This week’s Friday Club carnival theme from Ella at Notes from Home is on the delightful subject of ‘poo’. At first I wondered what on earth I could possibly write on the subject and then I thought I could actually use it to my advantage for highlighting something that one in ten of us suffer with in the UK.
Coeliac disease is a debilitating, chronic and life threatening disease but it can be easily managed and the symptoms eradicated through a change in diet albeit it be a life long change and a restrictive diet.
My son was diagnosed with coeliac disease when he was ten years old. In hindsight he has had it since he was at least two years old possibly longer. If you are predisposed to coeliac disease then it can be triggered at any time throughout your life, or hopefully never. Coeliac disease is an autoimmune disease, where the body’s immune system attacks it’s own tissues. It is caused by the gluten found naturally in many food staples such as wheat, barley and rye.

I remember when Big E was a young baby, he was breastfeed by the way, he had a very nasty vomiting bug that seemed to last a long time. I now wonder whether that was the trigger but it also be triggered by something as simple as stress.
So, what does this have to do with poo you may ask. Well quite often the first symptom you may notice may be either a change in bowel movement or persistent diarrhoea or constipation. Left without taking action will lead to vitamin and mineral deficiencies, possibly weight loss and a higher risk of bowel cancer. Stomach pain can be severe, bone pain restrictive and also rarely a skin rash called dermatitis herpetiformis which my son had. There is also a risk of osteoporosis, recurrent miscarriages, depression and mouth ulcers to name but a few.

As a toddler I couldn’t go any where with Big E without taking spare clothes, I lost count of the times we were ‘caught short’ and had to buy clothes when we were out on day trips or even on holiday. There was one particularly unpleasant incident with a swimming pool that I won’t ever forget. I was told over and over again that he had toddler diarrhoea until we just thought he had a delicate tummy. When he was eventually diagnosed with coeliac disease by a simple blood test Big E was severely underweight, anaemic, suffering with such terrible joint pain that it effected him playing sport, bloating of the stomach and stomach cramps and he had the awful itchy, painful skin rash. After a biopsy to confirm 100% that it was coeliac disease Big E began his lifelong gluten free diet ( until they discover a cure!) I must point out that most people are normal weight or overweight when diagnosed.

If you suspect that you or your child may have coeliac disease your GP can do a very easy blood test and there is a great support network in the UK via Coeliac UK