The diary of a coeliac, words by Laura McDermott

Not a day apart, ever since I can remember I’ve lived a gluten free life. No wheat, no barley, no rye or oats, so that’s a no to bread, pasta, cakes, pies and all things nice.

When I was 18 months old my Mum started to notice my development as a baby wasn’t quite normal, my stomach was bloated, my hair was thin and I wasn’t developing normally as an 18 month girl should do. After numerous tests, doctor’s appointments and everything in between I was finally diagnosed with coeliac disease (a gluten allergy.) There are varying levels of this type of allergy from a bit of a bloated stomach after a slice of cake to severely allergic- like me. I am violently sick after a couple of mouthfuls of the wrong food.

Growing up my family made my experience with an allergy care-free, my parents knowing about the correct diet and food types for me always kept me on the straight and narrow…apart from a few slip ups when we were out at friends houses or restaurants. I was always very happy at home and didn’t notice any difference with my own diet to my siblings as I always had a gluten free substitute, at school I would always take packed lunches which stopped confusion with food. However on rare occasions like Christmas parties at school, issues with gluten started to arise. I have memories as a child of dreading parties’ weeks before, remembering the bombardment of questions and unwanted attention from other children ‘why are you eating special food?’ For an 8 year old painfully shy girl, this type of situation made me extremely uncomfortable, to the extent of making me wish to be ‘normal’ like everyone else. For most of my school life I hated being different to everyone else all due to my gluten free lifestyle.

It has only been in the past 5 years of my life that I have finally embraced and started to love my allergy. With supportive friends and family, changes in my own attitude and better awareness of coeliac disease it has helped me overcome any embarrassment I once ever had.  Recently supermarkets, restaurants and other food stores have dramatically improved product ranges, menu’s and labelling meaning that a once difficult allergy to grow up with is now not unheard of meaning that silly wishes from when I was six to be able to eat a gluten free doughnut can now come true.

Gluten free is relatively easy now living with extensive foods that cater for my diet, however there is still one minor setback and that being…holidays abroad. A lot of planning goes into holidays, I’m forever packing translation cards for restaurants, allergy tablets in case I slip up and of course back up food supplies in case there is nothing I can eat; taking these types of precautions will be done for every holiday and at the moment I don’t see it ending. I have fond memories of stealing any gluten free snacks of food at breakfast buffets to keep me going throughout the day. Growing up I always felt it was such an inconvenience but now there is a certain charm about seeing family members leave the hotel table with pockets full of food for me. On a recent trip to Paris I researched a great gluten free restaurant in the city and managed to get by with the usual preparing of snacks for the day ahead using hotel breakfast bits and eating salads at restaurants at night (I’ve come to realise over the years they are always the safest option), I’ve even managed to eat a French cake in the capital… a macaroon of course.

Coeliac disease has come to be such a big part of my life, I feel if I wasn’t allergic to something I wouldn’t be me.  Because of being gluten free I appreciate good, simple food more, I love going to places and finding they do gluten free food, the novelty to me will never wear off. Even the comments I used to dread as a child ‘so why can’t you eat that?’ don’t phase me anymore, now I proudly talk about being a coeliac to anyone who will listen. Growing up eating different food has made me sympathetic to people with allergies and want to educate people who don’t understand about coeliac disease. It was once a thing I wished I would grow out of but now I couldn’t be happier that I’m gluten free.