Why you should always trust your gut when it comes to coeliac disease

This autoimmune condition is much more than just an upset tummy, and its wide range of symptoms affects the lives of almost 2% of the Irish population

Donna Harold: "When I returned to the recovery room after the procedure, the surgeon told me that I was a coeliac [an autoimmune condition where the body’s immune system reacts to gluten] and I was to eat no bread." Picture: Alan Harold

As a child, Donna Harold had always been fit and healthy, but not long after she turned 20, she began to feel sick. Initially putting it down to a virus, she tried to ignore it, but the feelings persisted, so she went to see her GP. However, despite running tests, nothing indicated that anything was wrong. 

“I was always a healthy child, was into sports and was never sick, so my symptoms were totally out of the blue,” she says.