Coeliac diagnosis is a B***h: My recovery

As many of you know I have recently finished a Gluten Challenge.

Having lived gluten free since Christmas my doctor wanted to test me for Coeliac Disease - why? Find out here and here.

As I've mentioned before I have found the online support for gluten sufferers overwhelming - one of the most inspiring things I read was Joy's post about her recovery over on The Liberated Kitchen.

Having read her post I decided I would do a similar thing over here on The Steel Plate, logging and tracking my symptoms as they *hopefully* improve over the coming weeks and months.

I'll start my summarising the symptoms I have had over the last two weeks...

[DISCLAIMER: If you are squeamish about bodily functions you may wish not to read on.]

• 3-4 migraines per week lasting between 1-4 hours at a time
• severe fatigue (falling asleep at midday for 2/3 hours)
• constipation (going to the loo once a week if I was lucky)
• brain fog / stuttering (probably the most annoying symptom)
• severe pain in my legs, hips and wrists - this symptom was by far the worst, sometimes making it impossible to write/sleep/shower/walk
• anxiety  

As I mentioned previously, my doctor is unconvinced that all my symptoms are gluten-related but they did only occur when I re-introduced gluten to my diet. Thus, I have been tested for a range of things including Thyroid disease, various vitamin deficiencies and Type 1 diabetes.  

I had my blood test this morning at 10am and haven't eaten gluten since 14.00pm yesterday. Almost 24hours on an I can already feel a slight improvement - especially in my joints. You will have noticed a slight hiatus in my blogging - the main reason being typing became very painful. Yet, here I am typing away happily.

Over the next few weeks I am going to set myself small challenges to a) improve my health and b) strengthen my body. I'll log how things go here in the hope that it might help somebody in the future.

I'll be following the guidance below to aid a quick recovery:

• Drink at least 2 litres of water a day.
• Eat at least 3 vegetables and 2 fruits every day.
• Sleep 8 hours a night (and no more).
• Walk the dog every night (something I have missed doing so much).
• Avoid all gluten products.
• Avoid FODMAPs at lunch and breakfast in order to reduce my intake.
• Get out into the city and try as much gluten-free food as I can! 

Thanks again for your support and advice :)

20/7/15  - An Update

It's been just over two weeks since by blood test so I thought it was time for an update.

Firstly my results: My Coeliac screening has come back negative (for a second time) which was not a surprise. Since being back on a GF diet, however, my stomach cramps have subsided and my stomach looks 'flat' again (I wish). The other symptoms, however, of fatigue and joint pain have got progressively worse. Day-to-day tasks are exhausting and at times simply getting comfy enough to nap is a challenge. The blood test did show that my Vitamin B12 is very low which could be responsible for these symptoms. I see my doctor tomorrow and hope to get some answers. I'll feedback when I know more.

I'd like to re-visit my guidelines above to see how well I have stuck to them:

• Drink at least 2 litres of water a day. - I have been doing very well with this - I bought a Brita Fill&Go Water Bottle which I have found really handy.
• Eat at least 3 vegetables and 2 fruits every day. - Veg has been my champion over the last few weeks, I need to do better with fruit.
• Sleep 8 hours a night (and no more). - This has been impossible. I am sleeping 9-10 hours and napping around 3pm. This is something I have no control over currently and is something I need to speak to my doctor about.
• Walk the dog every night (something I have missed doing so much). - I have managed this 3/4 times a week. Light activity is difficult but manageable and I intend to keep it up.
• Avoid all gluten products. - 100%
• Avoid FODMAPs at lunch and breakfast in order to reduce my intake.  - Haven't stuck with this as much as I wanted to - it's such a tough diet!
• Get out into the city and try as much gluten-free food as I can!  - I've just started to feel like I can do this again - see my recent review of The Milestone for a delicious recommendation. 

Love to my readers that are suffering similar challenges at the moment - keep your chin up and focus on your health. Priortise you.