New Year, New Me… Resolutions That Matter

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“The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it.”

– Jordan Belfort

As I am doing my best Leonardo DiCaprio impression from The Wolf of Wall Street movie, I thought starting and ending with a quote from there was a great way to start my first blog post in the new decade.

I love this time of the year because it always feels like a fresh new start. A new start to the year (or in this case, decade), can be taken as a time to worry over what had happened last year, and years before that, or look forward to what is to come this year and make it your best year yet. It is all a mind set, is the glass half full, or half empty? Or, is it just a glass of water?

It is so often that we will make a long list of goals and accomplishments, and become unmotivated or bored of them. So this year I am setting just four of them.

1) Keep wearing your heart on your sleeve, because that is who you are, but do not let it affect your mindset.

Last year I found myself overthinking about situations. Things such as: what someone had said to me, noticing people following and unfollowing or ‘de-friending’ me on social media platforms, not hearing from someone for a long time, and wondering if people still like me. It is not hard to say that I am, and always have been, a people pleaser. I care a lot about every living being that comes into my life, and this is probably part of the reason why I am so good at my job. 

However, you cannot make every person happy, and not everyone is going to like you because we all have different interests and ways of thinking. So, this year I am going to keep my heart on my sleeve, but I am going to be more mindful of what is worth getting worked up over and what I need to just let go. Because it is exhausting and causes unnecessary stress on your body which effects your overall health. So, smile and nod and accept the things you just cannot change.

Let go of things that cause you stress and ultimately, do not matter. If your future self won’t remember or care about what is going on right now, then it is not worth the energy and time of your present self.

2) Get back in the gym regularly, no matter how tired your body feels. You have a new training style to smash out for your half marathon this year.

For those of you who do not know, I have been spending the last three years healing my gut after a diagnosis of celiac disease. There are times my body feels very fatigued and sore, this could be due to residual inflammation or just because of how physical my job is. But none the less, I have slacked off on my usual routine of going to the gym and staying active. I have also found it very difficult to find the motivation to get back into routine. So to counteract this, I have done something I never thought I would do, which is sign up for a half marathon. I do not run long distances – but I knew this would be the perfect motivation as there is one thing about me I know for sure, and that is, I cannot give up.

If you are in a similar situation, maybe not being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, but just lost motivation; start small and bring yourself back to a regular routine. Believe me, I know it’s hard, so maybe you need to do what I have done and sign up for something you need to work towards like a marathon, a sports team, crossfit, or some kind of physical competition like body building.

If that is not your forte, another idea that is quite successful, is to try getting a gym buddy. Typically if you have someone to commit to, you are more likely to go because you do not want to let them down.

Just rememeber, great things never come from comfort zones.

3) Do not make a new year’s resolution or monthly goal you cannot keep up with.

Every new year brings new resolutions, and we either keep up with them or we do not. I think the biggest reason as to why we loose motivation is the simple fact that we put too much pressure on ourselves. How many times have you given yourself a new years resolution that is not feasible? 

“I will loose 40 pounds this month.” “I will go to the gym every day, twice a day.” “I won’t eat sugar, carbs, meat, gluten, grains, caffeine, soy, corn, eggs, alcohol, or dairy for the rest of the year.”

The fact of the matter is, things change and unexpected outcomes happen. If you put too much pressure on yourself to accomplish goals that you cannot control or keep up with, you will feel defeated and you will give up too soon. How about instead of cutting out everything in kitchen, you try one or two items. Or! How about you do something new by thinking, ‘I will try a new food each week instead of cutting something out.’

Being a member of the celiac club, I do know a thing or two about elimination diets and cutting out foods that you may be intolerant or allergic to. That is clearly a different story if it is an allergy or autoimmune disease and you have to cut it out for your lifetime. But sometimes you can cut certain foods out for a few months until you are back to full health and try to reintroduce them to see if your body agrees with them.

