Before the Diagnosis...

....I had 10 years of unexplained problems and inaccurate diagnoses.

In 1996, I was a sophomore in college. My body wouldn't let me consume more than a rice cake and some tea before I'd have to run to the bathroom. I had a lot of lower GI issues. A doctor called that Irritable Bowel Syndrome. He also said it was because I had a lot of stress in my life. Quite true -- my parents were going through a nasty divorce, I had to transfer schools because my father spent my college fund and there wasn't any money left for me to stay at my private school, I had to move back home with my mother who was a basketcase, I went through an abusive relationship and was in another one that wasn't very beneficial to me.

Four years later, I stopped having regular periods...for almost 2 years! I was making monthly visits to my OBGYN for ultrasounds. I also had a lot of bloodwork done, testing for thyroid issues. Doctors thought it could have been a tumor on my pituitary gland. I was put on hormones, but nothing was working. I had a hysterosalpinogram (iodine is shot through the uterus and fallopian tubes, while a camera looks for blockages), which didn't uncover anything wrong. I went to a fertility specialist and she told me that I wouldn't be able to have children, but she wasn't really sure why that was.

A few years later, I started having lower GI issues again, but only after eating certain foods and not frequent enough to really pinpoint what those foods were. Fettucine alfredo seemed to cause issues, but I thought it was because of the amount of cheese. I stopped drinking a lot of milk.

I also had issues with depression. But heck, I had a boyfriend who was unfaithful, I moved across the country by myself, I worked like a dog, I ate bad food, I tried to keep a long-distance relationship with the boyfriend, I got engaged to the boyfriend, and then after I dropped out of my PhD program to move back across the country, said boyfriend decided he didn't want to marry me (after a 10-year relationship).

My life was a bit of a mess. The diagnosis of Celiac Disease saved my life -- quite literally! For that, I'm eternally grateful!

-KAGFG