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

There have been a couple of posts recently from young people with CD
wondering if they could experiment with eating  gluten. At some point
all growing children  with celiac disease  must begin to make
their own decisions about this and take over responsibility for their own
diet decisions. Information from others is important for them to take into
account, so here's my experience:

Although diagnosed with celiac in 1947 when I was a baby, it was not known
that I should avoid gluten. After recovering from the crisis (during which
I nearly died), I resumed a "normal" diet with no obvious symptoms of
celiac. I lived my first 30 years just fine, and then all hell broke
loose. I developed schizophrenia, complete with hallucinations and voices,
I had killer headaches, convulsive seizures, itchy rashes (DH, I know
now), anemia, catatonic depression and hysterical episodes. (Who wouldn't
be hysterical after all that!?) The good doctor who rediagnosed me guessed
that the wide range of my symptoms was the result of vitamin and mineral
deficiencies as a result of years of malabsorbtion during my "latent"
celiac disease.  I am now healthy again, after 20 years of a GF diet, and
I have no desire to cheat.

Hope this information helps.

Sherill Roberts
McMinnville, Oregon