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

>Dr. Joseph Murray had this to say in a post to the list in March: "I
>believe (based on seeing many people with suspected celiac disease)
>that it is really important to get tested for CD BEFORE going on a
>[gluten-free diet].  It is hard to interpret the biopsy, the blood
>tests are unreliable, and the patients are often faced with the very
>unpleasant task of a prolonged gluten challenge to verify diagnosis."

May I say AMEN to that.  I've been corresponding with many on this list
trying to cope with negative tests.  If I had known the above before my
doctor recommended a g-f diet but no tests, I'd have saved myself years of
pain, embarrassment, self-doubt, and assorted inconveniences.  And I could
have made perhaps a healthier life for my child, who was born years after
that bad advice.

You never know what challenges, such as parenting, ill relatives, personal
illness, etc., your life may bring that make the decision to go g-f without
a diagnosis less attractive than it seems now.  Seven years ago a diet that
made me feel so much better was enough.  It is far from that for me now.

I am also growing increasingly concerned about high numbers of possible
celiac folks bypassing a confirmed diagnosis right to the g-f diet.
Frustrated as we may be with the medical establishment, it is these medical
people, working on prevalence studies and better diagnostic techniques, who
will drive the public's understanding of celiac, and of the need for the
absolute reliability of food and drug labeling, into the 21st century.

That's my soapbox.  I'm done now.  :}

If any of the list readers got this far and can share your experiences with
negative test results followed by a later confirmed diagnosis, I'd love to
hear from you.

Thanks,

Laurie
Walla Walla