Celiac disease
September 16, 2008 by wwkayakfamily
Filed under Diabetes
I was just diagnosed with celiac disease which tends to be fairly common among diabetics. Celiac disease is a gluten intolerance, which means I can’t have any wheat products. It acts like an allergen in my body, causing my intestines to swell and then they can no longer absorb nutrients so I actually stop growing. I can’t tell if it happened because of diabetes, or was a cause of it that was just discovered. We opted out of the invasive intestinal biopsy, and instead are going the alternative route, but most importantly are excluding gluten from my diabetes. Diabetes can be limiting, celiac disease even more, add to that thefact that I am a vegetarian and the food is even more limited, but I love fresh veggies and fruit and and we are looking into rice and other alternatives. More on this as it progresses.
You can do it! There are a lot of great blogs out there that can give you tips. Do a google alert for celiac disease and one for gluten free and that will help you locate some that might interest you!
Peace!
Sage,
You are so fortunate to learn about your Celiac Disease at such a young age. I myself was fortunate that I had an early diagnosis. Most people who have celiac disease never know it or have decades of health issues before they are properly diagnosed. Right around the time I was diagnosed my uncle was diagnosed with sarciadosis, another auto-immune disease. After my family learned more about the disease and learned that it is a genetic disease we suggested to him that he might have it. When he suggested it to his doctors they dismissed it. He went gluten free on his own two years ago and today has no symptoms of sarciadosis. Since my diagnosis my mother and two of my aunts have asked thier doctors and been diagnosed with it as well. This disease runs in families and it is almost certain that one of your parents has it and it is asymptomatic. The reason the medical community has been so hesitant in the past to diagnose this disease is because it has such a wide array of symptoms and is often asymptomatic. Close to 1 in 100 people have this disease and 90% of them are undiagnosed. As difficult as a gluten free lifestyle can be you won’t have to suffer for years as so many others have.
I reccomend that you or your parents read a book called “Celiac Disease a Hidden Epidemic” which the washoe county library has.
ISBN 978-0-06-076693-1
http://www.amazon.com/Celiac-Disease-Peter-H-r-Green/dp/006076693X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222836170&sr=8-1