About Me
I’m Emma Roberts, a 30 year old originally from the UK but having emigrated in May 2009 I am now living in Auckland, New Zealand with my husband Andy.
I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease when I was 24. I discovered something was wrong when all of a sudden I was very unwell for 2 weeks, I had diarrhoea, was very bloated and always tired. I visited the doctors after a few days who advised me I had IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and gave me some peppermint tablets to help settle my stomach. Which they didn’t so after another week of feeling no better I went back to another doctor who straight away said it could be Coeliac Disease as he said I was very anaemic and knew Coeliac Disease was often misdiagnosed as IBS. He informed me not to change my diet at this stage and he made an appointment at the hospital to have a gastroscopy (procedure where they put a tube with a camera on the end down your throat to look at the stomach and take biopsies).
After the gastroscopy they told me there and then that it initially did look like Coeliac Disease but I had to wait for the results a few weeks later. So then it was confirmed that I had Coeliac Disease and I would have to be on a strict gluten free diet for the rest of my life. Which meant no wheat, rye, barley, oats or malt products.
After 3 months I had an appointment with a dietician to check I was alright adjusting to my gluten free diet and I also had a follow up gastroscopy 12 months after diagnosis to make sure everything was alright.
So from the first day I felt unwell to the day I was diagnosed it was around 2 months, which is actually pretty quick considering what I’ve read of other websites about some people taking years to get diagnosed.
Although I’m still frustrated with being on a gluten free diet I have realised that its only food and I could have had something a lot worse to deal with. So I’m managing fine with my gluten free diet and have never been tempted to eat gluten again as its not worth the pain and discomfort. I have had a few bouts of illness which has generally been from eating out at restaurants where I was informed it was gluten free but infact it wasn’t, but apart from that its all going well.
I hope you find this site useful for when you travel to Australia or New Zealand.
I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease when I was 24. I discovered something was wrong when all of a sudden I was very unwell for 2 weeks, I had diarrhoea, was very bloated and always tired. I visited the doctors after a few days who advised me I had IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and gave me some peppermint tablets to help settle my stomach. Which they didn’t so after another week of feeling no better I went back to another doctor who straight away said it could be Coeliac Disease as he said I was very anaemic and knew Coeliac Disease was often misdiagnosed as IBS. He informed me not to change my diet at this stage and he made an appointment at the hospital to have a gastroscopy (procedure where they put a tube with a camera on the end down your throat to look at the stomach and take biopsies).
After the gastroscopy they told me there and then that it initially did look like Coeliac Disease but I had to wait for the results a few weeks later. So then it was confirmed that I had Coeliac Disease and I would have to be on a strict gluten free diet for the rest of my life. Which meant no wheat, rye, barley, oats or malt products.
After 3 months I had an appointment with a dietician to check I was alright adjusting to my gluten free diet and I also had a follow up gastroscopy 12 months after diagnosis to make sure everything was alright.
So from the first day I felt unwell to the day I was diagnosed it was around 2 months, which is actually pretty quick considering what I’ve read of other websites about some people taking years to get diagnosed.
Although I’m still frustrated with being on a gluten free diet I have realised that its only food and I could have had something a lot worse to deal with. So I’m managing fine with my gluten free diet and have never been tempted to eat gluten again as its not worth the pain and discomfort. I have had a few bouts of illness which has generally been from eating out at restaurants where I was informed it was gluten free but infact it wasn’t, but apart from that its all going well.
I hope you find this site useful for when you travel to Australia or New Zealand.
