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My blogs
| Gender | Female |
|---|---|
| Industry | Science |
| Occupation | Research Assistant |
| Location | Beaverton, Oregon, United States |
| Links | Audio Clip |
| Introduction | I am a gluten-intolerant person with Narcolepsy (PWN). When I eat the tiniest crumb of gluten, my Narcoleptic symptoms get astronomically worse for several days. Plus I get all those unpleasant Celiac GI symptoms. I have excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), cataplexy (C), hypnogogic hallucinations (HH), and sleep paralysis (SP). I also have non-epileptic seizure-like episodes that are 100% due to gluten ingestion. When I eat a gluten-free diet and avoid the other fruits & grains I'm sensitive to, I can live a relatively normal life without medication. I've been symptomatic since 1994. I was diagnosed in 1998 and I have been med-free since 2002 when I discovered food was my problem. I have not had the best luck with doctors, who like to un-diagnose me and then re-diagnose me with the same thing every time. They don't believe me when I say I can control my Narcolepsy by avoiding certain foods. I now see a Naturopath to manage my symptoms. I have 2 family members with Celiac Disease and 2 more with symptoms. Some day I would like to get my HLA typing done to see if I've passed this on to my son. I think he should know if he has anything to look forward to. |