If you or someone you love has been recently diagnosed with coeliac disease, you could be eligible to receive gluten free foods on prescription. Simply select your country of residence, and, if you live in England, fill in your postcode to check if your area is prescribing.
Your country is prescribing gluten free foods*. Request your Glutafin Taster Box by clicking the button below to sign up.
* Please note: local policies are constantly updated, and issuing a prescription is at the discretion of your GP.
In our recent blogs we’ve been taking a close look at the results of a wide ranging survey conducted by our sister brand, Schär. 13,500 people completed this survey across Europe and the United States, including over 3,000 people from the United Kingdom.
We’ve already looked at how long it takes to get diagnosed with coeliac disease, and why it is important to be tested for coeliac disease. This month, we will take a look at the most common symptoms of coeliac disease, as shown in the survey, as well as some of the lesser known symptoms that were mentioned by our respondents.
The survey splits the symptoms of coeliac disease into three categories: gastrointestinal, nervous system and others. Respondents who had been diagnosed with coeliac disease were found to have around seven symptoms each on average, including around three gastrointestinal symptoms, two nervous system symptoms and two other symptoms, such as anaemia and osteoporosis.
The three most common gastrointestinal symptoms of coeliac disease were the same for all of the six countries surveyed. These were bloating, which was experienced by six out of ten of respondents, persistent or recurring diarrhoea, which affected just over half, and persistent abdominal pain or cramps, which were experienced by just under half of those surveyed.
However, not all common symptoms were gastrointestinal in nature. Around two thirds of respondents reported persistent tiredness, fatigue or lack of concentration, while just under half reported nutritional deficiencies such as Vitamin B12, Iron or folic acid.
The problem with the symptoms of coeliac disease is that most, if not all of them, are shared with many other gastrointestinal conditions, including IBS, gastritis and food intolerances. This explains why the survey found that it takes on average almost four years to be formally diagnosed with coeliac disease, with many people misdiagnosed for years before they received the correct diagnosis.
Only a quarter of respondents said that their doctor had immediately recognised coeliac disease, while in a further quarter of cases the condition was discovered purely by chance. 14% of people were initially misdiagnosed with IBS, 12% with gastritis and 11% with a food intolerance.
While most cases will share one or more of the common symptoms of coeliac disease, there are many other symptoms that are less common. These include regular constipation (23%) and indigestion (32%), dizziness and coordination problems (17%), tingling and numbness in hands and feet (19%) and osteoporosis (11%). Recurrent miscarriages also occur in 4% of coeliac patients.
Although the survey identified more than twenty different symptoms of coeliac disease, it’s also worth noting that one in six people with coeliac disease don’t show any symptoms at all. That means that before they were diagnosed, they were completely unaware of their condition.
The wide range of symptoms, and the fact that some people have no symptoms at all is part of the reason why only 36% of cases of coeliac disease have been diagnosed to date.
If you are suffering from any of the symptoms of coeliac disease, whether that’s common symptoms like bloating, persistent or recurring diarrhoea or abdominal pain, or less common symptoms like anaemia, fatigue or dizziness, you should talk to your GP. They can arrange for you to be tested for coeliac disease and help you begin treatment with a strict gluten free diet if the tests prove positive.
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