So It's Serious...

[Stef-Ani]

okay.. i was just diagnosed with celiac a few days ago and everything makes sense now. I went through some pretty bad years of feelin sick and also had some bouts of depression. My dad gets the same stomach pains as I did so we think that he has celiac too but he hasnt been tested yet. He said he will get tested.. but he doesnt really think its that serious. I've explained everything I have learned about the disease to him too. He just kind of shrugs it off and makes excuses to still eat gluten. I just don't understand why anyone would want to keep damaging themselves if they know they can feel better... I'm excited about this new diet and seeing how much better I can feel! Does anyone have any ideas as to how I can make my dad realize that this really is serious and that he should get it fixed now? The longer you leave it the more you damage yourself right?

[Nantzie]

Yep. It's serious.

I saw your post buried down here on the third page. We've honestly been getting so many new people here lately that it's hard for us "Oldies" to keep up. Hope you're hanging in there okay and reading the archives. That's what I did when I first found out about my gluten intolerance. There's nothing that we haven't discussed here, so there's tons you can learn just doing that.

As far as your dad, unfortunately, there's not much you can do. I look at it like an addiction (gluten has opiate properties, btw) . You can't make someone give up gluten because it's harming them any more than you can make someone give up drugs or alcohol because it's harming them.

You could always just ask him to go to the doctor to make sure it's not anything more scary than celiac (or even something completely different like ulcers). My dad had stomach problems for decades. Took drugstore over the counter stuff. He died of stomach cancer in Dec 2004 (diagnosed in June 2004). I heard about celiac and gluten for the first time in September 2005.

I wish I would have known about celiac before because even if they didn't find celiac, maybe they would have found the cancer. An upper GI for ANY reason a couple years before his diagnosis would have made a big difference.

They haven't found a direct link between stomach cancer and celiac, so I don't want to scare you about that, but there is a definite link to intestinal lymphoma and many other diseases.

I would push your dad to just get a referral to a GI doctor to make sure there isn't anything else going on. Even if they end up finding celiac, and he gets an full official diagnosis with doctor's orders to go gluten-free, you STILL can't make him eat properly.

A lot of people I think avoid the idea that they might have a gluten issue because they don't think they could handle going without so many things. I have a lot of people in my husband's family who are like that. But I always make a point of bringing gluten-free goodies to parties. Now, they're cool about it. I've even had a few family members ask me more about it. So they're getting there. In fact, as I was writing this, my MIL called to ask me to make the pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. Which is the best compliment! (Gluten-Free Pantry Pie Crust)

The best (slightly sneaky ) tactic is to work on finding good gluten-free versions of his favorite things. That's how I dealt with my own gluten-free transition too. You just work on replacing one thing at a time, and before you know it (less than a year later for me...) you're pretty much eating how you used to. It just happens to be gluten-free.

Welcome to the boards!

Nancy

[kbtoyssni]

You could also ask him to read some books on celiac (and tell him it's so he'll understand your disease and be able to help you through this). Maybe he'll see himself in some of the literature. Try Dangerous Grains. That book is my favorite and talks a lot about the non-GI complications that can be cause by celiac. You can try getting it from the library if it's hard to get to a bookstore (I know when I was a teenager my parents never would have bought me a book unless there was good reason).

[schuyler]

I wish I knew how to help with your dad. My dad's the same way. He has the same symptoms as I do, and he knows that since I have 2 copies of the celiac gene that one must have come from him (my mom was recently tested, and was negative). I think he knows deep down that he has it, but he doesn't want to admit it to himself. He is addicted to gluten. I have been doing more gluten free baking (since his favorite foods are things like cookies), and he's loved some of the things that I made recently. I'm hoping that once he sees that gluten free foods can be good, that he will go on a gluten-free diet. Hopefully...

Danielle

[Stef-Ani]

I wish I knew how to help with your dad. My dad's the same way. He has the same symptoms as I do, and he knows that since I have 2 copies of the celiac gene that one must have come from him (my mom was recently tested, and was negative). I think he knows deep down that he has it, but he doesn't want to admit it to himself. He is addicted to gluten. I have been doing more gluten free baking (since his favorite foods are things like cookies), and he's loved some of the things that I made recently. I'm hoping that once he sees that gluten free foods can be good, that he will go on a gluten-free diet. Hopefully...

Danielle

My dad is trying it! I found some really good gluten free cookies that i'm gonna give to him when I see him this weekend too... hopefully i will get him to like them and keep trying the diet... they are called kinnikinnick double chocolate almond cookies and they actually taste like real cookies..lol didn't know that was possible untlil now! good luck with your dad!