I’m Katrina Andrew, The Empowered Coeliac.

It wasn’t always that way though.

I’ll never forget the day that I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease. It was life-changing and came as a complete shock to me. I had been feeling exhausted - like I was constantly stuck in second gear. Which to be fair, might be expected given I was running a successful business and being Mum to 3 active, young kids. It was more than that though, something else was definitely going on but I just couldn’t quite put my finger on it!

I had had comprehensive blood tests which I seriously thought were just going to come back showing I was iron deficient (which, no surprises there, I was).

But alarmingly, the results also showed I had Coeliac Disease, and my body was fighting against itself.

I didn’t actually know what that meant at first. All I felt was overwhelm and confusion as I tried to absorb all the information that was coming at me. Everything seemed like such a blur. While the diagnosis obviously meant giving up some of life’s little pleasures (“Little Creatures” beer I’m looking at you) it soon became clear I had to make more drastic changes – and not just for a day, but for the rest of my life. As it all sank in, I slowly felt myself slipping into a state of depression.

The year was 2015 and I thought that being gluten free was just a trendy fad.

I had no idea that for some people, eating gluten could have a devastatingly, life threatening impact on their body. How naive & ignorant of me!

After being diagnosed, and despite access to a truckload of information, resources, websites and apps, I really didn’t know where to start. I felt stuck and completely alone.

What I craved was to have someone I could trust next to me, helping me navigate it all and reassuring me. Someone to hold my hand and walk Buttonme through step by step, as I got used to my new normal.