It is a great idea to try something new and see if it works for you. However, do not put so much pressure on yourself to complete something everyday. Sometimes if you do not get around to it, you end up beating yourself up and in a negative mindset. This doesn’t get anyone anywhere. So try something new for a bit and if it does not make rainbows explode out of your butt like a unicorn’s, smile and move on to try something else.

4) Cash is King but your nutrition, health and mentality is the Emperor.

I may have to copyright this one, as I think it could be my best quote of 2020. Joking aside, I think this one is the most important for me this year.

In other words, if you work yourself to the bone and let your health go to the back burner, you will never succeed. Now, that is not to say that you can strive to be a couch potato and not work at all. There needs to be an equal amount of working hard and making your health a priority. By making something a priority, you make it something that has to be done and you make time for it. 

I have spent the last two weeks off from work with a staycation, and it has been exactly what I needed. I did not realize just how burnt out I was until I stopped. I have been sleeping better, my digestion is improving, energy is returning, I am able to get out of bed again, my body has had time to heal, and I’ve had the motivation to do things I have not done in a long time, such as the gym and reading.

On a regular basis I am bending over backwards for my career, extending my hours and taking time away from my own self care to make extra money. However, if you think about it, all of the extra income that you are making may eventually have to be used later in life for doctor visits, extended health and hospital visits. Also, not to mention, most of it ends up going to the tax man.

Therefore, my last and final resolution for this year is to make my health and wellness my top priority, by spending anywhere from 20-120 minutes a day in the gym, out in nature, traveling, meditating, reading, writing in my journal, making blog posts, self care, watching a movie, playing a video game, just basically anything and everything that does not have to do with work. Yes, I do not have any children or pets, but as I said, it is about making it a priority. You are the only person that can take care of yourself, and if you are not well, you cannot take care of anyone else to the best of your ability.

This will be the year of balance, a healthy lifestyle and leaping out of my comfort zone; all without unnecessary pressure on myself. 

“97% of the people who quit too soon are employed by the 3% who didn’t.”

– Jordan Belfort

Bring it on 2020.

LEW 

xxx

Part 3: My first accidental exposure to gluten that lead to a gastroscopy

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Have you ever wondered what it would be like to eat gluten again? I was accidentally exposed to gluten at a restaurant, and I can tell you that I never want this to happen again. This was my realization that I am 100% celiac, especially with how quickly my body reacted to it and for how long the symptoms stuck around for afterwards. Here is my story of being given gluten and how it brought me to doing the gastroscopy.

Just over a year of being gluten free, I went to a restaurant and ordered a gluten free panini. I told the server that it was for a celiac and to tell the chef to be careful with cross contamination. I saw her write celiac down and I then took a seat waiting for the food to be brought to me. It wasn’t until this day that I truly believed I was a celiac. I bit into the sandwich and I remember looking up at my friend and saying, “I sure hope this is gluten free,” because it tasted very strange to me. I ate the whole thing, and twenty minutes later I had major brain fog, a headache and nausea, and I was fighting to keep the food down. Then forty minutes later I had to find a toilet as I was puking and shortly after having very sharp pains in my gut. It felt as though I had eaten a bucket of razor blades. I then had a month or more of bloating, brain fog, sharp pains in my gut, muscle and joint pain, vision problems, hair loss, dermatitis herpetiformis, rashes and acne, decreased appetite, lack of sleep, menstrual pain and PMS, sadness, anxiety, irritation, I found it hard to breathe, and anything I ate or drank caused my stomach to bloat and hurt even more. 

The first photo to the left is a photo of the cystic acne that can occur with gluten exposure. The photo on the right, which also shows up on my upper arms, is a photo of one cheek from my buttocks with another form of dermatitis herpetiformis (I showed what happens with my hands in my blog, “Part one“). Both of these photos have been taken in the last year, and both of these conditions I had back in high school as well.

I finally went to see my doctor a month after eating the sandwich wondering what had happened. We did the blood test and my antibodies were right back up to greater then 300 (they should be less then 12). It took me 8 months to recover and feel like a human again and another 4 months to be my 100% normal self. All from eating one sandwich that was made with the wrong bread. From this moment on I had to go in every 3 months to have blood taken to test my iron levels and tTG levels, and the results were sent to a gastroenterologist and my family doctor. 

