MY STORY

My Story:

Hello!! My name is Jessica and I have been a coeliac now for around 3 and a half years, I
can’t believe how quick that’s gone!! I was first diagnosed with coeliac disease when I was
16, and going through my GCSE’S at school. I was a healthy teen who had never had any
problems with food before, although that’s what I thought! Over a period of around 6/7
months, I was becoming really ill. I had a variety of symptoms, the main one being extreme
dizziness. This would cause me to be bed bound all whilst the room was spinning for 3 days
until the symptoms eased. I also experienced brain fog, which as you can imagine whilst
doing my GCSE’s was not that helpful! I never really had any stomach problems it was all
surrounding dizziness, feeling lightheaded, I suffered badly with low iron. I kept taking
tablets, finishing the course, all for a few months later for my levels to drop again. It really
was an awful time of my life. I had been backwards and forwards to the doctors throughout
these 6 months with them sending me for hundreds of blood tests, which really didn’t help as
blood tests aren’t my favourite thing at all!!! Every time, the results were coming back clear,
and the doctors just couldn’t understand what was wrong with me. I was constantly told that
it was puberty and I just had to get on with it. However, I just couldn’t, I was being sent home
from school every day, and I was just very poorly.
However, the breakthrough moment did come and I cant thank this doctor enough! Due to
me not having any “typical” symptom of coeliac, or showing any signs of problems with food,
I was never tested. However, this doctor sent me for the blood test for coeliac. That day I
looked at my blood test form and saw this specific Tissue Transglutaminase Antibodies
test. Of course I googled it, which isn’t a good idea for any illness, although i'm the worst for
doing it, and I knew straight away that it was going to be a positive diagnosis. Fast forward a
few days and my results returned. It was confirmed I had coeliac disease just from the blood
test! The Doctor told me, my levels were so high, they didn’t need to do a biopsy. As a young
16 year old girl, feeling very ill, and being diagnosed with a “disease” I had no idea what to
expect. Especially when they told me there was no cure other than to be on a gluten free diet
for life. I didn’t even know what “gluten” was, I had never looked at an ingredients list before,
or even considered the fact that the food I was eating was making me so ill. That evening me
and my family of course shed a few tears, but we went straight to supermarkets and looked
at the freefrom aisle which I know all to well now haha!!!! My mum and dad tried their best
to make me feel the best I could, although I was very scared and had no idea what to
expect.
The doctors referred me to the hospital, when in time I saw a dietitian who guided me along
the way and also the coeliac Einstein as I called him, who knew everything about coeliac but
still had never heard of my particular symptoms. Straight away I began my gluten free diet. It
wasn’t great to begin with! The first thing I tried was a gluten free crumpet which I had to try
very hard to hold the gags in!! Needless to say I wasn’t a very happy bunny after that, as I
have always loved food, and I felt I would never be able to eat anything nice again!!!
However, the journey to recovery wasn’t straight forward, I did actually get worse before I got
better! I went straight to a gluten free diet, but my body was still showing my extreme
dizziness and at times it was worse than before! The doctors were telling me to stick with it,
and it turns out they were right! Around 3 months after this, I was feeling better. It took about
a year until I was 100% my self and it really was life changing! I couldn’t even remember the
last time I was feeling well.

Me and my family have worked so hard and spent hours going round supermarkets finding
hidden gluten free foods, the nice foods from the gluten free aisle and I believe that now 3
and a half years on, I have a good understanding of what us as coeliacs can and can’t eat
and which foods are actually edible!! All my fellow coeliacs will understand how hard it is to
find some edible gluten free bread!! Which I have now found so that will definitely be a
recommendation to come!!
I cant thank my family enough for supporting me through the journey, which was very scary
for us all!! Being a coeliac is very difficult, especially when it comes to eating out and trusting
people with how your going to be feeling for the next 4 days. This is what inspired me to
begin this blog. I have struggled with confidence, with eating out at unknown places, as I
have had some bad experiences and some close calls. I also like to look at
recommendations and this is what my blog is going to be for. I am going to give honest
reviews, and with my symptoms being so severe, the next morning I truly know whether my
meal was 100% gluten free, whether there was some contamination, or whether a mistake
was made somewhere.
I hope to help some people out on their coeliac journey, whether they are just starting or
struggling with the idea of eating gluten free for life! It has really changed my life receiving
this diagnosis and I honestly wouldn’t go back! Making me feel back to myself, makes it all
worth it!
Jess X