A girl aged 23 years, came to me in Jan 2006. She was suffering from gluten allergy.

She showed her reports from PGI, Chandigarh and some other local reports. The reports stated that she had antiendomysial antibody IgA positive which interprets to Gluten sensitive enteropathy (GSE) or coeliac disease, a small bowel disease characterised by malabsorption of gastrointestinal fat.

CASE HISTORY:
She said, “I have the problem of wheat allergy. Whenever I eat something made directly or indirectly from wheat, I experience severe stomach-ache with nausea, vomiting and loose motions.”

“Actually the problem started when I was a child. Initially there was pain in the abdomen and I consulted a number of doctors as I could not get relief. Mostly, doctors gave me the medicine for worms. But the problem kept on increasing. On seeing no improvement my parents took me to PGI (Post Graduate Institute), Chandigarh. They conducted many tests and declared it to be a case of Gluten allergy. I took treatment from PGI for seven years. Even after being treated for seven years, when there was no improvement the doctors at PGI told me that it can not be cured. They advised me to stop eating wheat and wheat products.”

“Then I went to a very well known gastroenterologist Dr. Pramod Mittal in Patiala. He gave me treatment for about three years but still there was no relief. Finally, he told me that there is no medicine in the whole world that can give you relief from this allergy. So, the only way out is to take care of your diet and don’t take wheat or wheat products for the rest of your life. I got depressed and didn’t know what to do. A few days ago someone told me about you. That is why I am here.”

What do you think now?
“Dr. Sahib, I am quite worried and depressed. I don’t think that it can be cured. I don’t have the courage to take medicine because there is no hope of recovery. I took treatment for about seven years from a renowned institute like PGI, Chandigarh and when they could not cure, how can others treat it? They even told me that there is no medicine in the world that can cure you. There is only one solution and that is to stop the intake of all wheat and wheat products otherwise I will suffer.”

“On being asked about her nature, she told me that she gets angry quite frequently and she often gets violent. She said, “My mood is always upset and I get irritated very easily. I have frequent headaches. I am always worried about myself and my future? If I get married, how will my in-laws react to this problem, I feel bad about it. I am quite worried about it. I had a very pleasant childhood. I got whatever I asked for. Now I want to remain alone, I like solitude. I remain busy in myself. But if someone disturbs me I feel quite bad and lose my temper instantly. I don’t like hotchpotch. Everything should be very neat and clean and in its right place. I don’t like sympathy.”

“I always think about what will happen in the future. This idea doesn’t leave me at all.”

“Regarding spending, I don’t spend money. I save money and keep it with me. I have 4-5 friends. I like watching soaps on television.”

“I don’t like my father as he contradicts and puts restrictions on me.”

When asked to tell something more about herself, her mother said, “Dr. should I narrate an incident which could be helpful to you?” I nodded.

She said, “Dr. When I was pregnant and she was about to be born, my husband got falsely convicted in a murder case. He was in jail for three years. I was very tense at that time and I used to cry whole day long. I felt as if everyone has left me and everyone looked down upon me. I took medicine for inducing abortion because I already had two children. But the abortion did not take place and I gave birth to this child. Though all family members were with me but I felt as if I had no place in the society. Perhaps this has affected my daughter and led to this allergy.”

I prescribed her Natrum Carb 30.

She felt better but I advised her to follow her diet of wheat-free products for sometime more.

She came to me after fifteen days. She was quite happy and told me that she felt good. I started her wheat intake and asked her to take only one meal of wheat per week. She did as she was told and amazingly, there was neither pain in abdomen nor diarrhoea.

I gave her Natrum Carb 200.

After two months I asked her to have wheat products two times in a week. She did not experience any difficulty.

After three months when she noticed that intake of wheat or wheat products was not causing any trouble she started taking wheat products regularly.

Thereafter she had no problem.  She is eating whatever she wants to and enjoying life.