.....how can a person have the same symptoms as a family member for 22 years and a lightbulb doesn't go off?.......

AHHH, denial. read my thread on '.Yes...BUT..I'm different...."
Its also the:
"my symptoms are different than yours cause my problem is worse than yours - you only have PN, you look great- I, on the other hand am suffering terribly"
And their doctors are better than yours, or they are the worst, but they won't change.

Have Alan tested for genetic history.
BTW, does he have any past relatives that are Middle European? German, Polish, Russian, any of the ...vakia's, etc?