Archive for March, 2010

Teenager Laura was five when she started to get really bad stomach cramps at night for apparently no reason.

“It was heartbreaking,” said her mum Mim.  “It went on for nearly three years and we just didn’t know what was causing them.

“Ever since she was a baby, she’d had a bloated tummy.  Then all of a sudden, she started getting these terrible tummy aches as well.  The next thing was that she became very lethargic and listless.  It’s little wonder that she became so miserable and just didn’t want to do anything or run around any more.

“We were very worried at the time because we just didn’t know what was going on.

“Finally after all sorts of investigations, Laura was diagnosed with coeliac disease and it was such a relief to know what was wrong with her and to be able to do something about it,” said Mim.

“We were shocked, but it was good to know the reason why she had been so sick for so long.  At that time, we didn’t know anything about gluten at first but we soon learned!

“Putting Laura on the new diet was the best thing we ever did - her health has improved out of sight.  Her tummy upsets disappeared and she’s a really happy person with lots of energy, she’s like a different person.  She loves athletics and playing soccer and is always on the go.  She’s never looked back since she was diagnosed and neither have we.”

Today, sisters Madison (11) and Amy (15) are happy, healthy and energetic girls, but nine years ago, it was a very different story.

Baby Madison was seriously unwell and six year old Amy had no energy at all.

“Ever since Madison was born, she had been very quiet and withdrawn,” says her mum Theresa.

“I knew there was something wrong with her but I just couldn’t put my finger on it. 

“She used to sit for hours on end without moving in her stroller or sleep for 12 hours at a time.  All the other mums would say how good she was, but I always felt there was something seriously wrong.  As she grew older, she was very slow to crawl and stand up and she didn’t walk until she was 15 months old.

  “When we started her on solid foods, the real troubles began.  She developed a very bloated tummy and vomited violently every time she ate.  Her food was totally undigested.  Then she would be up all night crying in pain.

“At the same time, her sister Amy was very lethargic and slept a lot too.

“We didn’t know what to do but eventually Madison was diagnosed with coeliac disease.

“I cried when I first found out.  At that stage, I didn’t know what coeliac disease was and I was so afraid she was going to die.  It was such a relief to find out that it can be controlled by something as simple as diet.

“After that, we had Amy and myself tested too and both our results were positive as well.  I didn’t know at the time that coeliac disease runs in families, but it certainly runs in ours!”

“Sam had been a beautiful chubby, healthy baby and then he started to get really sick, says his mum Louise.

“Over a period of several months, he became really thin and had a lot of bad tummy upsets and we had no idea at all what the cause was.

“Clearly, there was something very wrong. He started to lose a lot of weight and his stomach was always distended. On top of that, he was very lethargic and just wasn’t interested in crawling around or walking at all. He just used to sit quietly not moving.

“I was at my wits’ end.

“We thought at one stage he had been poisoned, he was just so sick. I just didn’t know what to do to help him get well again.”

“Eventually, after looking at all sorts of things that could be wrong, Sam was finally diagnosed as having coeliac disease.

“Because they told us it was hereditary, we immediately had the rest of the family tested and my son Benjamin and my husband Michael turned out to be coeliacs as well.

“We were so grateful to know what was wrong and how to treat it.

“Sam improved almost overnight on a gluten free diet and today, he’s just a perfectly normal teenager who is busy and active and enjoys perfect health – he rarely even gets a cold.”

Sam says “The hardest bit about coeliac disease is having to repeat what it is so many times, because most people have never heard of it!

“I have no medication, which is great, just a medical review every two to three years.”

Eating an Anzac biscuit one time before he was diagnosed with coeliac disease was an awful experience for six year old Ethan because the gluten in the biscuit made him so very ill.

The incident was the last straw for his mother, Rosalie, who was already at her wits’ end worrying about her little boy and the fact that he seemed so out of sorts all the time.

“Ethan had been a normal baby, but from the age of about 18 months old, his health started to deteriorate,” says Rosalie. He was always very bloated and he had a really rounded pot belly. He had terrible problems with constipation and he started to get very bad tummy upsets.

“He was always very tired too and then he was diagnosed with anaemia. By this stage, his growth had slowed right down. He actually didn’t grow for about a year and he was well below the percentile for his age.

“By the time he was three, he was so out of sorts all the time and something was obviously very wrong.

“Luckily, a doctor had the foresight to include a coeliac test when he was having blood tests for the anaemia.  The tests for coeliac disease came back positive.  The diagnosis was later confirmed and he started following a strict gluten free diet straight away.

“It was such a relief to know what was wrong with him and to be able to do something about it,” says Rosalie.

“Since following a strict gluten free diet, he has masses more energy and stamina and his vitality has come back. He loves playing soccer, swimming and taking dance and drama classes.

“Best of all, he’s back to the mischievous boy he used to be! His tummy upsets have long disappeared and he’s been growing at a faster rate than other kids his own age. He’s never looked back since he was diagnosed and started his new diet.”

Mother of four Fiona Kersten battled with the symptoms of undiagnosed coeliac disease for many years and ‘felt cheated at having lost those years to illness.’

Fiona remembers: “Looking back, I realised that I’d never really felt well all my life.  I’d always felt tired and had tummy upsets and it got worse when I had the children.  I was sick for the whole nine months of all four pregnancies.

“Eventually though, I was skin and bone. I had anaemia, I vomited every day and had vitamin deficiency dementia.   I couldn’t talk properly because my brain was malnourished and I avoided going to the local shops for fear of engaging in conversation.  My thinking had become so slow that I didn’t get jokes told around the family meal table.  It got to the point I was sleeping every afternoon and couldn’t work.”

Fiona’s family thought she had anexoria, some friends thought she had chronic fatigue syndrome while others suspected a mood disorder.

After multiple visits to doctors, Fiona was finally referred to a gastroenterologist who diagnosed coeliac disease.  She was then placed on a gluten free diet.  Because of the hereditary nature of the condition, Fiona’s daughter was tested and found to be a coeliac.  Thanks to early detection, she has not suffered like her mother.

“Being diagnosed and treated was the best thing I ever did.  I feel 100 per cent better than I did before and have been able to take up walking, swimming and bicycling again.  I’ve even been able to return to work part time.”