Coeliac Disease | Em

Hey you people,

After my Endoscopy

Today I'm writing a very different post and I'm going to be talking about a disease I suffer from.   Everything I say in this post is from experience, so if I am slightly wrong, please forgive me.  I have Coeliac disease, most people probably don't know what this even is, but I'm going to try help you understand it!  Now Coeliac disease is a autoimmune disease which restricts me from eating gluten containing foods.  Gluten is found in many foods including pasta and bread.  The villi get attacked by my immune system when a piece of gluten enters my intestine, and I therefore can't absorb other nutrients making it harder to stay healthy.

My Diagnosis

Two years ago my brother Dan was diagnosed. He suffered severe symptoms for over two months including weight loss, diarrhoea and vomiting etc.  As a result of his diagnosis all family members had to be have blood tests. 

The Coeliac scale reads as follows:

1 to 10 your 'normal'.
10 to 100 you're a Coeliac

My initial reading was just over 10 and I was referred to another doctor who advised I had an endoscopy.  My mums reading was just below 10, and my dads was around 3.  My mums dad was also tested and his reading was low too, therefore all fingers point at grandma!  This was in August last year and while I was under anesthetic a second blood test was taken.  In this blood test my initial reading which was around 10 had tripled. If they hadn't caught me I would have soon begun having similar symptoms as my little brother had. On the 16th August 2013 I was diagnosed as a Coeliac and I began my quest on the gluten-free Road.  When the hospital rang I was eating a bar of chocolate containing gluten, I soon had to throw that away.

Twitter

That night I set up a Twitter account and I fell into the allergy community.  I have been overwhelmed by the support from fellow Coeliac's and parents of Coeliacs.  The community is so huge and fast growing that if you tweet anything someone will get back to you.  I've met many friends through the gluten-free community.  Today I actually went to the allergy show at Kensington Olympia.  It was amazing to see so many Coeliacs all in one place!

Getting on With It

Weirdly I don't mind my new diet too much, I  was already eating some gluten-free foods when my brother was diagnosed.  It was hard in the beginning especially being such a foodie, but now I get on with it.  I enjoy trying out new recipes and foods, but I do wish that I tried more foods prior to my diagnosis.  The hardest part is day-trips and meals out. Because I have a disease there must be no cross contamination anywhere so we had to have separate butter and jam at home, even separate toasters before my whole family went gluten-free.  I really hate hate you can't just grab a bite to eat as it's just not possible.  Costa and Starbucks have finally brought out a new range of gluten free sandwiches and wraps.

Physically I feel so much healthier than prior to my diagnosis, but mentally I am always moaning and my mother has to give me pep talks!

I hope you enjoyed knowing a bit more about me, and perhaps I'll post some gluten free recipes in the future!

Always, Em xx