Convincing Someone To Get Tested

[angst2amity]

Hi

I believe that I may have Celiac Sprue. I think that my husband has it worse. How did we find each other and what will it do to our kids?!?

My husband's symptoms:

IBS - constipation, D, painful gas

actual wheat allergy - so he takes Claritin(?)

heart pain of unknown origin

rosacia

high cholesterol

arthritis

MY REAL QUESTION IS:

How do you, or have you, convinced someone to go for testing when half of the time doctors think you are nuts?

Secretly send in his stool? (he he)

How do you say - I think you have this disorder, you should talk to your doctor - chances are that they will laugh at you, proscribe you with anti-psychotics, tell you to quit reading things online, it's all in your head, etc.

Any pointers?

I think my mother may have it as well. I think that she just prefers to take Rolaids, Depression Meds, Hypertension Meds, Meds, Meds rather than look at the root cause.

[Riayn]

I would try to convince your husband to go in and demand to be tested, particularly if he has been diagnosed with IBS and has never been tested for celiac's before. Well, that is what I am going to do on Monday.

It is my understanding that a diagnoses of IBS is given after all other testing has ruled out any of the other GI diseases.

I can let you know on Monday how well just demanding to be tested works. Hopefully, they will not write it off as stress, like they have done to me many times in the past.

Best of luck to you and your husband.

[ravenwoodglass]

How to convince him....how about you pull another chair up to the computer and have him look at the posts and signatures that are here. I got my DH to be tested when I accompanied him to his colonoscopy and bullied the GI doctor into doing the test. He was showing far less symptms than your husband. Imagine their surprise when he came back positive. Point out to him also that in a lot of countries the test is a routine test given to everyone as a part of their regular physical. Sometimes people will resist testing because deep down they know they have it and fear the change in diet and lifestlye that it requires, here again reading other posts can be very reassuring. Being celiac is not the end of anything good or fun. It is the beginning of a pain free and healthy existance. I would have quit gluten just to get rid of my tummy pain and 'IBS' the remission of my arthritis and other problems were a great bonus.

[mamaw]

I've been trying to get other family members tested for a couple of years, to no avail... I feel badly but it's like the horse ---you can show him the water but he may not drink....as for many of us ,we never got the blessings of a dx's but we tried on our own & the diet helped us dramaticly so we stay on the diet.... I did the endo & colonoscopy first & it was neg. I then did the blood work & still the doctor said your are fine. I had no villi damage so I guess that is all he was concerned with. I then had the dna testing & have the genes so I'm very glad I'm gluten-free on my own.

I agree with Ravenwoodglass set him down with the computer & let him do the research for himself. One thing I know for sure is I never heard of this diet hurting anyone even if they were not intolerant or full-blown celiacs.So it can't hurt by trying the diet.

good luck

mamaw

[Nancym]

If your husband doesn't want to get tested, would he just trial the diet for awhile and see if his symptoms improve? That was essentially how I went about it. My IBS disappeared in 2 days. Other things took longer to improve but for me, that result was almost immediate.

That will sort of disqualify you from doing the blood test/biopsy route because it might let you heal enough that it wouldn't test positive but you could always go to enterolab.com for a stool test later if you wanted.

[daffadilly]

I have a grown son.... IMO chances are nil you are going to get him to the doctor to demand tests that the doc is unfamiliar with. Your best chance I think, is to order the tests from enterolab.com

not that I am too happy with them at the moment as my granddaughter's test came back negative, when I definitely know she has a problem...

[ravenwoodglass]

Hi I just wanted to add one more thing about this:

"actual wheat allergy - so he takes Claritin(?)"

I am hoping that he is avoiding wheat even if not gluten. If he has an actual histamine response reaction from wheat (or any other substance) continued exposure could have a sudden change to a life threating response. This can happen very suddenly and there is no knowing when his system will click into an anaphyleptic (sp) reaction that would have the potential to close down his airway and much more. It of course does not happen to everyone but it is a risk if he keeps coming in contact with wheat. If he has a allergy doctor that diagnosed this he may want to ask about an epipen.

[angst2amity]

Thank you all for your input. As I have been reading posts, I have been sharing info with him. He seems to have the more blatant symptoms. I think finding out where the chest pain comes from would be a relief for him. I spoke to him and I said why I think he should be tested. He agreed that being Celiac seemed to fit. He said maybe he would agree to testing but he didn't want a biopsy done. He said he would do the blood test or a stool test - I would think he could do this with his doctor's office - we will see. I think he would be willing to go gluten-free if I prepare all meals and there is a good variety - who doesn't love steak and potatoes!! He's afraid he will only be able to eat rice!

Thanks Again!