I think it bothered me more that the chef of the restaurant didn’t seem to care, I got a ‘copy and paste’ response from him with no apology. He blamed his front staff for not telling me about cross contamination possibilities but I explained that this was not just cross contamination, this was giving me the completely wrong bread. I found out later that three more celiac’s went to his restaurant and also became sick after my experience, which of course left me livid. However, from this experience and others over the last three years, I have now learned what it is like to fully eat something that is made with gluten and eat something that has been cross contaminated. 

A product that is made with gluten: you will know and taste the difference, and you will have an autoimmune reaction right away (as I mentioned at the beginning of this blog). It will make you awfully sick for months (mine lasted 8-12 months), and it may even bump back your intestinal healing time by a few months or years.

A product that has been cross contaminated with gluten: unfortunately, you cannot taste this. You may have symptoms of bloating, headaches or any of the other typical symptoms of celiac disease, the day of or a few days later. The bloating from my last cross contamination experience lasted 3-4 days but some other physical symptoms of rashes, acne, dermatitis herpetiformis, constipation and diarrhea, many toilet visits, and not to mention the mental side of aggravation, anxiety, sleepless nights, and depression (to name a few) lasted about 2-3 months after exposure.

The photos on top is after a weekend away being cross contaminated with gluten while eating out. The photos on the bottom is just three days after with a huge improvement in the bloat but not feeling 100% (I am completely relaxed in all photos).

For the first two and a half years after being diagnosed, I was only a celiac through a blood test. To be a “true celiac” you have to be diagnosed through a biopsy. In order to have a biopsy, you have to be referred to a gastroenterologist, and here in some parts of Canada it takes two years to get in to see one. Which means you will go two years of eating gluten free and then have to do the ‘gluten challenge’ and reintroduce it into your body for six weeks before the biopsy so there is a positive to the test if you are truly celiac.

One year after eating the sandwich and four blood tests later, my tTG levels were sticking around forty and I received a call to see the gastroenterologist and have the biopsy done. After review of my blood tests, she decided to not have me eat gluten before the test as she wanted to see if I was consuming gluten from something that may contain it without me knowing. She also said because of how high my blood levels were, she had no doubt in her mind that I was a celiac and did not want to put me through six weeks of eating my kryptonite (I dodged a serious bullet there). To add, I was sent home with a crohn’s disease home kit to rule this out, and this thankfully, came back negative. 

The Biopsy…

First of all, there are two types of biopsies. A gastroscopy (or endoscopy), is through the mouth and down into the small intestine, and a colonoscopy, is up the rectum and usually used to take a sample of the large intestine but can also be used for samples of the small intestine. What I had done, was a gastroscopy.

The day of the biopsy came and I was a bundle of nerves, not just because this is minor surgery, but mostly because this would be the true test to confirm if I was a celiac, and if it did come back positive, this meant I was still eating gluten somehow. 

The process of the biopsy was nothing to be worried about, you are called in and asked to put on a hospital gown. Then the nurse comes back in and answers any questions you may have and informs you that you cannot drive or make any legal decisions for twenty-four hours after the surgery. The IV is placed in about thirty minutes before you are brought into the operation room, where doctor will ask if you have any questions and ask if it is common for you to have a reactive gag reflex (because if you do, they have a liquid that can be sprayed to the back of the throat to stop this). You are then put under conscious sedation. 

A photo of me after the biopsy was finished; happier than a pig in shit…pun intended.

With my experience, I woke up choking (I did not get the spray because this would have been another hour of sticking around at the hospital after), but I only remember seeing a blurred vision of the video footage of my insides, and then fell back to sleep. I woke up feeling really rested and just a bit sore in my abdomen when I tried to sit up. I also had a sore throat. The nurse gave me a drink and a gluten free snack and checked everything was okay, and told me the doctor did not see anything relevant to the eye, but a few biopsy samples had been taken. She told me the doctor would be calling me in two weeks with my results. I got dressed and my ride came to pick me up, then I was homebound. I remember having a sore throat and abdomen when I would eat just for a few days after, and tired just one day after.

