Describe your life prior to diagnosis:
I grew up in Serbia where pastries are a huge part of the culture and lifestyle. I would eat gluten daily, often excessively, now that I look back. Croissants were my favorite since early childhood and I kept that habit later when I started drinking coffee. It was my morning routine. I honestly couldn’t imagine I’d have to give it up some day, but now that I am here, I feel relieved more than anything to know the cause of everything I’d been experiencing.
How did you come to know (or suspect) that you have celiac disease?
I had serious anemia my whole life. Doctors would give me iron supplements to try and fix it but it was like it could never be fixed. I ate all the right foods, you know, greens and lean red meat, but it was still there year after year. Because of that, I constantly felt cold and my hair started falling out. I knew there must be another reason that it was not improving no matter what I tried. Besides that, I experienced neurological symptoms, dizziness, chronic fatigue, and I couldn’t work out or I’d feel nauseous. I am lucky I don’t have terrible gut symptoms, but everything else can be just as bad.
How long did it take for you to get diagnosed since your first symptoms and what (if any) challenges did you face along the way?
I can’t say exactly, but I feel I’ve had these symptoms since middle school, and I am 34 now. They worsened as time went by. Symptoms would improve at times but then come back, often in a worse form.
Do you believe anything could have sped up your diagnosis?
I strongly feel that the blood test for celiac disease needs to be routinely done. I always get check-ups yearly and the fact that nobody even thought of it for years is so shocking to me.
Describe your experience with living with celiac disease:
It’s been around 6 months now, so I am definitely new to this change, but I’ll say that I felt an immense amount of relief when I found out. I know that’s not the case for everyone but for me it really was. I don’t think my lifestyle has drastically changed either because I always loved fruits and vegetables and even though I miss something occasionally, I don’t have a feeling I am missing out on anything. There are so many gluten-free options nowadays. I am grateful for that and just excited to heal and feel better!
