Summary

A mother's relentless pursuit led to her daughter's diagnosis of Celiac Disease after years of unexplained stomach pain, ultimately transforming her family's dietary habits to accommodate a gluten-free lifestyle.

Abstract

After a decade of her daughter suffering from undiagnosed stomach pains and unhelpful doctor visits, a mother took it upon herself to find the cause. Through her own research, she discovered Celiac Disease and confirmed the diagnosis by observing the cessation of symptoms after removing gluten from her daughter's diet. This revelation led to the surprising discovery that three of her six children had the disease, with symptoms ranging from severe stomach pain to eczema. The family then embarked on a challenging journey to adapt to a gluten-free lifestyle, which included learning to bake gluten-free treats and carefully managing their dietary intake to ensure their children's health and well-being.

Opinions

The mother felt frustrated and helpless with the lack of medical support and accurate diagnosis for her daughter's condition.
She was determined and proactive in seeking answers, which led to the self-discovery of Celiac Disease as a possible explanation for her daughter's symptoms.
The mother initially doubted the possibility of food-related issues due to her own lack of allergies.
She was shocked to learn that multiple children in her family were affected by Celiac Disease, with varying symptoms.
The mother experienced a range of emotions, from depression over

My Daughter was Diagnosed with Celiac Disease After Ten Years of Suffering

How we learned to cope with life differently after diagnosis

Field of wheat- Image by Pexels from Pixabay

Since the time my daughter was little, she would lay on the ground in pain after eating. She was my oldest and I didn’t know what to do. I would take her to the doctor, and they told me that she is constipated and prescribed me Miralax. It didn’t work, and the doctors were of no help.

I discovered her diagnosis on my own because I was tired of seeing my child suffer. I was determined to find an answer.

Life before the diagnosis

I never had allergies of any kind, so it never occurred to me that my child would. She had horrible stomach pains that left her unable to function. I read and researched and even at one point thought it was psychology related.

She was an athlete and would lay down on the gym floor and cry from the pain in the middle of practice. Several doctor visits revealed nothing. Finally, I demanded that they do an x-ray to see if she was truly constipated. I was not surprised when it showed that she wasn’t.

More trial and error on my part led me finding and reading a book about Celiac Disease. I had never heard of it, and everything in the book stated sounded like my daughter.

I took her off of Gluten all together for two weeks to see what happened. For the first time in her life, her stomach pains had stopped.

What is Celiac Disease?

Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disease that is triggered by eating Gluten, the binding agent of wheat. It is not an allergy, but a disease and the only cure is to be 100% gluten-free.

As Gluten passes through the digestive system of someone with Celiac disease, their small intestines begin to swell. This swelling of the small intestines keeps the digestive villi from being able to grab ahold of nutrients as it passes through.

The result is not only digestive problems but also malnourishment.

At ten years old, my daughter was 50lbs. She was malnourished, and I didn’t even know! Within a year of taking her off Gluten, she gained 20 much-needed pounds and also grew several inches.

The shock of diagnosis

Around the time my daughter tested positive, my three year old also complained of stomach aches. At the time, I had six children, so I had everyone tested as I knew it was genetic.

To my shock, three of my six children tested positive. I was not surprised by my three-year-old because of his stomach pains, but one of my children tested positive and had no GI upset.

She did, however, have severe Eczema that I tried so hard to get rid of. I even started making my own soap to treat her.

What blew my mind is that once I took her off Gluten, her Eczema cleared up. It turns out that Celiac disease can present through the skin in the form of Eczema called dermatitis herpetiformis.

One diagnosis answered so many questions.

Coping with a new lifestyle

Now the mission was to turn the house gluten free. Even with a large number of gluten-free options available, it turns out it was not as easy as one would think to go Gluten-free.

As a busy mom with a big family, the small selection of foods were both expensive and tasted terrible. As someone who had previously loved to bake, the prospect of food preparation was depressing.

Even when I tried new recipes, they would turn out terrible, and I would waste a lot of expensive flour in the process. I was determined not to give up. I didn’t want my kids to miss out on all the fun treats that other kids had, so I kept trying until I finally got it right.

The book Gluten-Free on a Shoestring taught me how to be a Gluten-free baker. Where I was once sad at the prospect of baking I was now so proud of myself. t I could make doughnuts, cinnamon rolls and more Gluten-free and from scratch.

Final Thoughts

It has been four years since diagnosis, and it has not always been easy. We, for the most part, have a difficult time eating out or ordering food. Every label is read, and more thought is put in gatherings where there will be food.

I know it has been hard for my children to be different and not get some of the treats that others have, and it’s also hard for them to cope with this being a lifelong lifestyle.

However, they are healthy and thriving, and that is all that truly matters. Even though the road to finally figure out the pain tormenting my daughter took ten long years, I am glad we finally have some answers