18/03/2026
COELIAC (from Coeliac UK page)
Nobody understands what it’s like to be coeliac
To dread every holiday destination or eating out
How we’d love the freedom to grab a takeaway
Without any question of doubt
Do you think we enjoy dictating where to eat
Feeling a nuisance wherever we go
Terrified how badly ill we will be
So with invitations tend to say no
Do you not realise how lucky you are
To never give eating a second thought in your head
To never question the effect it might have
And have no limitations to dread
We can end up getting glutened in our own country
Our restrictions are so unfair
Then imagine the worry of being abroad
When there’s a language barrier there
To avoid spoiling the experience for you
We’d actually prefer to be left behind
Then we won’t feel guilty at what you’ve sacrificed
At our expense, just to be kind
No it won’t just be an upset stomach
We’ll be debilitated for days on end
We live with an invisible disability
And there are no rules we can bend
In fact we’d rather stay at home
Than cause inconvenience all round
To protect ourselves from cross contamination
Is the only safe way we have found
No one realises the risk we take
To eat just a mouthful of gluten y o please you
It’s an auto immune disease not a food fad
That effects virtually everything we do
So yes we want to check the ingredients
Read the food label to know for sure
If only you realised how ill it makes us
You’d understand we don’t want anymore
Just because it’s an invisible disability and
Effects of previous malnourishment no longer show
We live with brain fog and fatigue
Yet to look at us you wouldn’t know
It can take years to get a diagnosis
And for your symptoms to be validated as real
Your body starts to slowly shut down
And you wonder will it ever heal
Anaemia, breathlessness, stomach ulcers, IBS
Lethargy, weight loss and blood clots too
No vitamins or minerals absorbed
Would you go back to that if it was you?
To ignore a diagnosis can lead to cancer
As the stomach lining wears so thin
A gluten free diet is the only cure
To keep us protected from within
There are chefs in restaurants
That label something gluten free by mistake
Some have no idea what gluten is in
Or how long recovery can take
Then there’s the one gluten free thing on the menu
That we’re meant to be grateful for
The fact it’s something we don’t even like
Means we don’t get offered any more
You can ask them to check it’s gluten free
And they still say yes and get it wrong
Replacing the burger bun with an ordinary one
So you’ll be ill before very long
Unlike an allergy that immediately reacts
To collapse within hours is our fate
Unable to stand due to toxic shock
Your body Expels at such a rate
So when we don’t want to go somewhere
Please don’t make us feel bad
Because it highlights our disability
Which leaves us feeling sad
Your pleasure in food, for us equals fear
So we’d rather withdraw and hide
Than get seriously ill again
Because it damages so much inside
There are many aspects of life to enjoy
Yet eating is usually involved in some way
We go everywhere prepared with snacks
To keep our hunger at bay
When we finally recover from what coeliac causes
It’s like the opportunity of being born again
Walk a day in our shoes to understand why
We daren’t jeopardise being free of pain
We have to adapt to a way of life
Which is essential for good health to be restored
So please don’t think we’re being difficult
If with limited food choices we get bored
Everything we buy is twice the price
With supermarkets out of stock quite a lot
As people buy gluten free as a choice
Which is something coeliacs haven’t got
We do what we must to keep ourselves safe
Rather than suffer the consequences if we don’t
So please try to understand when we refuse
Or say no thank you, we won't
