I have watched her closely, especially when she has given in and eaten something containing gluten and/or dairy products (usually cake, unfortunately) and the only time she had this symptom was when she had a cold. She is 84 and has starved herself so badly she looks like a skeleton covered in skin. Is she suffering from hypochondria or some sort of food phobia? Sometimes when I've managed to get a reasonably decent meal into her she has brought it up. She tends to make light of this problem and concentrate on the imagined symptoms. When we visited a friend suffering from hay fever she told us she had woken up with sore eyes as well as a runny nose, yet that morning she had assured me she slept very soundly. She certainly had no sign of a runny nose.
Please understand my sister-in-law DOESN'T suffer from the symptoms she complains of. The only time she was sniffly was when she caught a cold. I would guess she brings up her meals (which is only occasionally, not all the time) because her years of self-starvation have made a decent meal difficult to keep down. I just want to know why someone would put herself through all this agony for no reason. When she DOES eat gluten and dairy food they seem to do her no harm at all.
PLEASE read what I've written before answering. I HAVEN'T told her it's all in her head. I wouldn't dream of doing so. That would be cruel. But she is claiming to suffer from symptoms she very obviously doesn't have. I know what a runny nose looks like. My husband (an asthmatic) recently suffered from polyps in both nostrils and his nose ran like a tap. He was always at the tissues. My SIL seldom touches them. She even sneezes less than I do. I'm so worried about her inadequate diet and I feel totally helpless. She WON'T see a doctor. The only type of person she will consult is a naturopath (or similar). She even got my husband to do the same when he had the polyps. He was sent home with such a huge list of foods he had to avoid that it was near impossible to make sure he got enough calories so he wouldn't lose weight. It wasn't until I insisted he see his doctor, who sent him to a specialist, that the problem was solved, with Prednisone, which he's lucky enough to be able to take.

She needs to see a doctor! You can't diagnose her and telling her it is all in her head isn't going to help. She might very well have something physically or emotionally wrong but a professional should be involved in this.

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