Mood:
happy'Celiac' is more than just a new word I use to describe myself, it is a newly discovered condition I suffer from. It means that a mild (histamine) allergy to gluten has become a rampaging autoimmune disease. A mild allergy is a reaction that generates histamine, causing a variety of irritations to the eyes, skin and elsewhere. An autoimmune disease means parts of the body are being destroyed by the body's own protective devices.
I finally decided I have Celiac Disease last December. I've been suffering histamine-level symptoms, such as diarrhea of increasing frequency and intensity, since childhood; it reached autoimmune levels almost a decade ago ... but I had no idea what was happening.
My immune system has been happily destroying my small intestine, causing food not to be absorbed and toxins to be absorbed. It also has been attacking my thyroid, causing frequent and increasingly large swings between hypo- and hyper-thyroidism. My brain has also been under attack, as has the largest organ in my body, the skin.
When I first heard the word 'celiac' I thought it didn't apply to me. Then I found the word 'antibody' associated with descriptions of my symptoms and made the connection. It was my diabetes doctor whose description enlightened me, but she doesn't believe it applies to me because the first test came back negative.
I would expect doctors to dislike handing down a diagnosis of celiac disease because there is no medicine for them to prescribe to treat it. All I can do is stop eating foods with gluten in them, such as wheat, rye and barley. That doesn't put any money in the doctor's coffers.
So why am I happy?
I stopped consuming gluten four months ago and I'm starting to feel better.