Two weeks later the doctor called and I found out that I was indeed consuming gluten from somewhere, and was officially diagnosed with celiac disease. Parts of my biopsy showed the damaged villi in my small intestine, which indicated gluten consumption and celiac disease.

To this day, I still have digestive issues including constipation, diarrhoea and everything in-between. This included colour and consistency issues of the stool, going to the bathroom 3-5 times in the morning from the moment I wake up, and after I eat, and to top it off, some foods come out undigested. I also have other symptoms, including brain fog, headaches, rashes and acne, hair loss, feeling dizzy when getting up from a seated position, bloating (to the point that I look 4 months pregnant), sleepless nights, insomnia (only had this happened once in the last few months), waking up in a sweat, menstrual pain (only once), hormonal imbalances, and bad PMS. I should also mention that in the last year I have had 8-10 colds, one of which turned into bronchitis and another a sinus infection; that means three rounds of antibiotics just this year. I have been waking up with phlegm in my throat and left lung everyday this year, except one month when I decided to go back on the hypoallergenic diet I spoke about in my last blog post. 

Photo on the left is a photo of me in June 2018, one and a half years after diagnosis with a huge amount of hair growth on the bottom of my head (you can see in the photo how much thicker my hair was by my shoulders). Photo on the right is me in Aug 2018, with my hair chopped to the new growth length.

So why do I still have symptoms even with being 100% gluten free? It could be because my gut is still healing after many years of eating something I should not have been. Research does state that it can take anywhere from 6 months to 5 years for the intestinal lining to heal after an exposure to gluten. It can also be due to little micro cross contamination exposures with going out to eat at restaurants and processed foods made in a facility that contains gluten, as everything else in my life I know for sure is gluten free. I have even started to switch over to gluten free beauty products such as toothpaste, make up, shampoos and conditioner and soaps. 

January 2020 will be the third anniversary of my diagnosis, and there is still a lot of learning and researching to do. But I am excited to share my path through this new gluten free lifestyle that I am grateful for, because I can finally start healing and help other people while I am at it, via this blog. 

The healing process of celiac disease can be very frustrating and may be a longer process then expected. However, this does not mean that it will never happen; learn as much as you can and never loose belief that you can do this. 

Until next week my friends,

LEW 

xxx

Please Keep This Disclaimer in Mind:

Articles are for educational purposes only and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent diseases. We cannot and do not provide medical advice or specific advice on products related to treatments of a disease or illness.

You must not rely on the information on our website as an alternative to medical advice from your doctor or other professional healthcare providers.

You should never delay seeking medical advice, disregard medical advice or discontinue medical treatment because of information on our website.

It is your responsibility to consult with your professional health care providers before starting any diet changes, exercise or supplementation program, and before taking; varying the dosage and / or ceasing to take any medication.

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Part 2: The first year after diagnosis

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There was so much to cover over the past three years, I naively thought I could fit it all into one blog post. I will have to make this a three part story. I did my best to stick to the important information and the other details I will cover in posts to follow. The following is my life one year after diagnosis.

I will say this over and over again, time flies. I cannot believe it has been three years since I have been diagnosed with celiac disease. In that three years, I have been on a huge roller coaster ride of emotions, different levels of motivation, and physical symptoms. This disease does not just affect us physically; personally, I think it hit me harder emotionally.

I have spent three years dissecting, stitching up and then re-dissecting myself. In that time, I have read and researched about celiac disease for hours on end. What are the symptoms and is it normal to be experiencing what I am? How many people have it? Is there a cure? How long do the symptoms last? If I eat gluten, how long until I feel normal again? How can you become cross contaminated? Why is my hair falling out? What is happening with my hormones? Why do I have a rash on my skin years after being gluten free? Why can’t I get out of bed? Where has my motivation gone?

