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Celiac Success Stories |
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Tell us about your symptoms before you were diagnosed with celiac disease?
In 2004, I was 37-years old and had been treated for an unknown iron-deficiency anemia for two years. At the time I didn't have the diarrhea but an every evening heartburn. Suddenly, one afternoon I felt a pain in my upper stomach and at first thought that it was something I had eaten, but after a couple of hours I began to have trouble breathing because of a sharp pain. I decided to go to the hospital and there the first thing doctors did was an emergency blood test. The results revealed an hypertransaminemia and after an endoscopy they detected a light duodenitis. The treatment consisted of a stomach protector for two months. I really felt better during these two months—after that I started to feel bad again. I still didn't have diarrhea but every time I ate, it was like I could not properly digest my food and I had a constant pain around my waist, especially at the left side. I returned to the doctor and this time he repeated the blood test and the endoscopy, but focusing on the possibility of celiac disease. And there it was, my small intestine was stripped clean of any villi. Now I knew I was lucky. I did not suffer for a long time. Tell us what has your life been like since being diagnosed with celiac disease? I started the GF diet but I didn't feel better. Curiously, the evening diarrhea began to be present nearly every day, the constant pain around my waist did not disappear. I finally managed to go to the doctor again. Both afraid and worried, I said to the doctor that I had read celiacs should avoid dairy products during the first months of a GF diet. We decided to avoid them for a couple of weeks and see what happened. The diarrhea did not disappear, but a new blood test revelead I had no antibodies yet so that meant I was doing the GF diet correctly. I reintroduced dairy products into my diet after a month and I decided to relax, do the same things that I used to do before the diagnosis, both working and practicing swimming, giving myself more time to recover. The left side waist pain disappeared progressively and the diarrhea had disappeared too—after nearly two years of the GF diet. Now, I believe that the small intestine, after complete ruin needs time and patience to recover and accept such different products and different ways of cooking again, except the gluten ones, of course. The GF diet changes your life, it forces you to develop new social skills, especially if you has been diagnosed in adulthood. While learning how to manage a GF diet at home is relatively easy, the same thing is extremely difficult when you try to do it when eating out because the terms celiac, gluten-free diet are still unfamiliar to the great part of our society. The best rule I have learned is that you can not take anything for granted. Now my life is the same as before the diagnosis. I feel good and I plan for the future without worrying about my health. One thing is true, during this time I have noticed that diagnosed celiacs have to make an effort to be socially recognized so that the celiac condition becomes better known, integrated into a normal way of life. In 2005, a group of Spanish celiacs created Infoceliaquia. We met each other, thanks to Internet resources and because all of us were participating actively in different forums. We decided to create a Website where celiacs, their families and friends could find useful information about CD: a list of Spanish restaurants, recipies, books, guides for parents and teachers, news updated constantly, law, links... In 2006 we also introduced a blog, a place where we comment on news, recipies, articles, etc... and at the same time a place where people who read our blog could also participated. We are Jesus & Loli (Blanca´s parents, diagnosed at the age of two, now a beautiful 4-year old girl), Olga (diagnosed at the age of six, now 31) and me (diagnosed three years ago, at the age of 37). We represent three generations of celiacs, so that we are able to offer a global vision of CD.
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