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My Celiac StoryIt's been over two years since I finally found out what wasdestroying my body from the inside out. I had a history ofstomach problems and when my symptoms became bad enough tofeel justified going to the doctor, was told that I hadgastritis, which is essentially an enflamed stomach lining. Antacid medications were prescribed and I was sent on myway. The medications seemed to work at first, buteventually my symptoms came back. Each time my "gastritis"came back, it was worse than the time before. I felt bloated, my head hurt, I was nauseous, and my insides feltlike they were on fire. My skin also reacted by producing patches of red, itchy, flakiness. Around 2003, the symptoms began to include mind-crushing migraines. To combat the migraines, a neurologist put me on an anti-seizure medication and told me to stop eating yogurt, bananas,chocolate, and to eliminate caffeine from my diet. I did asI was told but my stomach problems and migraines continued.By the Spring of 2006 my health had deteriorated to the point that my body finally had enough. What felt likeanother attack of "gastritis" quickly evolved into fever,and sharp, stabbing pains on the right side of my abdomen.I ate antacids like candy to no avail, and had to sleepsitting up otherwise I'd wake up choking on stomach acid. Iwas admitted into the ER and went through a battery oftests, which indicated inflammation in my stomach (ashocker!) and small intestines. They attributed it to gas,gave me yet another script of antacid medication and sent meon my way. The medications didn't work at all and Icontinued to get worse.By June of 2006 I began to lose weight. In addition to the pain, headaches, nausea, and bloating, I began to experiencenew and disturbing symptoms. I could no longer look atcomputer screens without feeling dizzy, and everything that moved produced a visual tail. I started to feel like I waslosing my mind, or tripping on some kind of hallucinogen.
Food began to scare me, since many things I ate made mysymptoms worse. In the course of three months I droppedfrom an unhealthy 212 pounds to 165 pounds. I still soughtout the help of doctors, now mainly gastroenterologists, whoonce again put me through a variety of tests. I had an MRI,CAT scan, at least 20 different blood tests, an endoscopy, acolonoscopy, parasite tests, and neurological tests. Nothing produced answers. Frustrated physicians began to blame me for my symptoms, telling me that I needed to seekthe help of a psychiatrist or a counselor. There wasnothing more disheartening to be told that all your physicalsymptoms are in your head, that the pain and discomfort youare feeling are not real. I've got to admit that I did alot of praying during those months.By the end of October 2006 I began to experienceexcruciating pain when I had a bowel movement, which wasoften accompanied by fresh blood. I again returned to thehospital, only to have physicians shove their fingers in myanus, which was extremely painful due to my rectal tearing,as well as a bit embarrassing as I'm sure those of youwho've had the same procedure know, and told that there wasnothing wrong with me. It wasn't until I brought in a picture of my toilet bowl filled with blood did mygastroenterologist begin to explore possible dietary causesof my symptoms. One of which was a test for gluten-antibodies. I asked him why and he informed me that I mayhave something called Celiac Disease. Celiac Disease, hesaid, was an auto-immune condition created by the body'sinability to digest gluten. Gluten was a protein found inwheat, barley, rye, and possibly oats. Although my test came back "inconclusive," I decided to tryand avoid eating gluten anyway. What could I lose? I wasdesperate. I had taken every medication given to me, aswell as put myself through a variety of herbal dietarydetoxification regimens, and stupidly enough, even fasted. Nothing helped. However when I eliminated gluten, I quicklynoticed results. Within three days my rectal bleeding
stopped, and in a few weeks I was having pain-free bowel movements! However, gluten had taken its toll on me. WhenI visited my mother for Christmas of 2006, she began to cryas soon as she saw me. The last time she had seen me I wasover 200 pounds, so seeing me at 145 pounds must have beenquite a shock! We cried together and I told her not toworry, because I felt that I had finally found out what waskilling me. As I avoided gluten my health began to slowlyimprove.Once I started researching gluten and Celiac Disease, Ifound that my negative physiological reactions to non-glutenfoods were caused by a condition called "leaky-gutsyndrome." In people with Celiac Disease, gluten creates anauto-immune condition where the body begins to attack thevilli (hair-like structures lining the intestines used for moving food particles and facilitating the absorption ofnutrients), eventually flattening them. As conditions become worse, the intestines become severely inflamed andeventually begin to tear and create fissures. My intestineshad been so damaged by my disease, that large, undigestedfood particles began seeping through the cracks in myintestinal walls into my blood stream. Once there they wereattacked by my immune system and labeled as "intruders." Ifyou don't know how the immune system works, once itidentifies something as an enemy, that information iscommunicated to the rest of the body. The result was that I began to have allergic reactions to many of the things Iate, but especially nuts, seeds, and dairy products.Severely damaged intestines also produce neurologicalconditions. Not only did I have a hard time looking atcomputer screens, something of a liability when in graduateschool, but when I closed my eyes I saw what looked likestrobe-lights flashing in my peripherals. Stores with a lotof visual congestion, like bookstores, made me dizzy. I wasalso seeing trails. When I moved my arms, even slowly, avisible trail resulted. It was worse with cars, birds, andanything else that moves. But worse than all of that was
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