My 82 Year Old Father - Symptoms For Years

[Smylinacha]

In trying to get myself better I am wondering about others in my family. My dad, for years, has had all of the same symptoms I have had: major weight loss, mood swings, fog, runs to the bathroom after eating (I had that and constipation, it varied depending on the day). He goes to the doctor a lot for his heart and for a bunch of blood work and they all tell him he is totally fine. My mother even went with him once trying to tell the dr to please find out what is wrong. He is so thin it is scary!

So I started with these symptoms for about 5 years now and I finally got myself to a gastro and went gluten free and feel so much better, I just need to gain some weight back.

I tried telling my mom that he should get checked for celiac but she won't talk to him because he just gets mad at her. So in a couple of weeks I am going down to FL to visit with them and to talk to him. He is a drinker - only whiskey and beer and he always feels bad after just one drink and I know gluten is in that. I'm going to have to buy him some gluten free beer when I am down there.

So do you think he could have had this for all these years and nobody has found it? He's never been on a computer, he is "old school" so he won't research anything. Only way I found out I most likely have celiac is by finding this forum and reading all about it and then making an appt with my gastro. Sometimes we have to do our own research and then tell the doctor what we find.

Also on my mom's side of the family they all have bathroom problems, except for my mom.

[nvsmom]

He has some symptoms so he could be celiac or NCGI... The problem would be getting him to switch to a gluten-free diet; I can't imagine changing my diet after 82 years... that would be rough.

Good luck!

[Gemini]

Your family sounds exactly like mine. My father will turn 80 in April and he is also a lifetime drinker. Not so much now as he is on a boatload of meds but he drank heavily his entire adult life. I am the diagnosed celiac in our family and my father is presenting just like I did...classic celiac. I have a double DQ-2 gene, which means celiac is on BOTH sides of my family. I have tried in vain to get his wife to have him tested but my pleas fall on deaf ears. To make matters worse,

my father has "dementia", which is getting pretty bad. I think it is celiac dementia but try telling all the unenlightened ones that.

I have learned that you cannot save everyone. You may have to back off because, sadly, everyone has the right to do as they choose with their health. I have resigned myself to the fact that he will most likely die of untreated celiac. He is so skinny, it's scary. People stare. He has ataxia, lives in the bathroom after eating, dementia, skin rashes and sleeps a lot of the time, especially after eating. Sounds all so familiar. It kills me to see him like this but I am just the daughter and have no control over him at all.

BTW, he is also in Florida. The similarities are kind of funny. There are a lot of people like this out there. Can you imagine the number of elderly people who have celiac and everything is blamed on aging? Actually...this is sick......his doctors tell him he is fine too. He is on meds for BP and many other things but he is "fine". Okey, dokey........

[Smylinacha]

Omg Gemini.....people stare at my dad too. My mom has to buy gluten free pasta and bread for me when I get down there so he will he eating it too and we won't tell him....not that he eats much anymore which is so sad. I can't stop him from doing his thing but maybe once he sees how thin I got since the last time I was down there, he will humor me and eat what I eat. Whole food like steak and chicken, fish, he likes salad so all I gotta do is switch up some bread and pasta. He was never into sauces so that will help. Should be interesting. I won't push him though. And I think his Dr is a jerk.