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Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The woman who lives on a diet of only VENISON and SWEDE - because she says she's intolerant to everything else


A mother-of-two has been forced to eat a bizarre diet of only vension and swede after becoming intolerant to almost all foods.

Clare Greasly claims venison and swede are the only two foods she can stomach, because her body appears to be intolerant to everything else
Clare Greasly claims venison and swede are the only two foods she can stomach, because her body appears to be intolerant to everything else
Clare Greasly claims these are the only two foods she can stomach, because her body appears to reject everything else she eats. The once healthy mother has lost more than four stone due to the bizarre condition - yet doctors are unable to find an answer to her problems. Mrs Greasly, from Manchester, said: 'Venison and swede are the only foods that give me the mildest reaction. I have to experiment with what I can eat, and I just about seem to be able to cope with those. 'Other than that, I'm limited to rhubarb and dried cherries.' 'I used to love my life, running the house, and looking after my teenagers, but now, I barely have the energy to do anything. 'My husband and children are worried sick about me and I have to admit, I think my days are numbered.'



Her intolerance to food began back in the spring of 2011 when she started to develop abdominal pain. She said: 'I started getting awful pains in my stomach, side and abdomen so I went to the doctor. He organised to run a few tests but every time they came back normal. 'Throughout the year I had endless visits to A&E but again the doctors couldn't find anything wrong. 'Eventually I was told to forget about it and go on holiday, as though it was all in my head.'
 Despite dozens of hospital tests and her trying a gluten-free diet, doctors can find no cause for Mrs Greasly's excruciating abdominal pains when she eats most foods

Despite dozens of hospital tests and her trying a gluten-free diet, doctors can find no cause for Mrs Greasly's excruciating abdominal pains when she eats most foods

It was after her stay in hospital that she began to wonder if her eating habits could be causing the excruciating pain. The 45-year-old said: 'I decided to try a gluten free diet to see if that would help. It made me feel a little better but still not completely well. 'Eventually even gluten free foods seemed to cause a bad reaction. I ate some brown rice at the beginning of the year and was in the worst pain I've ever experienced. It was horrendous. 'As the weeks went by, my intolerance became worse and worse, I was starting to wonder if there was anything I actually could eat. 'But whenever I spoke to the doctors they just told me it was impossible - I was literally laughed out of the surgery.'

Mrs Greasly reached breaking point when she collapsed at home after suffering terrible pains and headaches. She said: 'I was rushed to hospital and stayed their for four weeks. I was given millions of tests but nothing seemed to work. I was even reacting to being fed through a tube.
 'I've had an assessment to show that I'm not making it all up, and mentally, the assessment showed that I'm fine.' The full-time mother is devastated by the change in her life in such a short period of time. She said: 'I was a bright, happy, energetic, slightly overweight lady, but now I'm a shadow of my former self. 'I used to love a good takeaway, and spent days walking through the Derbyshire Dales. 'But now I'm all skin and bones, and my hair has started to thin. People look at me and say I have a figure to die for, but I don't want to be like this.'

The only comfort the 45-year-old has managed to find is thanks to fellow sufferers of Total Food Intolerance. She said: 'The only people who seem to understand are people like me. It's like a mixture of having the worst hangover in the world, and being poisoned. You can't understand it unless you've been through it.' 'The more people that hear about Total Food Intolerance the better. I need to get the message out there. Even some of my family and friends don't believe me - I barely believe myself! 'Doctors need to hear that there are many people who are suffering terribly as a result of this. I will never accept that, in the 21st century, there are so many people suffering horrendously every day, yet being denied help by their doctors.'

 Daily Mail UK

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