As someone who never knows what her immune system is doing (or whether it is there at all), I have had a battle with eating for the past couple of months. It was only after talking to Hollie about my symptoms that she mentioned getting tested for Coeliac Disease. I went for a blood test yesterday and I'm hopefully going to see a dietitian after exam season is finished. If there is anything wrong with me, don't worry, you'll be the first to know because I'll be ranting about it all over my social media. But, in the meantime, I thought I'd do my homework and help raise some awareness for the disease, on this the most sacred of weeks for all our gluten-free friends. So I'm going to pester Hollie for some answers...

A: I was 19 when I found out, but I'd been experiencing symptoms for about a year before I actually decided to go and do something about it. I kept blaming it on winter bugs or stress or just eating dodgy food, but when I started a performance of  'Grease' and was feeling constantly ill, I new something had to be done.

Q: What were the biggest symptoms that told you something might be wrong?

A: Excruciating pain in my gut is the worst one and only occurs when I've eaten a lot of gluten; I can deal with the multiple trips to the loo, but genuine physical pain is hard to ignore.

Q: What's the biggest change you've noticed since being diagnosed?

A: I've got my body and my life back. I don't have to be embarrassed about dermatitis on my hands or worrying about needing to use the loo at someones house or in public. More than anything my body just feels back to normal, I'm no longer constantly exhausted or ill.

Q: What gluten-containing product do you miss the most?

A: The day M&S release a Made Without Wheat version of their ham, cheese and pickle sandwich will be a very happy day for me. Also Chinese takeaway or grabbing a bag of chips from the chip shop is something I miss.

Q: What's the best piece of advice you can give to someone who thinks they might have Coeliac Disease?

A: Don't try to self diagnose, bodies are weird so your best bet is to go to the doctors and let them help you find out what's going on.

Q: Finally, has anything good come from your experiences?

A: I've learnt to listen to my body, not to ignore the signs of something being not right. It's better to get things checked than unknowingly damage your body. I've also learnt more about healthy food and cooking!

---