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

I do not want to critisize the writer of this, just mearly give my
opinion.  I was diagnosed at infancy without an official diagnosis. I
will turn 17 in less than a week.

  -- What if he doesn't have celiac disease, and the improvement on the
     GF diet was coincidental?
Personally, I couldn't digest anything while I was sick.  I was
misdiagnosed several times before a gastrologist suggested Celiac
disease.  I was put on a GF diet and responded immediately. Since then,
I've only gotten similarly sick when I was little and grabbed the wrong
cereal and shoved handfuls into my mouth (I thought it was a diffwerent
kind!).  My mom is a nurse and I totally agree with her decision not to
make me go through the "Gluten Challenge". When recovery is obvious, why
risk permanent scarring of the intestines by re-introducing gluten?

  -- If he is hospitalized or needs medications for other problems,
     he may need proof of his celiac condition to get a special diet..
I don't know the general practice for this, but I believe it's on my
record that I am a Celiac.

  -- I don't know how old he is or what his personality is like, but for
     children especially, an official diagnosis that you can "point
     to" can help you to convince your children not to cheat on the
     diet when they get to those wonderful, rebellious teenage years....
     Teenagers are away from home a lot, and you have NO control over
     what they eat then.
Ok.  From my experience, you are much more at risk of someone diagnosed
in adulthood cheating on the diet than from childhood.  If I've ever
eaten an Oreo I certainly don't remember what it tastes like, so why
should I miss it? I have lots of yummies I can eat. Yes, I've had
problems with embaressment when telling others (which I'm over now), but
then all I did was tell people I wasn't hungry or didnt like how
something tasted to get around it.  I never considered eating it.

As for the rest, I'm not sure.  I am pretty sure that I was officially
diagnosed without a biopsy. It may just depend on how familiar the
doctor is with the disease to get the diagnosis.
-Audrey Vernon
--
Sunset Strip Community Leader
(http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/leader.html)
Visit my page at: http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Alley/2397
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