Photo: Tony Lanz
?Mama, my arms are too tired to colour.? When three-year-old Alyson uttered those words, her mom, Tera Gariepy, knew it was time to take her to the doctor to finally get some answers.
Gariepy had noticed some unusual but seemingly unrelated symptoms in Alyson for many months, like crankiness, constipation, insatiable hunger and relentless fatigue. ?She?d go to bed at 5 p.m., fall asleep instantly, sleep for 12 or 13 hours and wake up in the morning saying she was tired,? says Gariepy, who lives in Edmonton. ?I just didn?t think this was normal. I?ve taught preschool, and this was something I?d never seen in kids before.?
Her doctor tested Alyson?s blood for a variety of conditions, and within a few days, Gariepy had her answer: Alyson had celiac disease. The diagnosis was later confirmed with an internal biopsy. Celiac disease?that?s when you can?t eat bread, right"

Sort of. Celiac disease is an autoimmune condition in which the lining of the small intestine gets damaged by consuming gluten, a protein found primarily in wheat, rye and barley (so it?s in bread, yes, but also tons of other foods, from soups to soy sauce to salad dressings). That damage is bad news, since the small intestine has a very important job: absorbing nutrients from food. Even the tiniest crumb of bread or slurp of soup can cause harm and trigger a host of unpleasant symptoms.
Alyson?s doctor hadn?t tested for celiac disease sooner because the preschooler didn?t have the typical...