I have done what we all do and went down the worm hole of Dr. Google, time and time again. This, my friends, is why I have started a blog. I have done all the research for you, and I am ready to share my story with the world. Mostly because, it has been three years of being gluten free, and I still have symptoms. I’m tired of being sick and people not fully understanding the specific details of celiac disease.

Three years ago after I was diagnosed…

I left that doctors office feeling relieved, with a pep with my step; finally a reason as to why I was not feeling well for the last six months. However, once I started researching, I realized it was not just a reason for the last six months, but explained what I thought were normal symptoms in my life up until now.

I remember siting back and thinking, where do I start? 

So, I started by cleaning out my cupboards of everything that had gluten, cleaned every inch of the kitchen, and headed to the grocery store. I went from shopping for 20 minutes to 2 hours because I was reading every label so closely and could not believe that gluten was literally in EVERYTHING. It took some time but I have now found a groove in the grocery stores and I am back to shopping in under 30 minutes.

Photo from this link: https://holistickenko.com/small-intestinal-sibo/

About 6-7 months after diagnosis, I felt somewhat better but still had symptoms, so I decided to go see a naturopath. He decided to do a SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) test on me where I had to fast the night before and drink a liquid the next morning before I started the test. I had to then breathe into multiple test tubes every 10-20 minutes for about 2-3 hours. We discovered that I was high in both hydrogen and methane gas values which meant there was a bacterial overgrowth present in the small intestine. This means that bacteria which normally grows in other parts of the gut, like the large intestine, start growing in the small intestine. This will then cause pain and diarrhea and it can also lead to malnutrition as the bacteria start to use up the body’s nutrients. Therefore, I was then placed on a really expensive prescription drug and a SIBO tincture that he gave me. 

I emailed my naturopath to find out exactly what we did and this is what he responded: “We started with the SIBO tincture which is a combination of hyrastis, commiphora, and thyme.  We did that for four weeks followed by restoran 0.5 mg which is a prokinetic, meaning it keeps your bowels moving in the right direction to prevent recurrence.  There are prescription options (rifaximin and neomycin) which I will sometimes used when merited, but I don’t believe we did that with you.”  

I remember feeling better after this treatment, so we started the next step which was a hypoallergenic diet. For three weeks I had to cut out processed sugar – some fruits were okay, grains, dairy, soy, peanuts, meats such as pork, beef and some fish, alcohol, sodas, coffee and tea (except herbal), some condiments and all processed foods. I was able to eat some fruits, vegetables, some meats and fish, all nuts and seeds except peanuts, potatoes, sweet potatoes and squashes, beans and legumes, milk substitutes (almond milk, etc.), and some oils and spices. Along with the diet, I was taking two supplement powders, one which was for gut healing (RestorX) and the other which was packed full of nutrients (Bioclear).

This was SO DIFFICULT. I remember the first week basically going through what I imagined was withdrawal symptoms. I had headaches, rashes, brain fog, hunger, emotions, and cravings – all of the cravings. However, once I got through the first seven days, I kid you not, I felt amazing.  I have never in my life felt as good as I did then, and I thought to myself…this is what it feels like to be normal. So, I continued with the diet for another few weeks longer then I needed to. I had more energy, I could think straight, bowel movements were regular and normal, rashes were gone, no anxiety or emotional upset, my hair was growing back, I was sleeping better, no muscle or joint pain (this helped me perform better at the gym); I felt like a super hero. 

It was not until I started eating dairy, processed foods and grains again that symptoms returned, even though I was gluten free. I remember eating a piece of cheese for the first time after cutting it out for a month and having sharp pains in my gut from it. I have never had trouble with it before. Just like the time I came home from Costa Rica, two weeks of eating fresh and unprocessed foods, and eating gluten free bread again and instantly having sharp pains in my gut. At the time, I did not think much of it, but about 2 years later, I then started to research why this would be. 

