Her ailments hit her so often that she kept dropping out of school: stomach pains and migraines, stomach problems. Alana Broe thought she contracted every virus that popped up in the classroom. She hoped he would grow out of it when he entered another school. College became a turning point in her health troubles. Unfortunately, for other reasons than she thought.
The problems started when Alana Broe was in the third year of primary school. Over the years, her discomfort only grew, but she was so ambitious that she only chose advanced level subjects, she also ran and played volleyball. In her family, not only scientific but also sports achievements were expected from children. She tried to live up to it. College was supposed to give her a break. For the first time in many years, she will not have to deal with sports. She thought she would finally find time to take care of herself. And she will be able to make friends with new people who did not know her as “hypochondriacs”. And that’s what one of her coaches used to call her in public, which still hurt her. So when it turned out that her first year in college in Alabama was the worst health-wise of her life, Broe felt “utterly defeated.” jokingly, she was concerned about her future. Thanks to her friend’s advice, she performed tests that had not been ordered by any doctor before. It turned out that she suffers from a well-known disease, so it’s hard to believe that no one has recognized her for years.
The diagnosis forced Alana to radically change her diet, habits and accept the idea that she would not be free from it for the rest of her life. Still, Broe, 22 today, says, “I was very happy with the diagnosis.” Because finally she knows what’s wrong with her and how to fight it effectively. The torment is over. Because almost as long as Broe can remember, she had, for example, pains in the lower abdomen. He was blunt and made it difficult for her to sit, and lying in bed was a relief for a while. To calm her stomach, Alana kept nibbling on crackers or bread. Her entire childhood in the suburbs of Atlanta was marked by numerous visits to the pediatrician who had always blamed the virus. Some suggested that the girl was simulating, fortunately her mother, a nurse, trusted her daughter. “She knew I loved school and didn’t like missing school,” recalls Broe. Her grandfather, who is a surgeon, also couldn’t tell what was wrong with her. When Broe was 12, her mother took her to a pediatric gastroenterologist. He ruled out ulcers. “She is ambitious and strives for perfection,” the doctor wrote, “and she experiences stress at times.” The teachers said it was top likely. Broe’s absences were so frequent that her classmates in elementary school came up with a “game” of guessing how many days she missed in a given week. And when she came to school, they commented on it maliciously. The doctor, who did not even order her blood tests, concluded that the girl suffered from visceral hyperalgesia, i.e. a hypersensitive stomach. He recommended: “Reduce your stress.” Alana felt a little better in junior high. But high school brought new symptoms: severe headaches and alternating constipation and diarrhea. She has been tested several times for mononucleosis, a common virus that causes fatigue. Sometimes, in moments of severe headache, she would leave the classroom and take a nap in the school infirmary. She was taking more vitamins because blood tests showed that she was anemic and had a vitamin D deficiency. Longer sleep did not seem to give her energy. After eight hours, she woke up exhausted. Volleyball was a respite for her: when she played, she did not notice the pain. “I think I was pushing him away somehow,” she said.
One of the worst moments came in the last year when one of the coaches in front of the entire team accused her of being a hypochondriac, which apparently got the echo of her teammates. Broe wondered if her coach was right. – I asked myself why I am sick all the time. Her attendance that year was so irregular – she missed more than 20 days – that the dean of her private school warned that if she had any absences in the month before graduation, she would not receive her diploma along with the entire class. Broe had already turned down several sports college scholarships for fear that she would never complete her four-year schooling. She also decided that in college she would not be involved in sports at all “Although that was never accepted by my family,” she says. She thought giving up training was the only chance to give her body a break. Unlike high school, this time she was going to choose a reduced course of study. Before she left to start her studies in the fall of 2012, her doctor took 13 vials of blood for testing for a number of different diseases, but this time, nothing was found. “She told me,” At least now we know it’s nothing serious, “recalls Broe. Unfortunately, during the first year, Broe felt worse than ever. “Every morning when I woke up, I was nauseous, had piercing migraines, and had to take a nap or lie down after each meal,” she recalls. Her diet consisted mostly of student meals: grilled cheese, canned soup, and microwave-heated quesadillas. She swallowed over-the-counter painkillers to be able to go to class, and on days when she felt too bad to get out of bed, she curled up in a dorm room, nibbling on crackers, hoping her friends would bring her water and food . Several times she had such severe pains that she literally crawled into the bathroom. Her visits to the student clinic were routine. “I think you have the flu again,” was the diagnosis, as a rule. The girl came to the conclusion that this is probably what the new health norm should look like.
The unexpected breakthrough came a month later when one female colleague mentioned that her stomach problems had greatly eased as she began eating a diet devoid of dairy products and gluten, the protein found in wheat, rye and barley. “I thought a gluten-free diet was too hard for me to implement,” Broe said. She decided to check how she would feel, even without dairy products. After a month, she noticed a slight improvement. In May 2013, shortly after arriving home from school for the summer vacation, Broe consulted Atlanta gastroenterologist Marc Sonenshine. The doctor said that he was noticed by Broe’s 10-year history of abdominal pain and the fact that she had both a CT scan and an ultrasound, and neither of these tests showed anything. He decided to order a blood test for tissue transglutaminase, or tTG, which is used to detect celiac disease, a chronic gut disease caused by a gluten allergy. Broe had never had a test like this before. The results were unambiguous. A tTG of more than 4 units per millimeter indicates probable celiac disease. Broe was 94. Another study showed celiac disease. The next step in confirming the diagnosis was endoscopy, a procedure that involves removing tiny pieces of tissue from Broe’s small intestine for a biopsy. The biopsy taken a few weeks later left no room for doubt: Broe “had a fairly evident case” of celiac disease, Sonenshine said.
It is estimated that celiac disease affects 1 in 133 Americans, most of whom do not know they have it. The condition often runs in families. And she was indeed diagnosed with Cousin Broe. It is more common among women and white people. In people who suffer from it, consuming gluten or something that has come into contact with it – like the water used to cook wheat noodles – triggers an autoimmune reaction that destroys the villi, tiny bumps in the small intestine that absorb nutrients. The result is inflammation and long-term damage to the villi which can cause malnutrition from malabsorption. While celiac disease is associated primarily with gastrointestinal symptoms – abdominal pain being one of the primary symptoms – it can also cause anemia, fatigue, and headaches, as well as depression. Despite the popularization of gluten-free diets, celiac disease remains underdiagnosed: experts estimate that only less than 20 percent. Americans affected know about it. “Failure to diagnose has its consequences,” said Sonenshine. They include osteoporosis, infertility, and anemia. But, as he emphasized, celiac disease “is largely treatable through lifestyle modification” – namely avoiding gluten, which is found not only in food, but also in toothpaste, vitamins and other products. He was certainly in the crackers Broe ate in the belief that they calmed her stomach, and probably in the vitamins and some over-the-counter medications she was taking. Broe said she was happy the diagnosis was finally made. Avoiding gluten was difficult at first, but after a month on the new diet, she felt much better. Another biopsy in February 2014 showed that the damage to her intestine had healed. Broe is graduating from college and will be accepted into law school in the fall. Adjusting to the diagnosis was not without complications. Broe gained 10 kg. Some people are making fun of her again. The “gluten-free diet” has become synonymous with whim – dieting by those who claim to have a food allergy, when in fact it is not true, it is mostly about snobbery. “That’s all true, but for the one percent of us who are celiacs,” Broe says, “it’s not a whim and not a choice, but a necessity.