Here are the symptoms that I know about. My mother-in-law is now 70 yrs old. Her parents died from I don't know what at different times when she was around 9. She comes from a large family. She is only around 5ft tall. She has had allergies forever. Dust, animals, shellfish. A cold sometimes puts her bed. She loves to cook and esp. bake. Her periods were always irregular. She had 4 kids in 5 1/2yrs and had several miscarriages and later a hysterectomy around age 40. Asthma. Terrible back pain for about 10 years and the chiropractor can't help anymore. She is getting arthritis and had signs of it 10 yrs ago. She has perfect white teeth and thick hair. She always ate out of her huge garden and bought lots at farmer's markets. She has taken huge amounts of prescriptions. Almost died from Aleve. Her relatives had bad skin issues. She just got over a sinus infection and took probiotics for the first time. Her grand daughter (my daughter) was diagnosed allergic to gluten recently. Now I am suspecting all the relatives. Thoughts??
Thank you!

There is definitely some symptoms in the ones you listed that a lot of celiacs have. The inability to digest gluten could have damaged her intestines which would make her malnourished. I was anemic and would get sick very easily until I started the diet. It couldn't hurt to get her tested, it may make her feel a lot better.

I was diagnosed and I still do not know who in my family had it. My mom has diabeties which is also an auto-immune disorder, so that could be another possiblity of where I got it. We think it is my grandmother but she has no symptoms...so if you can, get her tested, at least then you'll get a better idea of how she got it.

I hope this helps: I am 63 years old, five feet tall, used to have sparkling white teeth and long thick hair, have asthma, and started having breathing problems at age 8. Many hospitalizations, doctor visits, prescriptions and depressions later, I learned that I am gluten intolerant, and, really, allergic to all grains, all milk & dairy, egg whites, yeast, and grain-fed meats. I had 3 kids in 5 years, starting at age 16.

In "the olden days" doctors didn't think of Celiac, I believe, and even today some are more up-to-date on what is happening than others, mostly because their patients are giving them feedback once we learn what the problem is. Celiac is considered a family disease. I bought test kits from Enterolab and gave them to my loved ones, but it is a challenge to convince them that they probably have it too, because we who deal with this know what motivation and dedication it takes to stick with this diet, and they have all watched the trials that I have gone through, and I'm sure they'd just like to avoid the whole thing.

I hope you can convince your mother-in-law to find out what is happening. If she'd like any firsthand information from a longtime sufferer, now a reformed, happy, healthfood advocate, I'd be happy to give her input. Welda welda@att.net

Thanks so much for your reply. I wish she would get off gluten (shes a great baker and great cook)and see if she would feel better. Maybe someday soon. Your symptoms are similar to hers. Also she could never drink milk.