Photo from this link: https://bakeryonmain.com/f-d-a-sets-new-standards-for-gluten-free-food-labels/

Fun facts: I now know that some naturally gluten free grains and products that are labeled gluten free (without being certified gluten free) may contain gluten depending where they are processed. Also, the Canadian government, the FDA and other governments around the world, allows 20 parts per million or less of gluten in “gluten free products” because research says that this is apparently safe for celiacs. Personally, I am still not convinced of this. This means that products can be made with gluten, but processed to have the gluten removed…think about this, some products are made with gluten and then processed in a way to have the gluten ‘removed’, which means it could technically still contain gluten of 20 parts per million or less.

No wonder three years later I still do not feel great and my tTG blood levels are still high. This subject alone is going to be one of my blog posts in the future, as I feel this criteria needs to change. It even says on the FDA website, “This level is the lowest that can be reliably detected in foods using scientifically validated analytical methods. Other countries and international bodies use these same criteria, as most people with celiac disease can tolerate foods with very small amounts of gluten.” This means that not all celiacs can take this small amount of gluten in their systems.

Australia and New Zealand have the toughest labeling laws in the world, stating that absolutely no detectable gluten can be found in any gluten free products. Since setting this standard, there has been an increase in improved health across the two countries. I plan to write a blog post about this subject in more detail later on. More information on the FDA guidelines can be found here, https://www.fda.gov/food/nutrition-education-resources-materials/gluten-and-food-labeling.

Three months after diagnosis in Costa Rica, I can hardly recognize myself in this photo to what I look like now. My body was healing here, but I felt so much better.

Through trial and error you do start to learn what to do and what not to do, what to look out for and what to avoid. As an example, three months after my diagnosis I went to Costa Rica and while I was there I definitely ate gluten by something as simple as eating the peanut butter that had knives dipped in it after it was spread on toast and then placed back in the peanut butter. I then spread that same peanut butter onto my banana. I was instantly bloated and uncomfortable. Another example was taking a bit of a curry from a friends plate, which had naan bread dipped in it; this made me sick and uncomfortable for a week or two following this. Specific details as small as they may seem, you will learn very quickly.

Next week will be part three of my story; what happened when I accidentally ate gluten again, my biopsy experience and what I will be doing now over the next year to heal my gut.

Please always keep in mind that what I write about is my own personal experience. What I experience may be different from what you will experience. There was no partnership with any products mentioned, they worked for me and may or may not work for you. As always, consult with your healthcare practitioner before starting anything new.

With love, be kind to yourself,

LEW xxx

Please Keep This Disclaimer in Mind:

Articles are for educational purposes only and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent diseases. We cannot and do not provide medical advice or specific advice on products related to treatments of a disease or illness.

You must not rely on the information on our website as an alternative to medical advice from your doctor or other professional healthcare providers.

You should never delay seeking medical advice, disregard medical advice or discontinue medical treatment because of information on our website.

It is your responsibility to consult with your professional health care providers before starting any diet changes, exercise or supplementation program, and before taking; varying the dosage and / or ceasing to take any medication.

We do not collect any personal information or store cookies.  You can turn off cookies on your web browsers.

Part 1: The beginning of a positive lifestyle change

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“I was assigned this mountain to show others it can be moved.”

This is a progression of photos of me over the years. 2013: I was 24 in this photo and just a few months away from graduating from a very intense program at school, probably around 120-130lbs, pale, blackened eyes, stressed and thin hair. 2016: 27 years old, 155lbs and 3 months into what I did not know was an autoimmune response in my body. 2018: exactly one year after diagnosis, healthy and looking better then I have in years and feeling fantastic.

Just over two years ago, at the age of 27, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease through a blood test. Six months before that I became extremely ill after a trauma from an accidental hit to the face with a hockey stick. Don’t get me wrong, now that I know about this, I realize I actually have had symptoms my whole life but just thought of them as my “normal.” 

