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Hello everybody. I frequently used this forum prior to being diagnosed and appreciated every bit of advice and similar experiences I could find. So I've created an account to give back and tell my story, in the hope that if someone out there stumbles across my post one day, maybe it can offer reassurance as did so many others on here for me. I am a 26 year old female diagnosed with coeliac disease (by blood test and endoscopy - results of the latter came yesterday). Otherwise healthy. I have been eating gluten free for 2 weeks (since endoscopy was completed). No noticeable improvements yet but I guess it's early days! Symptoms began in June 2019 when I started eating a vegetarian diet. I guess I could have had coeliac for longer than this, but the fact I had dramatically changed my diet led me to ignore my symptoms for longer than I may have ordinarily. Looking back, I can see I was incorporating a lot more bread, pasta cous cous etc. into my diet, and it was over the next few months I really noticed the following: - Diarrhoea and very loose stools, particularly in the mornings - Weight loss - Stomach pain (although not drastically painful) - Occasional bloating - Increased anxiety and low mood, tearfulness, irritability - General fatigue and tiredness - Blood test showed anaemia I went for a tTG blood test in October and was told it was extremely likely I had coeliac disease. I was shocked! I was expecting I had IBS or my diet or anxiety were causing the symptoms. I was also quite worried about cancer. I didn't want to 'get my hopes up' that there was a less concerning explanation for my symptoms. It also felt like such a coincidence to have happened after the diet change. So at this point I stopped the vegetarian diet, and continued to eat gluten in anticipation for the endoscopy. Over the next few months the symptoms above persisted (despite reverting back to my usual meat and dairy contained diet, so I was more convinced here that something else was at play!) I also noticed other symptoms which I cannot say 100% are due to coeliac, but ones I attributed to coeliac in some way (i.e. lacking vitamins). These are the symptoms I would extensively search for on this forum to try and see if anyone else had anything similar: - Twitches in my upper and lower eyelids - Occasional tingles in my face, fingers etc. These were very intermittent. - A very itchy, stinging anus after bowel movements and a very slight leak 30-60min after bowel movements. Even after wiping clean, around an hour later I would find I needed to wipe a small amount again. I have really struggled with this one and have not seen much discussion about it. I have been examined down there and been told there are no hemorrhoids, lumps or any concerns etc. So I am hoping this is coeliac related and with general gut repair and health improvements, this might calm down. I would also be really interested to hear from anyone who suffered with this. In addition, whether anyone suffers with this due to a lactose intolerance or intolerance to other foods etc - eg onions/ curries. I am wondering whether to omit certain foods. - Breast pain, particularly a few weeks before my period. I feel this is a normal hormonal symptom to experience but it has become more noticeable My endoscopy was in January 2020 (6 months after noticing symptoms). I got the results yesterday - confirmed coeliac and showed no other problems. I am due to see a dietician and have a bone density scan soon. I am now looking for any tips on how to aid recovery, wondering what vitamins are best to take and what foods are tasty to eat! So that's my story. Sorry for the length of the post! Hope it might help anyone with similar symptoms wondering 'is this coeliac' feel a bit reassured that it might be. Happy to answer questions of anyone who has yet to receive a diagnosis. I was very stressed and anxious during the lead up to all my tests and results because I was internally quite concerned I had cancer. So now being on the other side and able to focus on 'yes this is my diagnosis and let's manage this and try to make the best of it!' I would like to help anyone feeling concerned. Thanks for reading. Here's to a happy, healthy and gluten free 2020!