Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Celiac And The Military

minton

By minton
in Coping with Celiac Disease

Recommended Posts

minton Contributor
minton
Posted

I am 19 years old and was considering enlisting in a branch of the military upon high school graduation. Problem is, I have celiac disease, a thyroid goiter, and asthma. I have been gluten free for 2 years, since diagnosis, and am being treated for the goiter and asthma. Does anyone know if the military would take me?

pleas email replies to anamia4life89@yahoo.com

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Tim-n-VA Contributor
Tim-n-VA
Posted

Do a search for: DODI 6130.4

That gives the medical standards for initial appointment, enlistement and induction. Each service has its own procedures to deal with medical conditions that arise or are discovered after someone is on active duty.

Celiac is not specifically mentioned but malabsorbtion and inflamation in the intestines are both disqualifying.

Like most things government there are waiver procedures.

On the other hand, I don't think there is a specific test for any of this during the processing but there is a questionaire. If you give false information there (conceal celiac) it could be consider a fraudulent enlistement. How that will be handled is subject to lots of factors.

psawyer Proficient
psawyer
Posted

There is an old discussion on this topic that began over three years ago, but has had spurts of activity over time, and may be informative.

Click here for the thread.

*Daniella* Apprentice
*Daniella*
Posted

I'm currently in the Air Force and I can tell you to talk with a recruiter before you get your hopes dashed. Also, going into the military you will probably need to be deployable initially. Deploying with celiac will certainly be difficult and a huge issue. It's not like you can eat MRE's while out in the field. Good Luck! It's a great profession and I hope it works out for you.

minton Contributor
minton
Posted
  • Author

thank you for your replies and for forwarding me that thread. i will talk to a recruiter before just giving up but it does seem like the answer is no. Oddly enough though, many people on the other thread thought asthma disqualifies you but my brother is a smoker and has asthma and he was accepted to the Air Force just fine. They even give him discount inhalers.

lovegrov Collaborator
lovegrov
Posted

I know a guy on another list who had two years left to retirement when he was diagnosed. He got to retirement but said there was no way he could have made it earlier in his career.

richard

DMarie Apprentice
DMarie
Posted

Hmmm...I never thought about the military and celiac or gluten intolerance. My daughter is in college and is planning on going to medical school. She has seriously looked into trying to get an Air Force Scholarship for medical school (as in the Air Force would pay for medical school and she would serve x amount of years in the military).

She has not been diagnosed with celiac, but has clearly identified that gluten is bothersome.

I wonder how that would play out? She never had any bloodwork drawn to test - nothing - as she removed gluten from her diet before that could be done (wouldn't have mattered anyway - as bloodwork is negative for both my other daughter - who has the most severe symptoms - and myself - so I am sure hers would have likely shown negative as well).

She was just discussing this with me last night, ironically. She had looked up more specific information on what was involved - and thinks this is the way to go. I hate to suggest to her that it might not happen because of gluten - she is the one who is least accepting of being gluten intolerant. She eats well while in school, because she ends up having problems focusing/concentrating/thinking - but all bets are off when she is at home and not at school. :(

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


  • 3 weeks later...
skydivejon Newbie
skydivejon
Posted

First post since joining but wanted to chime in on Celiac and the Military.

While you may be able to get in (under a waiver) the chances are not that great, if able once you are in the ability to accommodate your dietary needs may be difficult to impossible in some situations. Being deployed and eating MRE

DMarie Apprentice
DMarie
Posted
First post since joining but wanted to chime in on Celiac and the Military.

While you may be able to get in (under a waiver) the chances are not that great, if able once you are in the ability to accommodate your dietary needs may be difficult to impossible in some situations. Being deployed and eating MRE

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      132,206
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    S.Craigwell
    Newest Member
    S.Craigwell
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • trents
      Taking Probiotics but Still Getting Sick After Gluten – Advice?

      By trents · Posted

      NCGS does not cause damage to the small bowel villi so, if indeed you were not skimping on gluten when you had the antibody blood testing done, it is likely you have celiac disease.
    • Scott Adams
      Taking Probiotics but Still Getting Sick After Gluten – Advice?

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      I will assume you did the gluten challenge properly and were eating a lot of gluten daily for 6-8 weeks before your test, but if not, that could be the issue. You can still have celiac disease with negative blood test results, although it's not as common:  Clinical and genetic profile of patients with seronegative coeliac disease: the natural history and response to gluten-free diet: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5606118/  Seronegative Celiac Disease - A Challenging Case: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9441776/  Enteropathies with villous atrophy but negative coeliac serology in adults: current issues: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34764141/  Approximately 10x more people have non-celiac gluten sensitivity than have celiac disease, but there isn’t yet a test for NCGS. If your symptoms go away on a gluten-free diet it would likely signal NCGS.
    • Xravith
      Taking Probiotics but Still Getting Sick After Gluten – Advice?

      By Xravith · Posted

      I'm very confused... My blood test came out negative, I checked all antibodies. I suppose my Total IgA levels are normal (132 mg/dl), so the test should be reliable. Still, I'm not relieved as I can't tolerate even a single biscuit. I need to talk to my doctor about whether a duodenal biopsy is necessary. But it is really possible to have intestinal damage despite having a seronegative results? I have really strong symptoms, and I don't want to keep skipping university lectures or being bedridden at home.
    • Scott Adams
      CT with contrast.

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      They may want to also eliminate other possible causes for your symptoms/issues and are doing additional tests.  Here is info about blood tests for celiac disease--if positive an endoscopy where biopsies of your intestinal villi are taken to confirm is the typical follow up.    
    • Scott Adams
      New labs are now very elevated

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      In the Europe the new protocol for making a celiac disease diagnosis in children is if their tTg-IgA (tissue transglutaminase IgA) levels are 10 times or above the positive level for celiac disease--and you are above that level. According to the latest research, if the blood test results are at certain high levels that range between 5-10 times the reference range for a positive celiac disease diagnosis, it may not be necessary to confirm the results using an endoscopy/biopsy: Blood Test Alone Can Diagnose Celiac Disease in Most Children and Adults TGA-IgA at or Above Five Times Normal Limit in Kids Indicates Celiac Disease in Nearly All Cases No More Biopsies to Diagnose Celiac Disease in Children! May I ask why you've had so many past tTg-IgA tests done, and many of them seem to have been done 3 times during short time intervals?    
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.