Week before last when Joshua’s pancreatitis symptoms were presenting themselves, I was unsure of why his behavior was so uncontrollable. he was having bouts of screaming coupled with moaning and groaning. most of the fits were antagonized by the nurse or I trying to do the most harmless acts. many times not even touching him.

Not sure about where this behavior was stemming from, I sat down and had the “Never cry wolf…” speech with him. I wanted to make sure he wasn’t just acting out. Thinking he understood this, I was confident the only screams I’d be hearing were pain derived. So we acted on them, took him in to the ER and thankfully caught his pancreatitis before it go too adanced.

Which brings me to today.

Before I go into the bathroom here in our hospital room to shower, I ask Joshua, “Do you need to go potty?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“No, I don’t need to.”

“OK, I’m getting in the shower, don’t scream at me telling me you need in.”

“OK.”

So, 5 minutes later, guess what I hear? Yep,

“Momma!” like it’s the end of the world.

Same siuation happened the day before only for me to hurry out to find that, “I don’t have to go anymore, it went away.”

This afternoon, I’m in the bathroom again and can once again hear his screams, which this time are loud enough to bring in his nurse. I’m out, sweeping him in the bathroom as quickly as possible. So, the nurse and I are talking about the series of events listed above and I hear this soft voice coming from behind the bathroom door.

“Mom. Are you talking about, Don’t scream at the sheep?”

—–Yep, I can tell he got the gist of my story.

Good to know our children are listening, huh?

HAVE you ever felt like you've lost your mojo?

While being dog tired is considered just a normal part of hectic living, for Mackay man Daniel Webster it was the sign of something more serious – coeliac disease.

the 33-year old mr Webster was diagnosed with coeliac disease last October. the condition, which is caused by an intolerance to gluten, is often down-played. But it can prove fatal if not treated and significantly affects everyday living.

mr Webster now leads a full and active life as an account manager with MY105.fm.

But he said he had suffered from exceptionally low energy for many years without knowing why.

“I had been feeling that way since I was in my early 20s,” mr Webster said.

“But I put it down to the fact that I was working long hours as a chef at the time. I was fine at work, because I would push myself to keep going, but the moment I got home and sat down in a chair, that would be the end of me.

“I had no energy left to do anything at all.”

mr Webster said he had also experienced recurring digestion problems and stomach cramps.

He said after going to doctors for years on and off, his life had changed after being told what cause of the problem was.

“I was so glad to find out what was wrong and to be able to do something about it.

“Within a few weeks of starting treatment, the tiredness and the stomach symptoms just vanished. Today, I feel like a different person, the difference in my wellbeing is amazing,” he said.

the importance of mr Webster's story is highlighted this Coeliac Awareness Week with many more people likely to be struggling with un-diagnosed exhaustion.

Coeliac expert Dr Jason Tye-Din said that while at least one in 100 men had coeliac disease, 75 per cent of them did not yet know it.

He said that was in part because men were less likely to have a coeliac blood test.

“Coeliac disease is very common and occurs in both men and women, so this large disparity in testing between the genders is alarming and needs to be addressed,” Dr Tye-Din said.

“Untreated coeliac disease can lead to other health conditions such as liver disease and cancer. We urgently need to raise awareness of the more common symptoms of coeliac disease, one of which is tiredness such as that experienced by Daniel,” he said.

this Coeliac Awareness Week a new campaign called Mate, have you lost your Mojo? highlights typical symptoms of coeliac disease, with unexplained tiredness a key indicator.

those wanting more information are encouraged to call the Coeliac Awareness Hotline on 1300273272.

The Facts

Coeliac disease is caused by an intolerance to gluten (found in wheat, rye, barley and oats)

the surface area of the small bowel available for nutrient absorption is reduced. as a result, coeliacs become ‘starved' of nutrients and their bodies can't function properly

Tiredness is a key symptom

Image: Kimberley Evason University of California, San Francisco

In 2007 parasite immunologist P’ng Loke sat down for lunch at a University of California, San Francisco, cafeteria with a patient who wanted help documenting his medical condition. The two shared an unusual interest: gut worms—specifically, tiny wormlike parasitic organisms called helminths.

Loke’s 35-year-old guest, who declined to be identified for reasons of patient confidentiality, explained that he suffered from an inflammatory bowel disease known as ulcerative colitis. While researching his condition a few years before, the man had read about helminthic therapy, which has not been approved by the FDA but which is a subject of active research by gastroenterologists and parasitologists. The idea is that people with autoimmune disorders can ease their symptoms by deliberately infecting themselves with parasitic worms such as hookworm or whipworm, both of which supposedly pacify the human immune system to survive inside the body. In numerous animal studies, these parasites ostensibly protected rodents from a wide variety of immunological disorders, including colitis, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, food allergies and type 1 diabetes. The man had convinced himself the therapy could work for him, and, since 2004, he had been ingesting whipworm eggs, which he obtained from Thailand. he was now virtually symptom-free. could Loke help him figure out how, if at all, the worms had treated his colitis?

Loke was skeptical at first but agreed. In a recent paper published in Science Translational Medicine, Loke, now at New York University, and his colleagues suggest that the whipworms are indeed effective in treating colitis. Repeated colonoscopies, for example, showed that wherever worms colonized the patient’s  colon, the signs of colitis—open sores and inflammation—were significantly reduced or nonexistent. more important, Loke showed through tissue analysis that the parasites may work by stimulating mucus production in the gut. Colitis, which is associated with decreased mucus production, is thought to occur when the immune system attacks benign bacteria living in the intestines. The extra mucus may help calm the immune system and prevent it from attacking the gut’s harmless microorganisms.

“this is not a double-blind study, but the pattern is highly suggestive that the worms helped this patient,” says Joel Weinstock, a gastroenterologist at Tufts University who has pioneered helminthic therapy research. “The major point of this paper is the potential mechanism—mucus production—which has not been looked at properly before.”