My journey

[Heal2Recover]

Hello all, I truly hope you are all doing well.

I thought I would document my journey and garner any advice whilst I am at it, because this has been a journey. 

My journey starts from when I was a teenager( I have never been too keen on food), and mostly drank sugary fizzy drinks. I went to my GP several times who was not aware at the time of what was actually wrong with me, so giving me wrong medications which in essence made me fall really ill. It was not until recently, whereby I was at work(Friday 19th November 2021) I was at work and fainted. Luckily for me I work in the Hospital, and double whammy for me I was standing next to two doctors whom saw me fall, and they did all the checks on me before I was sent on my merry way to my local A and E department. Over here, I was diagnosed with UTI, therefore given Nitrofurantoin to treat this 'suspected' UTI. 

It wasn't until Monday the 22nd November 2021, I collapsed once again this time at home. I was taken to my local hospital A and E department where I was in pain mainly my stomach area and every time I stood up, I was about to fall down. I was also very nauseated and vomited as well as presenting with diahorrea. It was a whole mash up of symptoms, but the lansoprazole helped. 

Moving on, I was admitted to Hospital on Monday night, to the OMU unit of my hospital. Over here, I was placed on IV Fluids, Sodium Lactate as I was severely dehydrated, as well as been given IV drip of Paracetamol, and anti sickness medication all via my cannula. When I say I was in a state on admission I am not exaggerating.  

Hospital found nothing but being severely dehydrated and all my bloods they tested for came out normal. Fast forward to Wednesday 24th November 2021, I contacted my GP once again as advised by my consultant at the hospital. It was not until then, that my GP mentioned coeliac diseases and wanted further blood tests to confirm this.  I had a google on the symptoms and lo and behold! They were exactly what I had been suffering from for many years undiagnosed. 

I went for my blood test yesterday, but this time I am definitely confident my diagnosis is correct of Coeliac disease. On my way back from the GP, I did a quick shop of gluten-free products bearing in mind, I have never tried this particular food selection before. For the first time ever in a long long time, I did not complain of sickness in the stomach when I munched down a whole yummy gluten-free chocolate chip muffin. ;). This was an achievement for me, as I have never been able to finish off my food. 

gluten-free food tastes really scrumptious and im now excited to be on this journey for life. I am slowly adjusting myself to this newfound condition for me, but as you all can imagine im finally ecstatic I got a diagnosis in the end instead of being in constant agony and ignoring the pain. 

How did you all adjust to this new routine? For me its going to take a while to adjust to this condition. 

On a side note:, I also lost a lot of weight, from 75-78KG I dropped down massively to 64KG without any exercise or the sort. Initially I was under the impression the weight loss was due to the nature of my job, but this condition explains it. 

I just cannot help but wonder and question myself, it took me to faint to be finally diagnosed when I was begging my GP years before that something is not right. 

Just a slight introduction:- I am a 26 year old female, 4 ft 11 and always curious especially when it comes to the medical world!  

I want to thank everyone who has and will continue to assist me on this journey from here onwards! We got this all. 

Thank you for reading, and have a great weekend all. 

Take care. 

Heal2Recover. 

[trents]

Welcome to the forum, Heal2Recove!

The nature of celiac disease is it is an autoimmune disorder whereby whenever you consume gluten it triggers an inflammatory process in the small bowel that damages the lining (the "villi") of the small bowel. Your immune system is mistakenly identifying gluten as an invader.

Over time the constant inflammation where's down the villi and reduces the ability of your small bowel to absorb nutrients from your food. It often takes two years or more once going truly gluten free for the villi to be restored to more or less normal.

I say all this to encourage you to invest in some good, gluten free vitamins and minerals since you undoubtedly have deficiencies in this area of health and well-being from nutrient malabsorption. I would recommend an adult miltivit and a high potency B-complex. Extra B12 on top of that wouldn't hurt. I would add in at least 2000IU of D3 daily along with zinc and magnesium glycinate. Go easy on the magnesium as it can have a laxative effect. Start small with it and titrate up until you find a comfortable amount that doesn't give you loose stools. Don't worry about taking too many B vitamins as they are water soluble and any excess is peed out.

Focus on eating fresh meat, fresh vegies and fresh fruit rather than a lot of processed gluten free food. Most gluten free processed foods are empty calories. Gluten free flours are not enriched as are their wheat counterparts. Nuts and seeds are also good because they are nutritious and calorie dense.

Edited November 27, 2021 by trents