A lengthy journey to diagnosis
Woman shares her experience with Celiac Disease, going gluten-free
After more than 10 years of countless visits to the doctor and an endless string of medical tests, Ruth Lambe nally had her diagnosis.
It was the early 1970s and Celiac Disease was not as well understood or as prevalent as it is today — so misdiagnoses were common. But Lambe was persistent.
“ ey thought I had everything imaginable,” says Lambe. “It was pretty scary.”
From arthritis to multiple sclerosis to various blood disorders and even doctors trying to tell her “it was in all my head,” Lambe says doctors just couldn’t gure out what was wrong.
Through it all, Lambe constantly battled fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, and severe muscle weakness, especially in her legs. Some of these symptoms first began to appear during her high school years, when she noticed she was tired a lot and she started having problems with her muscles and joints.
is worsened into her 20s. She began losing weight even though her eating habits hadn’t changed and began feeling nauseated more often.
It took more than 20 doctors — a slew of general practitioners and specialists — and several lengthy stays in hospitals in Saint John and Moncton during a 10year span where she endured test after test, which included x-rays, scans, iron injections, B12 injections, bone marrow testing and biopsies, before she nally came across a doctor in Halifax.
After her initial consultation, he believed he had detected what was wrong with her. But to con rm his diagnosis, he would need to put her in the hospital for a month. Although Lambe was hesitant, she decided to go ahead; she was immediately put on a non-restricted diet and told to eat everything she wanted, all the while going through lots of tests and biopsies. When she left the hospital after that rst month, she was released on a gluten-free diet, to be followed for six weeks before returning to see the doctor.
She recalls when she left the hospital, she had to be assisted out as she could not walk on her own, her muscles had become so weak.
Staying o gluten was tough, says Lambe; there were very limited options back then for those with celiac or gluten intolerance. She ate a lot of raw potatoes and fruit, but says it was a challenge to stay away from bread, crackers and sweets.
Six weeks later, however, even after thinking she might starve to death on the gluten-free diet, she walked into the hospital on her own, surprising the doctor and the interns.
With her Celiac diagnosis in hand and on her path to a new gluten-free lifestyle, Lambe began to see signi cant improvements over the next couple of months and was soon turned over to a doctor in Moncton, where she lived at the time. He informed her about the Moncton Chapter of the Canadian Celiac Association, “a blessing,” she says, as it has provided her with much-needed support over the years, endless information and new recipes.
Lambe was grateful to nally get a diagnosis after such a “long haul” but admits it wasn’t easy making the switch to gluten free. at was 47 years ago. Fast forward to today and gluten-free options have multiplied, with new foods hitting the market almost every week.
Lambe says from biscuits to muffins, from cookies to bread, and even pasta, her menu has significantly diversified during the past 10 to 15 years and she is so happy with all the “tasty” options now available.