Growing up I remember having frequent ear infection after ear infection and I do remember a lot of arguments over taking this artificial banana tasting medicine, which really wasn’t the best. As a fun fact, I have now been informed that repetitive ear infections in a kid can be a sign of a food allergy or intolerance. Now keep in mind, it is not always associated with food allergies and can be due to a virus or bacteria and can be a serious medical condition that needs to be looked at right away as it can lead to hearing loss or the infection spreading.

Along with ear infections, I had knee pain and other joint pain, seemed to get the stomach flu quite a bit, when I was 17 I had my first go at gastritis (which I now realize this may have been an autoimmune flare up because I also had another trauma; to my knee this time; and it occurred around the first time I had gastritis) and again another time 5 years later in the Dominican Republic (May 2012). I could never seem to get my iron up no matter how much red meat and iron supplements I took (this was before I realized you could get iron from vegetables and fruit as well) and I was always anemic (I now realize this was most likely due to malabsorption in my small intestine). 

Want to know something super ironic? I worked in a bakery for 7 years, yup, a full on gluten infested, flour in the air, bakery. This is when I really started getting symptoms; shocking, I know. 

This is my hand recently with Dermatitis Herpetiformis.

Symptoms such as: shortness of breath, anxiety, menstrual problems (infrequent, heavy, light, painful, PMS, etc), clustered blistering bubbles all over my hands (Dermatitis herpetiformis), hair falling out, nails always breaking and nail beds always peeling, painful acne spots on my face and buttocks, red bumps on my upper arms, mouth ulcers, stomach sickness, difficulty concentrating and I was ALWAYS hungry; I literally could out eat all of my friends in school. It was very difficult for me to gain any weight, I remember my family doctor telling me I needed to be around 140lbs for my height and I was always around 115-120lbs (I’m not complaining and I was really active but it was just weird eating as much as I did and not gaining any weight). My hair dresser always pointed out to me that I was loosing a lot of hair at my appointments and mentioned a handful of times that I had psoriasis on my scalp. I do remember having flaky chunks of skin come off my scalp in my finger nails when I would scratch my head.

Jan 2017, just a few days after diagnosis (super inflamed gut), to Feb 2017, just one month after. The difference after one month of being gluten free was huge. Also, take note of how messy my room was, this just goes to show how awful my mental state was at the time. I had no motivation and just did not care.

Before the trauma occurred, I was sluggish, gaining weight (I was around 150-155lbs, which could have been muscle), unmotivated, bloated, my hair was thin, and I was tired. After the hockey stick trauma in 2016, I did not know what was going on with me, I became very mentally and physically ill. It started with really low energy which I thought was from lack of sleep because my sleep pattern went from sleeping well to falling asleep fine but waking up all night. I had maybe 2-3 hours of sleep a night, which resulted in me nodding off in the middle of the day. Concentration and thinking was a struggle, my brain was in a fog all day and everyday. I started to experience becoming sick with the common cold at least once a month, which turned into a sinus infection which I was put on one dose of antibiotics for and soon after got my first ever yeast infection. PMS was HORRIBLE, I had headaches that later turned into migraines, cramps, bloating, and nausea. I had the Dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) rash on my hands blistered and cracked open with sores all over my fingers. I had a mental hit as I was depressed and mentally fatigued, quite literally crying 2-5 times a day over what seemed like nothing.

The last month before I finally went to get help (6 months after the trauma), I had migraines which I have never had before in my life, really sharp pains in my gut, and what got me going to see a doctor was my mouth bleeding every time I brushed my teeth and huge bleeding oral cankers as I know this can be a sign of malnutrition.

The stubborn human I am, it took me 6 months of being sick to finally consult a doctor. The first doctor I saw told me to go back on birth control…yup. Talk about negligence, keeping in mind he was a walk in doctor that was extremely tired but that is absolutely no excuse. Knowing what I do now, he let me walk out of his office after less then 5 minutes of talking, close to being hospitalized. Thankfully I knew better and threw out the prescription paper as I was leaving the office and the next day I went to another walk in and met the incredible doctor that I now proudly call my family doctor. She spent what felt like 30-40 minutes with me and listened to my entire story and all of my symptoms for the last 6 months. Palpated my abdomen and sent me on my way for a blood test looking into multiple conditions.

