INSPO Fitness Journal July 2017

The challenges of
COELIAC
I was in my early 40s and
steadily getting sicker.
I used to wake up tired and
my body ached. My head
was foggy and my memory
was non-existent.
BY MAREE LYNCH
I
struggled to go to work each day as a
primary teacher; sometimes I couldn’t
focus across the classroom or remember
a child’s name. I actually couldn’t do my job.
I was missing out doing things with my two
children as I was constantly exhausted.
I used to ride and compete in dressage,
but each morning getting out of bed I could
feel every riding muscle like I was someone
not used to this kind of activity. Sometimes
I would have to slide off my horse’s shoulder
to dismount, doing everything I could not to
land in a heap at my horse’s feet.
I’m not sure how I kept riding but I think
it kept me feeling a little bit normal. I certainly
wasn’t very effective or any good.
I was having serious issues with different
joints, particularly my knees. My GP diagnosed
me with fibromyalgia and more or less
told me that was my lot and I might need to
consider giving up horses.
It wasn’t until I was seeing a locum physio
for a sore knee when it occurred to me there
was something else going on.
The physio told me I needed to get off the
couch and get active as I had the muscle tone
of an inactive 60-year-old. I was insulted. I
left angry. But it got me thinking. I was still
active, I had pushed through the pain and
kept on my feet and doing things. I had never
stayed in bed or lay on the couch.
My husband and I decided I needed to
take a year off to try and sort out my health
issues.
Back to my GP I went. I had loads of
blood tests and was booked in for Multiple
Sclerosis tests as this was considered a
possible.
The blood results included an tTG which
is the coeliac test. This came back positive.
I was booked in for the coeliac biopsy the
afternoon after my MS tests.
I was ignorant about coeliac disease so
turned to Dr Google. I skim-read various
articles and was quite convinced I didn’t
have it. The focus was all to do with stomach
complaints and I didn’t think I fitted the
mould. I was wrong. My biopsy was positive.
Having coeliac disease was the reason for my
poor health.
I had coeliac disease. I knew nothing
about it except it had something to do with
bread. I was about to start a very steep learning
curve.
Coeliac disease is an autoimmune disorder.
There are no pills to fix it. However, it is
completely manageable by being strictly 100
percent gluten free. But this is way harder
than you might think. Gluten is everywhere.
It took me more than a year and a complete
change in my diet, to start feeling well
and regain some energy. And even now I am
finding out more about being a coeliac all
the time. I still find gluten in places I would
never expect. Most of the time I am positive
and up-beat about being a coeliac, but every
now and then I get totally frustrated and
have a poor-me moment. My frustration
comes mostly from other people’s ignorance
and flippant comments.
This time last year I missed watching my
daughter’s dance show in Tauranga because
of an error by a chef in a local cafe. Instead
I spent two hours lying on the filthy floor of
the only toilet in a rural service station waiting
for an ambulance and someone to come
and get me. I was dressed to the nines in my
little black cocktail dress and heels. Not a
pretty picture with violent D and V.
Earlier in the day I had confidently purchased
a savoury quiche-type thing from a
cafe that prides itself on catering for coeliacs.
Unfortunately for me, the chef had used
regular flour instead of rice flour.
I only took one bite as it tasted awful. In
retrospect, it was likely the gluten I could
taste.
I was very sick and had to take a week off
work.
It took nearly a month to get my energy
back. It only takes 1/64 of a teaspoon of
gluten to cause a reaction like this. Only one
other time have I been worse and it was on
an international flight. Incredibly distressing
and embarrassing to have such a public
reaction and pretty awful for the people I was
travelling with as well.
Coeliacs who ingest gluten have 50 percent
more chance of getting bowel cancer.
Every little smidgen of gluten ,even a bread
crumb in the butter or on a knife damages a
coeliac’s insides. That is why coeliacs are so
fussy. We are not picky for the sake of being
picky. We are particular so we can be happy
and healthy.
For me as a coeliac, traveling and eating
out are the most stressful areas of concern.
Every mouthful of food prepared by a
stranger just might be the one to ruin your
good time. I realised when we recently holidayed
in Australia that the first thing I check
40 INSPO – FITNESS JOURNAL JULY 2017