UPON discovering she had coeliac disease, Ellyn Palfreyman immediately went to the pantry only discover she could safely eat two items - peanut butter and rice.
Miss Palfreyman's family watched as she dropped to a staggering 50kg due to her immune system rejecting anything with gluten.
"I went to hospital with suspected appendicitis because I had really bad stomach pains,'' she said.
"The surgeon said 'this girl doesn't have appendicitis so find out what's wrong with her'.''
A trip to back to the family GP and a detailed history ended with a test for coeliac disease.
"In the end it made total sense because when I was younger, like seven or eight, I had gone through lots of bouts of sickness where I couldn't eat or would feel sick all the time.
"My parent's would say 'you will be right in the morning'' and my stomach would always feel better in the morning, which made sense because I hadn't eaten for 12 hours''.
Miss Palfreyman was diagnosed when she was 18.
Now 22 and a UTAS Rural Clinical School medical student, Miss Palfreyman said she didn't realise how unhealthy she felt until starting the gluten-free diet.
"I thought 'so this what it feels like to feel good'.
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Diagnosis gives Ellyn a new lease on life
