My Story

In June it will be a year since my diagnosis and my life has changed so much. It's been an absolute rollercoaster but I wouldn't be where I am now without Coeliac UK, so wanted to give something back to the charity and raise awareness of what's a very common yet overlooked disease! It turns out I'd been suffering for a good few years and simply didn't know any different, but the damage I was doing to my body could have ultimately been life threatening. Turns out gluten isn't worth it!

My diagnosis has affected every aspect of my life and is a difficult condition to live with, but Coeliac UK have been there every step. At first I thought I just wouldn't be able to eat bread, pizza and biscuits, but quickly realised gluten is in almost everything, and the condition affects more than just what you can eat. I'll never be able to travel like I always wanted to, I can't join in the same at parties and don't even get me started on Christmas! You don't realise how much of our culture revolves around food until you're excluded from that, and it's so difficult. My body image has suffered a lot too, with my weight yo-yoing from having functional guts for the first time in years and suddenly not fitting all my clothes. However, I'm starting to come to terms with my condition now thanks to Coeliac UK, and want nothing more than to help every other poor soul that's plagued with this disease!

When you get diagnosed, you often get very little help from the NHS which is why this charity is so important, as going gluten free, dealing with symptoms and generally navigating life as a coeliac is such hard work! Coeliac UK gave me a sense of belonging though, and showed me that I'm not alone.

During 9-15 May I will be taking part in Coeliac UK's #ShineALightOnCoeliac challenge. I will be baking 100 gluten free biscuits and cookies to share with my family and friends to show that gluten free baking can be yummy too! (Thanks, Becky Excell!)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The #ShineALightOnCoeliac challenge is Coeliac UK's campaign to raise awareness of coeliac disease and how important it is to recognise the symptoms and get tested. 1 in 100 people in the UK has coeliac disease, a serious autoimmune condition, but only 36% of them are diagnosed.

The longer they remain undiagnosed, the higher the risk of future health complications, like osteoporosis. So it's more important than ever to shine a light on symptoms and our online self- assessment - www.isitcoeliacdisease.org.uk

The sooner people get diagnosed, the sooner they can get on the road to recovery and living well gluten free. We're hoping to raise a crucial £100,000 to support this and you can make all the difference:

£10 helps us to get more people diagnosed more quickly by running our 'Is It coeliac disease?' symptom checker for a day
£26 keeps one more healthcare professional up-to-date with training and research
£54 keeps our website information free of charge per day
£100 keeps our Helpline open for an hour


For 50 years Coeliac UK have been helping people with coeliac disease and other gluten related conditions live happier, healthier lives. We do this by striving for better gluten free food in more places, providing independent, trustworthy advice and support and funding crucial research to manage the impacts of gluten and find answers to coeliac disease. And we do it all so that one day, no one's life will be limited by gluten.


Anyone experiencing stomach issues (like constipation, diarrhoea, vomiting or stomach pain), mouth ulcers, ongoing fatigue, or unexplained anaemia should go to www.isitcoeliacdisease.org.uk for help.

For more information about coeliac disease and how Coeliac UK can support, please check out their website - https://www.coeliac.org.uk/home/