How I Was Diagnosed with Celiac Disease

Hi, my name is Dawna Weiss, and I have celiac disease. I just was diagnosed properly in 2021 due to my COVID trip through the hospital. Would you consider celiac an ‘underlying condition?’ Um… YES! It certainly complicates things!

How I was Diagnosed

I was lucky enough to have a doctor who was in the ‘know’ and sent me in for HLA Typing For Celiac Disease (a blood test for celiac). This was GREAT news, as usually, they want to biopsy your gut after being on gluten for two weeks. I wasn’t going to do that. Not worth it to me.

My journey to getting diagnosed properly came by a hard reboot from COVID. Even the lifestyle changes that I made and militantly abide by are on point, I was still taken out by COVID.

One of the complications of celiac disease is the use of dairy products. There is no tolerance to casein (milk/cheese protein) for people with celiac disease. I didn’t have a proper diagnosis, so sometimes cheese happened. I was low-key sick ALL THE TIME! Dark circles under my eyes, bloating, constipation, headaches, and the list goes on and on.

Lifestyle Changes

I have been living a gluten-free lifestyle for sure but needed to really look at ALL THE THINGS! Not just food and eating out. I’m talking hair care products, face, and body care products, and even my husband’s bodily fluids!

There is wheat, rye, barley, and even some oats that all contain gluten and are in EVERYTHING! Even Dayquil/Nyquil has wheat starch in it. Did you know that Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Maltodextrin, Natural Flavors, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein, MSG, Soy Sauce are just a few of the top offenders? READ YOUR LABELS!

My whole world was affected by the fact that I can’t eat gluten. I had to learn to read labels and find the hidden gluten in EVERYTHING. Once I threw a tantrum, continued eating it, and feeling like crap, I finally decided to change my diet and lifestyle. It was simply not easy.

So, I created a product line and opened my bakery, Azna Gluten Free. I had to make it my day job to wrap my head around baking gluten-free/vegan. And I was very successful! I’ll be teaching cooking classes on GF/DF baking come late 2021 or early 2022.

How I Help My Clients

The good news is you don’t have to go start up a GF/DF bakery! In my sessions, I help guide my clients through the mysteries of food ingredients. They learn how to eat gluten-free, what to eat, where to shop. Is it safe to eat out and where… Reading menus, reading your server! All things to know when navigating the world of being celiac.

If you have an intolerance, it’s a bit different. You can eat the French fries cooked in the same oil as the other things. With celiac disease, that’s a big no-no.

Let me help you navigate through this world of super stealthy secret toxins! Let’s peel back the layers of your health concerns and find the real problem. It could very well be you have celiac disease.