Struggling with celiac disease as a medical student in Algeria

[louai1920]

I'm a medical student, I was diagnosed with celiac on my first semester in medical school 5 years ago (I still have 2 years to graduate).

I have learned a lot in last few years, but I'm in a complicated situation right now where I have to choose between my physical health and mental health.

I have to choose whether to go back to dorms room this year or stay in my family's home.

Dorms means I have to cook every single meal, waste a lot of time cooking and cleaning my own dishes, buying groceries... (There is no ready meals or pre prepared gluten free meals here), I might also need a part time job to cover some of the costs of groceries. This means less time for studying and I won't eat much during exams period (I have those all year round) so my physical health won't be so well, even though I ALWAYS respect my diet and eat strictly gluten free.

Staying at home with my family, means I will have my mom and sister's help with cooking, I will eat more and be healthier physically, however, my mental health won't be okay since I live in a toxic household, I will witness a lot of family's conflicts and problems. Sometimes it gets so unbearable that it triggers my depression and I go numb, won't even study, just stay in bed. 

I spent 4 first years in dorms and the 5th year at home and both are so tough on me, now I'm thinking of going back to dorms.

There's the option of alternating between the two, I also see this as a good thing to do, when I get tired of one I go to the other.

I just need people who relate to my struggle to feel me and the pain I endure silencly, understand and offer me guidance and help, I feel so lonely in this struggle as its a weird and unique situation.

Ps. I hope things change when I graduate and have more money to manage my diet better.

[trents]

Welcome to the forum, louai1920! Thanks for sharing your dilemma.

One question I have. When you are at home, is your family sensitive to your need to eat gluten free?

[Scott Adams]

At your age I know that 2 years sounds like a very long time, especially if you choose the harder work path of staying in the dorms where you need to cook and clean for yourself, and get a job to cover the extra costs, however, to me it seems like this might be a better option, at least as far as your overall mental health is concerned. 

You also mentioned a hybrid solution where perhaps you can stay at the dorm whenever things at home get "toxic," but stay at home whenever things seem ok. This would make the most sense overall, but only if the family drama doesn't affect your studies.

[cristiana]

Welcome @louai1920

I think it is brilliant that you have been able to achieve so much i.e. five years of medical school under so much pressure, well done.  Like Scott, I think the hybrid solution makes the most sense of all.  

It must be difficult always having to cook food from scratch, with no gluten free pre-prepared food available.  I have stayed in a part of Europe where this was the case, and it was hard work.  Would there be a fridge available where you could store larger batches of food, to save having to cook from scratch every day?  I know this may not be possible, my husband's halls of residence at university didn't offer such facilities.

Just out of interest, do you know any other coeliacs?  I'm not sure what percentage of the population is affected by it in Algeria.

[louai1920]

On 9/6/2023 at 3:52 PM, trents said:

Welcome to the forum, louai1920! Thanks for sharing your dilemma.

One question I have. When you are at home, is your family sensitive to your need to eat gluten free?

Yes, they try their best to cook gluten free meals and help me with the diet.

(thanks for reading my post)

 

On 9/6/2023 at 5:49 PM, Scott Adams said:

At your age I know that 2 years sounds like a very long time, especially if you choose the harder work path of staying in the dorms where you need to cook and clean for yourself, and get a job to cover the extra costs, however, to me it seems like this might be a better option, at least as far as your overall mental health is concerned. 

You also mentioned a hybrid solution where perhaps you can stay at the dorm whenever things at home get "toxic," but stay at home whenever things seem ok. This would make the most sense overall, but only if the family drama doesn't affect your studies.

I will take some actions about this next week, prepare myself before school year starts.

Ps. I appreciate that you took time to read and reply, thank you

[louai1920]

21 hours ago, cristiana said:

Welcome @louai1920

I think it is brilliant that you have been able to achieve so much i.e. five years of medical school under so much pressure, well done.  Like Scott, I think the hybrid solution makes the most sense of all.  

It must be difficult always having to cook food from scratch, with no gluten free pre-prepared food available.  I have stayed in a part of Europe where this was the case, and it was hard work.  Would there be a fridge available where you could store larger batches of food, to save having to cook from scratch every day?  I know this may not be possible, my husband's halls of residence at university didn't offer such facilities.

Just out of interest, do you know any other coeliacs?  I'm not sure what percentage of the population is affected by it in Algeria.

Thanks for that, it was a struggle to reach this level, but I'm so proud and working hard to be the best doctor I can be. I may move out to work in a better country in future where I don't struggle much.

And I baught myself a small fridge and small oven that fits in a dorms room where I can do that, so I could store food. I can adapt to that life again, of cooking from scratch, I was so stressed out thinkig of it cause I got used to the comfort of home, but I will try a hybrid thing as you and Scott suggested.

