undiagnosed

I've heard about celiac disease, and I think I (or my child) may have it. How can I find out for sure?

I would start by learning more about the disease. You can begin with my description of celiac disease, but I highly recommend you check out some professionally-researched sites as well. I recently discovered Celiac Central, which is published by the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA). It contains an abundance of information, including an article on the symptoms of celiac disease and an interactive symptom checklist for people in exactly your situation.

If your research confirms your suspicions, it is time to make an appointment with a doctor to schedule a blood test, biopsy, or both. Before you dial that old standby, your primary care physician, realize that many doctors know less about this disease than the people diagnosed with it. If your doctor seems inexperienced or reluctant, you may want to consider seeing a specialist. A Google search containing the words "celiac disease" and "doctor" with the name of your city or town should help you find someone with knowledge and experience fairly easily.

If you decide to pursue medical advice because you suspect have celiac disease, why not share how it goes? Just leave a comment below, or use the contact buttons under my bio to e-mail me. I know I would love to hear about your experience, and you never know who might be inspired or helped by reading your story. After all, an estimated 85% of American celiacs are currently undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, and, as a result, their symptoms go untreated (NFCA source article).