@Rogol72, dermatitis herpetiformis occurs in a minority of celiac patients and if the OP hasn't developed it yet I doubt it will show up in the future. I think it unwise to use a scare tactic that probably won't materialize in the OP's experience. It has a good chance of backfiring and having the opposite effect.

Hi @trents, You're correct. The OP mentioned fatigue and vitamin deficiencies as the only symptoms at the time of diagnosis. Since the family are not taking him/her seriously and find them to be too fussy, I suggested showing them pictures of dermatitis herpetiformis as one of the consequences of not taking the gluten-free diet seriously ... would make life easier for him/her, and the family might begin to take his/her strict gluten-free diet more seriously. A picture says a thousand words and the shock factor of dermatitis herpetiformis blisters might have the desired effect. The OP did say ... "How do you deal with people close to you who just refuse to understand? Are there any resources anyone could recommend for families that are short and easy to read?".  @sillyyak52, It might also help mentioning to your family that Coeliac Disease is genetic and runs in families. Any one of them could develop it in the future if they have the HLA DQ 2.5 gene. Here's a Mayo Clinic study calling for screening of family members of Coeliacs ... https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-minute-celiac-disease-screening-for-family-members/ https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-study-calls-for-screening-of-family-members-of-celiac-disease-patients/ I got glutened a few months ago because I missed the may contains statement on a tub of red pesto. It was my own fault but it happens.

Thank you, Scott!  This is just what I needed.  Appreciate your site very much and all of your time and energy that goes into it! Kind Regards, Peg

Oh yes.  I would never recommend taking it for an extended period of time.  When 70% of my body was covered in blistering itchy sores, an amazing doctor prescribed it diagnostically because I was unwilling to do a gluten challenge after already going strictly gluten-free in desperation after 10 years of suffering and being poo pooed by dermatologist after dermatologist. The fact that it stopped the itch and mostly cleared the rash after about 2 months was diagnostic for him.  I stopped it and have remained strictly gluten-free with very few flares since that time (over 10 years ago).  So the fact that it cleared the rash was diagnostic for me.     

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