A young high-flyer was forced to grapple with a life-changing condition sparked by an unsuspected culprit lurking in her daily diet.
Despite receiving ample sleep every night, she would wake up drenched sweat, struggling to complete tasks that once came easily to her.
Lauren Harber began noticing an array of baffling symptoms – skin outbreaks coupled with unshakable lethargy and persistent brain fog slowly encroached upon her life, as extreme weariness intensified over a two-year span.
“I couldn’t get to work without having to stop,” said Lauren.
“I was so tired, even after a great night’s sleep. At one point, I couldn’t lift my head off the pillow, and I’d be yawning in a meeting at 11am. I felt so unprofessional at a really pivotal time in my career. I just didn’t know what was causing it.”
Only 23 at the time, Lauren was worried about the implications of her mysterious ailment on her professional life. The inability to offer her colleagues an explanation or understand the source of her exhaustion only heightened her concern, reports Gloucestershire Live.
Now 34, she recalls: “The fatigue was overwhelming. It wasn’t just about being tired, it affected my life so much. I couldn’t go out with friends or show up fully at work. I wasn’t giving a true account of myself or my capabilities.”
Lauren’s health took a turn for the worse when she began to experience unusual skin problems, including acne-like symptoms, swelling around her eyes and painful lumps on her face. She also suffered from unexplained severe weight loss.
These alarming symptoms prompted her to seek medical advice. Her GP suggested that her diet could be the culprit and recommended cutting down on known gut irritants such as sugar and alcohol.
However, it was only when a workmate suggested she try eliminating gluten from her diet that Lauren started to see a change. Lauren said: “I suddenly felt amazing, but I didn’t have any support or information.
“I was so self-conscious because of my skin and my body which didn’t feel like my own, I’d hide my face and wear baggy jumpers. But as I cut gluten out, everything started to improve.”
Raised in a working-class family where traditional carbs like bread, pasta and cakes were dietary staples, Lauren found it challenging to find suitable gluten-free alternatives.
Lauren said: “I didn’t know much about the gluten-free world at the time. Free-from sections in supermarkets were few and far between, so I wasn’t even aware of all the alternatives and replacements. It was a steep learning curve.”
After six months of following a gluten-free diet, the 34 year old reached out to her doctor but her coeliac tests came back negative twice because she had already eliminated gluten from her diet.
Coeliac UK stresses that diagnostic tests for coeliac disease require gluten consumption, as the body’s response to gluten is crucial for accurate results. Individuals must eat gluten in more than one meal a day for at least six weeks before testing.
Lauren’s journey, along with the support she found on Instagram, led her to Genius Foods where she began sharing her gluten-free experiences. After travelling during the pandemic, she returned to the UK job hunting and swiftly applied for a marketing role at the company.
Lauren said: “The gluten-free community is unique because we’re unified by a medical need, not by choice. People really relate to each other and want to help. I’d had conversations with a lot of influencers and newly diagnosed people, so I understood the struggles.
“I feel really empowered to be the voice of the consumer. In product development or leadership meetings, I’m always challenging people to keep the consumer at the heart of what we do.
“Just because we’re gluten-free doesn’t mean we should sacrifice taste or quality. To me, it’s powerful that this isn’t just a company run by people with no connection to the condition. We understand the tension people feel and it’s ingrained in everything we do.”
