Is Gluten our enemy ?

So the last few weeks have been somewhat a breakthrough! Not only for myself but for my eldest son as well.

For years I have suffered with chronic stomach pains, bloating, trouble going to the toilet and many more debilitating daily problems.

I have lost count the amount of times I have visited my GP with these problems and also private clinics just to be told that my problems are a result of years of anorexia and messing around with my digestive system, anxiety or in the recent years its IBS” here’s a prescription we will see you in a month”.

The medications haven’t suited me and have increased my headaches and stomachs cramps not to mention making me so bloated I looked pregnant!

So I have been trying to self heal for the past year and slowly I’ve been feeling better.

Then the breakthrough happens, a north London paediatric ward. My nine year old son and I have been referred to see a specialist as he to has suffered for most of his life with chronic stomach pains, he has been diary free for several years now but still the cramping he suffers daily is affecting his life. Not to mention extreme mood swings and anxiety.

We sit down with a relatively young doctor and for the first time in years she listens, she listens to my theory’s regarding the research I’ve accumulated over the years and to my shock she agrees.

Are we both celiac?

So I stared looking into gluten and what it can do to our bodies a few months ago.

For myself this hadn’t been on my research list as at the time I was trying to self heal against IBS and anxiety as convinced by me GP that following two life tragedy’s it must be this.

However I was starting to wonder if my son was allergic to gluten.

He had suddenly started experiencing heart palpitations and along side that the fear of so many things he hadn’t even mentioned before.

These anxieties came so out of the blue that I wondered could the feeling of his heart racing be the reason he was starting to have panic attacks at 9 years old.

So from my limited understanding celiac and heart palpitations can go hand in hand.

Celiac disease is only now being regally tested for, so many people like myself and my son will have been living with this illness for years, it slowly weakens the body and in turn many experience cluster headaches, heart palpitations, extreme mood swings to name but a few of the side effects of this illness.

If treated early enough then the long term damage can be minimal however if left for years untreated sadly parts of the intestines will be damaged forever, also this illness if left untreated can lead to a weakening of the immune system leaving you vulnerable to secondary problems.

So the outcome of one children’s ward visit has been truly a remarkable breakthrough for us both, we have both now had the test and await the results.