07:11 AM 1/3/96 -0500, you wrote: >Would there be any benefit at this point for me to seek a formal diagnosis? I personally see no point in a formal diagnosis. Here's a prewritten paragraph on my history: I was first diagnosed at 14 months of age. It took a day to be diagnosed as the doctors in those days just smelled the stools. I was gluten-free for two years, then my mother was told I was cured and she didn't tell the next doctor or any school or camp about it or even me, though overhearing I did know I had something called siliac and I had a banana intensive diet for awhile. Growing up I was the skinniest in class. I had problems running a quarter mile in six grade. I always had great difficulty passing swim tests (had to take it slowly on my back). In the teen years I was constipated but had a lot of smelly flatulence (big problem on the morning school bus full of boys). My teeth developed late and my braces weren't off until I was 17. When I drank beer I would puke. In college I stumbled on it in the dictionary and learned that is was spelled celiac. But the dictionary just said "childhood disease". At 33 I first complained to a doctor about diarrhea when I went out drinking (by this time I could drink beer). At age 40 (six years ago) my stools had become more frequent and I did a little reading and learned that celiac is a disease for life! I have never been formally diagnosed. My reaction to gluten is directly related to the amount consumed and I can't imagine intentionally eating it so I can be tested. Don.