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Living with coeliac disease

I was sitting in a lecture at university and woke up with a start - I'd fallen asleep and it wasn't the first time it had happened.

For the first few months of my university career, this kept happening. I was always nodding off, until one lecturer shouted, 'Don't bother coming in if you're hungover' - if only!

The lecturer finally made me do something about my odd sleeping habits and my trips to the doctors began.

I was tested for everything and given a loads of pills for anaemia, magnesium, calcium and vitamin deficiency... but nothing worked. After months of trying all my pills, I was told I was going to have an endoscopy - basically a camera down the throat.

I decided not to be put to sleep, which probably wasn't a good choice, but I had to stay awake for an afternoon exam. After it was over, the nurse came over with the results. 'Tiffany, you don't have diabetes'.

I was so relieved, until I remembered I wasn't being tested for diabetes. I told the nurse I was being tested for coeliac disease. 'Oh', she replied, 'in that case the test is positive.'

So, my life as a coeliac began - having to avoid everything with gluten in. This meant no more bread, pasta, biscuits, the list seemed endless. The gluten-free diet started carefully - there were special breads in fancy packaging that were made without gluten, for example - and I eventually started to work out my likes and dislikes. Fortunately, I was never a big fan of bread, but things like cakes and pastries were more difficult to go without.

Today 8 years on, life is simpler. While most people are worried about ready meals causing cancer and obesity, I live my life eating fresh ingredients and the odd gluten-free caramel slice, bakewell tart or apple pies.

Sadly, I still haven't managed to find a decent meat and potato pie, where the pastry isn't like snow flakes and as sweet as sugar, though!

And I've become so passionate about coeliac that I've set up my own website called Coeliac City, where people can come and share their experiences, swap tips and review new gluten-free products.

I've also compiled a sort of directory showing where coeliacs can buy gluten-free food, when they're out and about. I wish someone had done it 8 years ago!
Tiffany Sullivan, 26

More help and advice

- Get more help at Tiffany's website Coeliac City
- Get all the facts about coeliac disease
- Tips on coping with coeliac disease
- Check out our gluten-free diet
- Try some of our gluten-free recipes

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