Raising Awareness for Celiac Disease with A Southern Celiac!

This post contains referral links which means that if you purchase from one of my links, I will receive a small percentage of the sale.  

In addition to being Ehlers Danlos Syndrome Awareness month, May is also Celiac Disease Awareness month! I invited Brittany from A Southern Celiac to tell us all a little more about it and help dispel some of the myths about Celiac's. Brittany also has Ehlers Danlos so we thought the partnership was perfect for us both. Please welcome her to Sunshine and Spoons!

May is Celiac Awareness Month, so Hannah has kindly allowed me to guest post on her blog! I'm Brittany, the Celiac behind A Southern Celiac. I was first diagnosed with celiac disease in 2012 at the age of 19 after having stomach issues since I was 18 months old! Stories like mine aren't uncommon, which is why I'm so passionate about spreading awareness for Celiac Disease.

Don't worry though, I'm not here to bore you with my diagnosis story. I've written that out before, and honestly, it was even tedious for me to re-read! Nope, today I'm here to share some surprising facts about Celiac Disease.  I'm assuming you know the basics. Celiac is an autoimmune disorder affecting the small intestine. When a celiac eats even small amounts of gluten, their body gets confused and attacks the small intestine. The only treatment is a strict gluten free diet. That seems pretty straightforward– but there's more to Celiac than it seems.

What It's Like To Be a Kid With Ehlers Danlos Syndrome

This post may be a little hard for you to read. I know I had tears in my eyes more than once while typing this up.

If you've been hanging around Sunshine and Spoons for very long, you know that at least 3 of my 4 kids have hypermobile Ehlers Danlos syndrome, which they inherited from me. Davy (3) and Nano (7) don't really understand it yet, but Katie (9) does. She goes back and forth between being proud of being a zebra to asking why God would make her have EDS and all of the pain that goes along with it.

Kids are supposed to be able to run and play. They shouldn't have to deal with chronic pain and fatigue. They shouldn't have to spend their childhoods at doctors' offices, wearing braces and explaining random bruises.

But, that's not how things always work. I interviewed 25 kids who have EDS to see what it's really like to be a child or young person with the disorder. 

Averie, 10 years old (hEDS) - "The hardest part is telling other kids that I can't do certain things, like play on the monkey bars, or do everything that my classmates are doing in gym class. EDS hurts a lot.  It's frustrating that you can't do as much as your friends, and POTS is really frustrating because I just have to explain myself more when I'm getting up more slowly than others, and have to draw attention to myself."

How YOU Can Raise Awareness for Ehlers Danlos

This post contains referral links which means that if you purchase from one of my links, I will receive a small percentage of the sale.  

May is Ehlers Danlos Syndrome Awareness month!  As all four of my kiddos and I have hypermobility EDS or hEDS, this month is pretty important to my family.

To help raise awareness for EDS, I put together a list of resources and tips that can help you share the word and teach others about EDS.