<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> I was diagnosed with celiac in 1980 after chronic diarhea, bloating, and then a positive bowel biopsy. After diagnosis, I began what I now realize was a fairly lax diet, eliminating bread, pasta, and so on, but retaining beer, soy sauce, spices, and occasionally more egregious violations. Around 1984 I began to experience patches of burning sensation on my chest and back, lasting for a week or two, and recurring every four to six months. I believed that they were "shingles," the flare-ups of chickenpox virus on the base of spinal nerves, but shingles has visible lesions, and my physicians were unwilling to give them any diagnosis at all. After a complete neurological work up revealed nothing, I'm sure they concluded I was a hypochondriac. Now, after discovering persistent liver inflamation that appears to be the result of my lax dietary vigilance, I now am discovering all the other health problems associated with gluten, among them "dermatitis herpetiformis". It really doesn't surprise me that my physicians never thought to connect the allergy to the symptom - I don't think most doctors take allergies seriously. From what I understand d.h. also has visible lesions. So heres the question: anybody out there have a recurrent burning sensation on their torso, without visible lesions? ------------------------------------------------------- James J. Hughes PhD, Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, U. of Chicago, (work) 312-702-3742 [log in to unmask] (Web) http://ccme-mac4.bsd.uchicago.edu/CCMEFaculty/Hughes/Hughes.html "Economic justice can be measured by the screams of anguish from the very rich." -John Kenneth Galbraith, economist