<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

First, I must apologize for the lateness of this summary; shortly after
posting the question, my family went through the flu bug. (I am happy to
report that I have been healthier this flu season, since being gluten free
for a year, than I have been in previous years! Yay!). We are still
catching up. Sorry it took so long!

I’ll repost my message and proceed with the summary, which will take two
parts because I wanted to include ample excerpts from several encouraging
replies:

The question about the draft got me to wondering again. Have any of you
who are in the military, or any of your relatives/friends in the military
had any problems because of their celiac?

I ask because my brother (Navy) doesn't want to get tested and has some of
the same symptoms as I had, plus some. He says he probably was already
tested for that-- they have given him so many standard tests, blah blah
blah. The military does not normally screen for celiac does it? He also
worries that if he tests positive for some disease, that he'll be
considered unfit for duty and given an honorable discharge before he has
earned his retirement.

Any comments/information?

 Thanks!
 MW


I received 21 responses.  The main consensus I got was that there was no
general policy or trend regarding testing, treating, or discharging
celiacs.  Most warned me that my brother should proceed with caution,
sounding out his ground before making a positive test known—if that should
happen. The thought was that if he had only a little more time until
retirement, he might be allowed to stay in service.  There were different
reports as to what level of success Celiacs were having when they chose to
remain in the Navy, but all but one who commented said that the Navy would
probably not discharge one close to retirement.  There is definitely no
food program for special diets such as Celiac, although one poster thought
that in the past, Celiacs could get Gf food on Naval ships only.  Others
suggested he test himself through Dr. Fine’s labs instead of through navy
docs, or use tests from outside sources to get Nay docs to test further.
There were suggestions of other specific facilities, docters, websites,
and the book, _Dangerous Grains_.  Some people asked me to summarize, and
one very kind person offered to help my brother further should I decide to
help him look into the need further.

Thanks, everyone who took the time and concern to reply!  If you would
like to see what people said, please see the quotations from several
replies I've included in part II.


Smiles,
Maggs


=====
Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach
that person to use the Internet and they won't bother you
for weeks. - Willie Weiss

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