Coping With Stubborn Siblings

[stemanndemon]

Hi,

I believe my mom has either celiac disease or non-celiac gluten intolerance like me. I have the HLA-DQ1 gene and have had an elevated igG reading. My symptoms have been primarily neurological (mood swings, ADD problems, etc.) although earlier on I did have plenty of spastic colon sympoms.

In reading the work of Mario Hadjivassiliou and Allesio Fasano, I've come to believe that my mother's "Alzheimer's disease" is really gluten intolerance. She's always had ADD like symptoms, learning difficulties, anxiety and a some balance problems, (ataxia?). She's also had serious problems with constipation. I've been sending articles and my test results to my sisters but they won't even discuss it with me. My mom lives with my sister Inge, but believes that the neurologist knows all there is to know about dementia.

I sent an article that I found on the internet about an elderly lady who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and RECOVERED on the gluten-free diet and specifically targeted supplements. It took two years but she REGAINED her memory and her daily living skills. See link below:

Open Original Shared Link

What can I do to convince them to give her the tests? What can I do to convince them that a gluten-free diet is worth trying?

[ianm]

Some people just refuse to believe that a food that billions of people eat every day could be so toxic. All you can do is gather as much information as possible and don't back down. You are in for a tough fight.

[Carriefaith]

ianm is right, this will be tough. I think you are doing the right thing by poiting them in the right direction. Unfortunately, it is ultimately up to them to take your advice or not.

Maybe try explaining that although doctors are well educated they are only human and may miss important signs and signals, especially from a disease that is so underdiagnosed.

It is horrible that your mother has Alzheimer's disease and she is very lucky to have you to do all this research for her. I think the best thing to do now is be persistent. People will usually give in if you're persistant enough.

Good luck!

[cdford]

I am a point in case for your argument. One of my main symptoms was the "fog of fibromyalgia" and other mental concerns. As long as I stay on my ALZ med, I do fine. I let it go and the mild dementia returns enough so that my family starts asking questions. Yes, gluten can trigger what appears to be dementia but really isn't. I use Exelon, by the way. In my case I am so young that they were pretty certain it was not ALZ. They knew to look elsewhere, they just did not initially know where to look.

[stef-the-kicking-cuty]

Hi stemanndemon,

I think, you're on the right track. I already thought that last year, but nobody believed me and I didn't have evidence for this. The mother of my mother-in-law lives in an elderly home, because she can't take care of herself anymore and has Alzheimer's. I said that to my mother-in-law MONTHS ago and told her I'm 100% positive that a glutenfree diet would help. She doesn't believe me. And her mother has days, where she's really fine and she remembers her again suddenly. And I told her, 'gee, maybe she had glutenfree food by coincidence for a while???'. And that woman is really skinny, too. So you might think, her body doesn't get enough nutrition and stuff.

It's only logical in my opinion. Celiacs have "brain fog" and forget a lot, so it also can be there in a more severe stage like Alzheimer's. I mean, it makes sense.

Yes, this will be tough. But I would tell your sister, that doctors don't know everything. And I would tell her, that even if you find out later, that it doesn't work. What can you loose, if you try this? Absolutely nothing. And in a few years, when it's too late maybe and they'll find out, that you were on the right track, then you guys kick yourselves in the butt for not at least trying it...

And if you guys try it and it worked and your mom is fine again, make this public, so that it gets to be known more. I really DO think, this works.

[ianm]

My brain fog would get so bad sometimes that I couldn't remember much of anything and would get disoriented. I would forget where I was at, where I was going and why. It would come as no surprise to anyone who has experienced brain fog that Alzheimers and gluten are linked.