Gluten Free UAE
Hoping to be of help to all those living gluten free in the United Arab Emirates – نأمل أن نكون عوناً لكل من يعيش حياته خالية من الجلوتين في دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة
When a negative isn’t negative.
I was diagnosed with Coeliac disease and sIgA deficiency a year ago. The first thing for me to do after that, was to have my children tested. One of them tested negative but the test results for my older son came back positive plus sIgA deficiency.
The doctor recommended we do a biopsy, so we did. The biopsy showed no damage to the small intestine. Yet!
Our doctor recommended we keep the gluten in his diet and do another test 6 months later. My son has always suffered from constipation from the time he was a toddler but no other major issues, health wise. During that period he started to have more frequent periods of constipation as well as complaining from aching muscles, nausea and stomachache more and more every time after he had pasta or large amounts of gluten.
So we did another blood test and it came back negative (to my complete surprise) but still sIgA deficient!!!
He continued to complain from stomachache, nausea and constipation. At that point my husband and I decided to go for Genetic testing at XY clinic on Al Wasl Rd (as far as I know, this is the only place you can have those done and they are actually sent abroad for analyses).
The test came back positive showing gluten hypersensitivity and predisposition to Coeliac disease.
The awareness I would like to bring to everyone’s attention is, that not everyone has the same symptoms. Some children grow normally and look very healthy, yet that doesn’t always mean they do not have gluten hypersensitivity or even Coeliac disease.
I feel happy and relieved that we have an answer. He is now on a gluten free diet and never has to suffer the way I have (my Coeliac was detected when I was 35y.o. after numerous visits to different specialists).
-by Daniela Maitland-Walker
Gluten Free UAE 