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Probably had it most of my life

In my teens I had the symptoms of Graves Disease - overactive thyroid, goitre - but was never told I had graves disease. Doctors gave me neomercazole to regulate my thyroid and eventually the symptoms went away and my thyroid regulated itself from my early twenties onwards. I occasionally had bowel trouble and fatigue over the years. One particularly bad bout of fatigue and lack of energy was diagnosed as depression but I refused to take antidepressants. There was a fast food restaurant I used to eat at many years ago that I stopped eating at after it kept giving me bowel trouble. In 2012 I went to a doctor because of constant bowel trouble for over a month. The advice I was given was to eat more fibre such as bran flakes. Big mistake! That doctor didn't test me for any diseases. I kept experiencing bowel trouble for a year but changed address a couple of times due to losing one job and starting another so I didn't see a doctor about it again until I had a day off work in September 2013 and decided to go to the local doctor about it. She ordered blood tests for various conditions. When the results came back everything came back fine except the final test for celiac disease. My antibodies reading was very high. The doctor said I could have had it most of my life and not known. It would explain a number of health issues over the years. I had the biopsy a few months later and then attended a celiac clinic after that. I've joined a wonderful group on Facebook and am often experimenting with diet. I do it myself because the dietician I saw wasn't much help due to the limited time she had available for many patients and the only celiac clinic I was seen at being in a different part of the country and none locally. I lost touch with the clinic when I moved away to be closer to family. The Irish public health service is not at a great standard at the moment. The paleo diet is great, I find, but it needed tweaking for me. I also got into bad eating habits now that there are plenty of gluten free junk food options. I recently gave my diet another overhaul and it is based around paleo, GAPS and paleo autoimmune protocol diets with some dairy and some cheat days allowed. I don't eat anything with gluten free oats because my gut is too sensitive. I also try to avoid corn and rice where possible on cheat days. I recently discovered a study that linked millet to goitre if over used so I avoid that also. I hope my story isn't too long. Thanks for reading if you got this far.

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