To mark Coeliac Awareness Week, which runs until Sunday, May 18, Hannah Gray Chats to local sufferers about the impact it has had on their lives.

THE mark of a good holiday for many of us might be getting lucky with the weather, or managing to see all the sights.

But when you have a serious food intolerance, your priorities change.

For Phil Kendall, a retired civil servant and a sufferer of coeliac disease, finding a supermarket which stocked gluten-free food, just down the road from where he was staying in Skiathos, Greece, was the stuff of lasting memories in 2007.

Related: Nicole Pritchard, was a healthy young girl until four years ago, when the diagnosis of coeliac disease and an underactive thyroid changed her life forever.
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"It was literally the best holiday I've had since becoming a coeliac," he said.

Just a tiny amount of gluten – a protein found in wheat, rye and barley – can cause him a serious stomach upset, so his life is one of constant vigilance to make sure he eats the right foods.

Before his diagnosis, in 2003, he was suffering a range of symptoms, including severe diarrhoea, pain in every bone and every joint in his body, anaemia and osteoporosis.

He suffered from mouth ulcers, and problems with his co-ordination, had skin rashes and was lethargic.

"At work, getting up three flights in the lift was a major achievement. When I first started, there I could go up three flights of stairs, two steps at a time," he said.

Phil's eventual diagnosis came after a severe bout of food poisoning.

Before his career in the civil service, Phil (62), from Parnwell, Peterborough, was a lecturer in biological sciences for 20 years. His knowledge meant he was aware what coeliac disease was, and he quickly realised that he needed to radically alter his diet.

"It was a question of coming home and going through the kitchen and taking out all those things which were based on gluten or contained gluten.

"It also meant throwing out some kitchen equipment, because you can't guarantee it's gluten-free. We can't ever use the pasta maker again and we had to buy a bread maker," he said.