Fifteen minutes after this appointment (about 3pm), I was in another building having my blood taken. This is when I really knew something was wrong as they were having trouble finding my veins and getting blood from them. The nurses had to go to both arms to try and get enough blood for the tests.

9am sharp the next morning, when the walk in clinic opened, I received a phone call telling me my blood results have come back and I needed to go in to speak to a doctor immediately. This of course, got my heart racing. Getting my blood results back this quickly had me thinking I had a serious health condition. The doctor sat down and told me I had Celiac Disease and I was extremely anemic. To test for celiac disease they test for a tTG result in the blood (IgA antibody level) and this level should be less then 12. Mine was over 300, and the iron/ferritin level was 3.4 when it should be between 40-200. 

I left that doctors office surprisingly relieved and felt as though the bag of bricks I was carrying around had been lifted off my shoulders. I went home and immediately spent hours researching celiac disease and the more I read, the more my life made sense.

If you are in a position of not feeling well, or knowing something is just not right, do not give up – your answer is around the corner.

Next week will be Part 2 of my story, three years after diagnosis.

With love, be kind to yourself,

LEW xxx

3 months after diagnosis on a trip in Costa Rica. Pure bliss. My mind has not been this clear in years.

Please Keep This Disclaimer in Mind:

This article is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent diseases. We cannot provide medical advice or specific advice on products related to treatments of a disease or illness. You must consult with your professional health care provider before starting any diet changes, exercise or supplementation program, and before taking, varying the dosage of or ceasing to take any medication.

Who am I?

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“Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.” – Oscar Wilde

Hi Friends!

As I mentioned in my About section, my name is Lauren and my nickname is LEW (this stands for the initials of my full name).

It seems like everyone and their cat is starting a blog or a vlog, and to be honest, for many years I was afraid to do this. Thinking to myself that I did not have anything worth writing about or no one will ever want to read about my life. However, I know realize that this is nonsense! Everyone is their own important and amazing soul and everyone has a worthwhile story to share.

Truthfully, I want to start writing a blog to bring more awareness to two passions in my life, which are: Athletic Therapy and Celiac Disease.

Firstly, I work as a Certified Athletic Therapist in Canada and we are often confused with Physiotherapy. Both careers being as amazing as they are, there are slight differences and I will be discussing about this in my blog along with writing about conditions, exercises, stretches, mobility, prevention and so much more.

Secondly, I have known I am Celiac for almost 3 years now, and I cannot believe the kind of mixed messages and untruthful information out there about this disease. With the rise of a gluten free trends and lifestyles, there is no wonder why people confused someone with celiac disease with someone who is non-celiac gluten sensitive or another human who has decided to eat gluten free because they feel better. 

“In a study released in 2016, Hyun-seok Kim, MD, a doctor at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark looked at a national survey taken from 2009 to 2014. Only 1% of the population has celiac disease, and this number has not changed in recent years. Although celiac disease numbers remained stable during that time, the number of people following a gluten-free diet tripled, from 0.5% of the population to nearly 2%. This was bringing in an estimated $4 billion dollars of sales on gluten free products in 2015.” (WebMD, 2016)

Those numbers are HUGE, and thinking that it is now the year 2019, I could only imagine how much larger those numbers are.

My goal is to connect with everyone interested in either of these topics and if I end up helping just one soul in my journey into blogging and sharing about my life experiences, that would mean the world to me.

Please follow along or share the information I am providing if you know of anyone it will help. Subscribe to get notified when I post new updates.

WebMD 2016 Reference: https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/celiac-disease/news/20160916/whats-behind-gluten-free-trend#1

Please Keep This Disclaimer in Mind:

This article is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent diseases. We cannot provide medical advice or specific advice on products related to treatments of a disease or illness. You must consult with your professional health care provider before starting any diet changes, exercise or supplementation program, and before taking, varying the dosage of or ceasing to take any medication.