Tyler, a dermatologist can test for Dermatitis Herpetiformis - that particular test has a spotty record for "catching" DH, but it's worth a shot. The test for CD is a blood test, and I don't know if a dermatologist can do that or not.

The fact that your stomach hurts as well might also indicate CD. As I said on another post, CD can be "triggered" by a trauma/stressful event. In that case, it will come on like gangbusters.....

A Celiac diagnosis is straightforward IF your blood test and/or skin test comes back positive for antibodies. Unfortunately, sometimes neither test will come back positive, EVEN THOUGH you do, in fact, have Celiac Disease (sound familiar?). As I said before, some people are gluten SENSITIVE (and will never test positive for CD) - my husband is one of those people. Even though these folks don't have CD, they still feel much better on a Gluten-Free diet - and chances are that they have some level of damage to their intestinal lining; it just doesn't show up on any tests.

One of the things that I noticed when I went on a GF diet is that I had SO much more energy. That's why it was so frustrating to me to start feeling tired again a couple of years later, before I knew that I had MG. I shudder to think how tired I would be if I hadn't already been on a GF diet!

When I completely eliminated gluten from my diet, my energy level shot up within 24 hours. I don't know how much it might help in your case, but it is worth giving a GF diet a try. Just BE SURE to get tested BEFORE you eliminate gluten from your diet; otherwise, you could skew the results of the test.

Good luck, sweetie - I hope that you get some answers real soon; it's awful to feel bad and not know why!

One other thing that I wasn't aware of until I read about it on another thread. If you are currently on Prednisone/immunosuppressants, the antibody/blood test for CD MAY COME BACK NEGATIVE. You could still have CD, however. While the Prednisone will suppress the antibodies, it WILL NOT stop the effects of gluten on your intestine, if you have issues with gluten.

You might want to request a genetic test in addition to the bloodwork and/or skin test. You will want to ask for the HLA Test for Celiac Disease - this will tell you if you carry one of the two genes that are seen in 95% of people who eventually develop CD. Now, if you can't afford/don't want to do all of that testing, you can always just do a trial GF diet for a month, but you will have to COMPLETELY eliminate gluten from your diet - NO EXCEPTIONS!!!

The only downside to that is that you won't have a data point to work from in the future....