and the winner is…
Sarah! you are the winner of Gluten Free Vancouver’s second giveaway for a $25 gift certificate to the Brown Dog Café! congratulations! please contact us by email (see contact tab above) and let us know where we can send the gift certificate to, and remember it is valid until July 31, 2010. we hope you enjoy your honeymoon here in Vancouver!
thanks to all of our loyal readers who entered the contest and for sharing candidly your gluten free experiences. while everyone’s story of why they eat gluten free is different, there are so many similarities in the general symptoms as well as the great feeling of relief many of you now feel eliminating gluten from your diets. gluten free is clearly not a ‘fad diet’ it is a medical need for most people.
thank you very much as well to the Brown Dog Café for participating in our giveaway and generously donating the gift card.
in the spirit of the contest rules, Andrea and I felt it was important to share our experiences of how we discovered that we are each celiac. even though we are sisters, our symptoms were completely different to the point that we were surprised that we had been suffering for years with the same condition.
Andrea and I were both diagnosed five and a half years ago, but I know for myself, I was suffering for at least 10-15 years. looking back, the first real sign came at age 14 when I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism (low thyroid) after becoming so tired and exhausted all the time, even after walking up a flight of stairs. in my 20’s, I developed lactose intolerance and eventually started getting terrible stomach aches from practically everything I ate.
for Andrea, she began to loose weight dramatically about one year before the diagnosis. she tried to gain weight with the help of a dietician, but most were only skilled in helping people loose weight! our doctor told her she most likely had a parasite from her travels to Asia and South America, and offered her a heavy prescription, which she refused to take. Andrea also recalls having digestive discomfort like I did fifteen years before, when she was living in Japan in her 20's. she also experienced severe weight loss at this time, so she sought the help of a naturopath who tested her for food sensitivities. she was given a list of foods to avoid and foods to eat in limited quantities. Andrea followed this advise for a while, and she eventually regained her weight. gluten and celiac disease were never discussed however, and so her weight loss eventually returned, and she had no idea what to do about it or who could help her.
in 2005, I received the news first after taking a book on irritable bowel syndrome to my doctor demanding every test possible to find out what was wrong. of course I was told I wouldn’t have celiac disease, but it turned out that I certainly did. within the first few days of trying to come to terms with the news, I read that celiac disease is genetic, that all of your family members should be tested, and that weight loss is a common side effect…this pretty much screamed Andrea to me. she had been unknowingly suffering for just as long as I had but only obvious in her ability to gain weight. as much as I don’t wish this condition on anyone, I was happy that I had a partner in crime! we went through the biopsy process together as well and the rest is history! but, after about two years living gluten free, I remember saying to Andrea that she was lucky she never experienced any secondary disorders like a thyroid condition. I should have knocked on wood, because shortly thereafter, Andrea discovered she did indeed have a thyroid condition, but hers is hyperthyroidism (high thyroid) caused by Graves Disease. Graves is a tough one to manage, and it hasn’t been easy on Andrea. we plan to post more information about the celiac – thyroid connection soon, so stay tuned!
thank you again to everyone who entered the contest on our blog and on our facebook page! Robyn + Andrea
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