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

Michelle Rands wrote: I just looked up celiac and
don't think i match the description because i carry some excess weight
and it seems celiacs are malnourished <snip>

Hi Michelle, more often I have heard from people who do not fit the
*classic profile* of the "wasting" over-thin gaunt sprue presentation.
If you really do have it, it is possible that over time & left
unchecked, this could be the result. Also you can "carry excess weight"
and still be malnourished because your body is not absorbing the food
you are ingesting, or getting too high bg & cholesterol because of the
malfunction.  There are a fair amount of overweight people with Celiac
Sprue.

The 2 least invasive things you can do to see if you have CS is have a
blood test that looks for antibodies IgA & IgE blood tests. (Warning
though , these tests are fairly unreliable). You can also do the
elimination diet- that is omit gluten from your diet & see if it makes a
difference. Time & again I hear people state quitting gluten was like
flipping a switch to stop the intestinal problems. The trick is to
understand all the little hidden ingredients that contain gluten.
The "gold standard" is to have a biopsy done, and if you are going to do
that, best to do it early & while you are still on gluten. People who
have quit & found relief, have a hard time making themselves ingest
gluten once again & have to endure a few weeks of gluten to be tested-
there does not seem to be a definite answer as to how long one must
ingest gluten to get a biopsy of damaged villi (confirmation).
Nobody would choose to follow the GF diet just for the fun of it......
it's tricky & inconvienient! A good website to check out is:
 http://www.panix.com/~donwiss/


~Fran