The Challenge

[Sinenox]

So I'm a recently diagnosed Celiac and the more time I spend on these forums the more it occurs to me that this should have been obvious. Lactose intolerance, early onset menopause, late stage lymphotic cancer or diabetes, schizophrenia all present in my family, as well as a sensitivity to chemicals, the head-fuzziness, abdominal pain and all kinds of other cogent symptoms of celiac disease. Now I can sleep and exercise again and all waxes well in my world. But there's a problem: Celiac is clearly in some was hereditary for many of us. My grandfather had to get cancer before he figured out that he had it. My immediate family members should some clear signs, just none of them as severe or GI oriented as mine were. So now I'm having a hard time convincing them to get tested or simply to try going Gluten-Free for a few weeks. We all know it's difficult and a pain but I thought that faced with the potential risks they'd get right on that. No such luck. I wanted to swoop in ninja-style this Thanksgiving with those new cheek-swab tests but they're $330 a pop or so, far outside of the budget of a college kid like me. So what to do? I'm afraid of crossing the line but I am tempted to make a bunch of scary posters and hang them up around the house. They need to get the point.

I'd appreciate advice from anyone more tactful than I on how to go about this and when to say enough.

[Nancym]

We'd all love to rescue our families from gluten induced diseases but most of us have come to realize we can't. The desire to fit in, eat like everyone else and not be inconvienced out-weighs possible health risks. Look at how many people continue to smoke in the day and age where we understand and absolutely know what the risks are, then consider that gluten sensitivity and celiac disease are pretty misdiagnosed and poorly understood. Most people aren't going to be willing to make a change like this unless they feel some imminent doom is hanging over their heads or they're very severely sick from it. If you ask for support from most medical professionals you're unlikely to get it.

The best you can do is explain your condition to them, suggest that they also get tested. A lot of times the more you push, the harder people will pull away.