Describe your life prior to diagnosis:
I was constantly tired, and no one knew why.
How did you come to know (or suspect) that you have celiac disease?
Intestinal symptoms like diarrhea, abdominal pain, bloating and nausea.
How long did it take for you to get diagnosed since your first symptoms and what (if any) challenges did you face along the way?
It took me between three and five years to be diagnosed with celiac disease. I felt drained, bloated, and my joints hurt. They mentioned stress and anxiety every time.
Describe your experience with living with celiac disease:
I was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2020. Since then, I’ve battled additional health issues, including lactose intolerance and IBS.
Being diagnosed with celiac disease—being told that you have a chronic, lifelong condition—means changing your lifestyle, your habits, and your entire mindset as far as your relationship with food goes. It’s a constant battle. Food is our medicine. That is how important what and how we eat is.
If I ate gluten now, after being on a gluten-free diet, I’d experience the side effects for weeks. I’d become nauseous, exhausted, have joint pain, and start to feel like a rock is in my stomach.
For me, living with celiac disease is hard. It changed the way I eat and the choices I make, and I experience uncomfortable and painful days. Celiac disease is not something to take lightly because too much damage to the small intestine is hard to undo.
But celiac disease shouldn’t be the end of anything in your life; it should be an adjustment and a constant reminder that life isn’t fair, but it is what you make of it.
What would a cure mean for you?
I hope there will be a cure for celiac disease. It would be a new hope or a new life.