I have been diagnosed for about 9 months
now. For the first 6 months…and a little bit after I really struggled, I felt
like a bit of a weirdo. Particularly when going out for meals or not joining in
on take-aways! I decided that the problem is that I know no Coeliacs. I had
nobody to talk to that was experiencing the same problems or that had been
through it all and could give some advice.
My dad took me to see his friend who was a
coeliac during the summer. Him and his wife had some absolutely amazing advice…including
letting me know that some Vodkas have gluten in them and so does normal bars of
Dairy Milk! However, I was still struggling because during term time I live in
York and I haven’t yet found anyone that can really, truly relate.
Then I had a bit of a
breakthrough…Facebook! Now, for someone who currently works in digital coms….I
was pretty embarrassed that I hadn’t thought of it before! So I went
hunting…typing ‘gluten-free’, ‘coeliac’ and all sorts of other things to try to
find a really active group. I had already ‘liked’ a load of gluten free
bloggers to join the conversation and engage with them, but there was a lack of
advice. As I’m sure all coeliacs are aware, there are a lot of recipies, but
not a great deal of discussion on blogs about the problems encountered with
coeliac disease.
I found a group! An amazing group. Full on
people that really want to offer advice, share recipes, help with problems and
let people know if they have found something new that is gluten free. It is
called Coeliacs in the UK.
With almost 4,000 members there is a never-ending amount of advice and help. It
is somewhere where people do truly understand what you are going through, and a
place where you can find out about so many more gluten free products! So for
all Coeliacs – this is really worth joining. I no longer feel like a weirdo
struggling on my own! I feel normal, happy and healthy!
So….I would like to thank every single
member of the group on Facebook, you have made me and - I am sure many new
members to come – feel normal again!
