Throughout my childhood, I had always felt a little bit bloated and uncomfortable after eating pasta or pizza, and I attributed it to “that’s just how everyone feels”. Whenever people eat, we look fuller than we did before we sat down for a meal. Especially after eating pizza or pasta;) With that in mind, I thought that’s what was happening to me, until I noticed an excessive amount of fullness that became painful. This is when I realized this was not a normal reaction.
I was diagnosed with celiac disease my junior year in high school. During that time, my diet was definitely changing. Growing up, my mom had my brother and I constantly eating fruits and vegetables, home cooked meals, and all-in-all holistic meals. Once I entered high school, my diet changed some due to the social pressures and normalities of others. That being said, I noticed my most dramatic diet changes while playing varsity soccer. There would be one to two pasta dinners a week plus bagel breakfasts on game days. It made sense to be consuming so many carbs because of the extra training and running we did as a team. However, as the season continued, I began to notice that the bloating I was getting after each of these meals would worsen and the pain would increase. The bloating and pain would last for days and probably weeks without me realizing it. My stomach would start bloating so much that it would put pressure on my diaphragm causing me to have hiccups that became quite painful.
Toward the end of my high school soccer season, my parents and I decided that I should go to the doctor and see what was going on with my stomach. After explaining all of my symptoms, my doctor automatically thought I had celiac disease. I had never heard of celiac disease until this appointment. In all honesty, I was horrified. How on Earth was I supposed to take bread out of my diet??? I would eat so much bread that my family started calling me a carbivore. I loved bread and pastries so much and still do, so it was devastating when I realized I could not have my usual gluten filled goodies.
Since we did not have any previous medical records of anyone in our family having celiac disease, I had to be scheduled to get an endoscopy. In short, the procedure was putting a tube down my throat, while I was under, and taking a small biopsy of my stomach. They would then test this biopsy to see if it came back positive or negative for celiac. Obviously we know what the answer ended up being.
Once I had received the confirmed results that I had celiac disease my life had completely changed, and in that moment, I did not truly understand just how much. This was just the beginning of a long journey ahead that I am still trying to master and understand, and I hope that you will join me on this journey.