And personally I know one celiac friend, but I've seen the online communities of hundreds, I think numbers are growing but the situation isn't improving much, with no governmental aid and zero social awarness about the disease.

Ps. I really appreciate you taking time to read and comment, I needed someone to relate to (like the experience you had in eastern europe)

[trents]

louai1920,

When you become a doctor, perhaps you can use your status and your professional connections to promote a greater awareness of celiac disease in your country. Even in the USA, there is significant "unawareness" about gluten-related disorders within the medical community at large. It's just on most general practitioners' radar and so there is a high rate of misdiagnosis which typically extends gluten exposure for additional unnecessary years.

[louai1920]

Just now, trents said:

louai1920,

When you become a doctor, perhaps you can use your status and your professional connections to promote a greater awareness of celiac disease in your country. Even in the USA, there is significant "unawareness" about gluten-related disorders within the medical community at large. It's just on most general practitioners' radar and so there is a high rate of misdiagnosis which typically extends gluten exposure for additional unnecessary years.

I hope I'll be able to help locally or globally, the problem with celiac is that it has no specific symptom and varries from one patient to another, which makes it hard to diagnose. I hope things change in future and patients will have better health care and management.

[trents]

4 minutes ago, louai1920 said:

I hope I'll be able to help locally or globally, the problem with celiac is that it has no specific symptom and varries from one patient to another, which makes it hard to diagnose. I hope things change in future and patients will have better health care and management.

Exactly, my point! Physicians need to be made more aware of the range of presenting symptoms that can be experienced within the celiac population and not just focus on enteric symptoms. There's a real need for education in this area.

Edited September 7, 2023 by trents

[Jessie Guia]

Although I am not dealing with this personally, I can share my son’s experience as a Senior in College.  He was diagnosed his 3rd year of college, so approximately one year ago in November. He was completely overwhelmed at the thought of having to prepare every single meal independently so he opted to do a hybrid of staying in school three days of the week and coming home for the remaining four of which I would prepare meals and send prepared meals back with him. That ended up being a great option for last year overall for his physical health, but his mental health as another individual said on this post suffered tremendously. This year he returned back fully on campus and he is indeed preparing all of his meals. What he does is meal prep as much as he can on Sundays and has everything easily pre-cut, or premixed, or pre-chopped, so he can quickly throw together his lunch and dinner.  It’s all about preparation and the more you do it the faster you become at it and the more you find shortcuts and maybe you just repeat the same meal a couple times a week, but staying on campus where you need to be to successfully finish your studies will be less disruptive, and overall you will feel more accomplished and less stressed. I truly hope this helps and as I said, a mom of a son going through this I deeply feel for you and I wish you all the best!! 

[Scott Adams]

Excellent story, and suggestions--thank you for sharing!

[phillipcl.]

On 9/6/2023 at 10:55 AM, louai1920 said:

I'm a medical student, I was diagnosed with celiac on my first semester in medical school 5 years ago (I still have 2 years to graduate).

I have learned a lot in last few years, but I'm in a complicated situation right now where I have to choose between my physical health and mental health.

I have to choose whether to go back to dorms room this year or stay in my family's home.

Dorms means I have to cook every single meal, waste a lot of time cooking and cleaning my own dishes, buying groceries... (There is no ready meals or pre prepared gluten free meals here), I might also need a part time job to cover some of the costs of groceries. This means less time for studying and I won't eat much during exams period (I have those all year round) so my physical health won't be so well, even though I ALWAYS respect my diet and eat strictly gluten free.

Staying at home with my family, means I will have my mom and sister's help with cooking, I will eat more and be healthier physically, however, my mental health won't be okay since I live in a toxic household, I will witness a lot of family's conflicts and problems. Sometimes it gets so unbearable that it triggers my depression and I go numb, won't even study, just stay in bed. And it's good that I know some good educational resources, and sites, which help me a lot with my studies during such a period. I do my best not to miss deadlines, and to learn everything I need, but sometimes I don't have enough time for it. Last week I needed to write a persuasive paper, and I was struggling a lot during that period, so almost missed the deadline. But it's good that I came across one page with persuasive essay topics for college where I managed to find and read some useful information and found some ideas, so I sent my paper on time. But I hope that soon I'll be able to find some balance and face fewer challenges.

I spent 4 first years in dorms and the 5th year at home and both are so tough on me, now I'm thinking of going back to dorms.

There's the option of alternating between the two, I also see this as a good thing to do, when I get tired of one I go to the other.

I just need people who relate to my struggle to feel me and the pain I endure silencly, understand and offer me guidance and help, I feel so lonely in this struggle as its a weird and unique situation.

Ps. I hope things change when I graduate and have more money to manage my diet better.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I had a similar situation when I was a student, because I also have very difficult relationships with and in my family, and it still affects me.

And it's indeed good that you can switch places and that your family supports you and helps you.

It's difficult to live in a dormitory and cook every day, and I hope that soon it will become easier for you.