<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
 
I was diagnosed about 5 years ago with CD after 3 months of what I thought
was the stomach flu. I have been GF for most of that time (I cheated a lot
at first until I realized how badly I was damaging my system, not to
mention the pain it was causing me). My mother, who is now in her late 50s,
has been having bouts of horrible diarrhea mixed in with constipation;
i.e., she'll go for a month at a time with one or the other symptom.
 
No matter how hard I try to get her to go gluten-free for at least a week
to see if it helps, she refuses to do it. She can't leave her house for
fear that she'll have an "accident." (She hasn't left the house in weeks
now because it is so bad.)
 
I spoke with her just a few days ago and she was complaining about the
cramps and diarrhea which is now combined with horrible burning sensations
in her extremities (legs especially). Does anyone else ever have these
kinds of symptoms?
 
She has epilepsy (which I understand has been found to be linked with CD in
many cases) and many other ailments which require her to be on various
different medications. She believes that the diarrhea and the constipation
is caused from all her medications-which is why she refuses to change her
diet in any way. She also has various skin disorders which are again linked
to CD.
 
This lady is wasting away before our very eyes! No matter how much
literature I give her on the subject she refuses to change her eating
habits! I have repeatedly told her how CD is often hereditary, but she
believes it came from my father's side of the family (he was adopted).
 
Does anyone have any suggestions? How can I get her to go GF for just a
little while to see if it helps her at all? Or to go to a specialist? I'm
not a doctor, but it sure seems as though she may have CD. Just this
weekend she said she had lunch consisting of chicken noodle soup, a
sandwich (on wheat bread) and crackers-and  gee, guess what happened?
Yup-her symptoms got worse.
 
Thanks for any help you can give me. I'm really at a loss for what to do.
 
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