diagnosed yesterday, new to this

[101]

First off, this is something I didn't even consider was wrong with me. I'm 23 years old. 

Been having awful digestive & stomach problems for ages now, got biopsy done and the results were Celiac. I'm still getting tested for any other issues, but this is the first solid diagnosis and explanation I've gotten for why I feel so garbage all the time and why I've been in so much pain. At first I thought a lot of the horrible symptoms I was experiencing was due to being a smoker, so I quit nicotine 100% but still was having the horrible symptoms I was experiencing.

It sucks, I feel hopeless currently but also a but apathetic. I'm happy to at least have an explanation, but now I have to work on healing my body and getting better. I've been out of work for months now due to the pain, I'm underweight and have lost a ridiculous amount of weight through this entire thing, and I can barely think. Some days I can hardly form a coherent sentence the brain fog is so bad. I just want this all to be over with already so I can get back to living, go back to work and join the real world again.

[trents]

Welcome to the forum, 101!

How long have you known from the biopsy that you have celiac disease? Have you started the gluten free diet yet? There is a real education curve tied to that. It's not hard to avoid the big sources of gluten such as bread and pasta but it's the unexpected ones and the little ones that trip up newbies. Gluten is found in so many processed food products where you would never expect it to be. Like soy sauce and tomato soup. And then there is the whole issue of cross contamination where food items may be naturally gluten free but come into contact with gluten from other foods, cooking surfaces, etc. Eating out is very risky because even though you order something that should be gluten free by the nature of what it is, back in the kitchen it has been cooked in the same pans and on the same grills as gluten stuff. Wheat starch can be in seasonings, pills and supplements. This might help:

 

[Scott Adams]

Welcome to the forum!

It seems like quitting smoking, in your case, was a positive side-effect of having celiac disease. Hopefully you can continue on as a non-smoker.

I think you've got a great attitude about this, which is more than half the battle with regard to staying gluten-free, and I had the same attitude after I was diagnosed. I had been so sick for so many years, and had spent so much time, money and effort trying to figure out what was going on with me, that when the diagnosis finally came it was pure relief...I could do a gluten-free diet, no problem, in exchange for feeling 100 times better!