Describe your life prior to diagnosis.
All my life, I’ve experienced chronic pain and it was debilitating to the point of missing classes and sports. When I’d experience pain, it was like my body was on fire and everyone around me would say, “What fire? You look fine.”
How did you find out that you had celiac disease? Did you suspect it beforehand?
I had no clue what celiac was prior to my diagnosis. It’s a complex story actually, I was misdiagnosed with sickle cell anemia and several other diseases in 2021. However, I now have the proper diagnoses of celiac disease, epilepsy and lupus.
How long did it take for you to get diagnosed since your first symptoms and what (if any) challenges did you face along the way?
I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 24 years old. The worst part about all of it was even my doctors were gaslighting me and attributed my chronic pain to mental health issues I never had, so after that experience I decided to not only advocate for disabilities, but also chronic pain.
Describe your experience living with celiac disease.
Life was a constant battle of up and downs with no stability but after I became paraplegic, it all made sense to me and I was able to recognize that there was still a problem.
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