Feeling fine is not the same: why good days still count (Zoe, Episode 4)

UPDATED=2026-10-22READ=4 MINREVIEW=HTGF EDITORIAL

Nobody forgets on a bad day. It is the good weeks, when you feel completely fine, that the shortcuts creep in. Zoe is sixteen, she has had coeliac disease for years, and this week she got lazy. Episode 4 is about one calm question at the dinner table.

A good week

Sunday evening in the family kitchen: Zoe relaxed on a chair with her feet up and her phone, Dad stirring a pot at the stove, Mum at the table with a book

It has been a good week. Zoe has felt fine all week. It has also, she realises on Sunday evening with her feet up on the next chair, been a lazy week. On Wednesday she ate chips at the kebab shop without asking about the fryer, because Tim wasn't there and she couldn't be bothered. On Thursday she took a salad from a sandwich counter without asking about the board. On Friday she didn't read the back of a new packet of crisps. Nothing happened. She feels completely fine.

"I'm fine with a bit"

At dinner: Zoe shrugging, half-joking; Dad frozen mid-stir at the stove; Mum with her book down, head tilted, listening calmly

At dinner she says it out loud, half as a joke. "Honestly, I think I'm fine with a bit. I had a lazy week and I felt nothing." Dad stops stirring. Mum puts her book down, tilts her head the way she does, and does not get cross. That is somehow worse.

Mum's one question

Across the corner of the table: Mum leaning in calmly with one hand open, Zoe listening and thinking

"Can I ask you one thing?" says Mum. "How would you know?" Zoe opens her mouth and closes it again. "Feeling fine doesn't tell you much with coeliac," Mum says. "You can have it with no symptoms at all, and complications can still happen. A little isn't harmless, it just doesn't always make noise. Over the years, not sticking to the diet can mean weak bones and low iron. That's why the diet is the treatment even on the days you feel nothing at all." She says it once, and then she stops, and eats her dinner.

The diet, working

Zoe working it out aloud with her fork, a half-smile arriving; Mum nodding; Dad eating from his fork and smiling at her

Zoe pushes rice around her plate for a while. "So feeling fine," she says slowly, "is what it looks like when it's working. Not proof I can skip it." Mum nods once. Dad, sitting down with his plate, points his fork at her. "That," he says, "is the cleverest thing anyone has said in this kitchen all week, and I made a sauce." Zoe doesn't promise anything. She doesn't need to. She knows where the three questions are.

Back in the bag

Zoe on her bed at night sliding the small three-questions card back into the front pocket of her canvas bag, smiling to herself

Later, in her room, Zoe finds the pocket card with the three questions at the bottom of her bag, under a bus ticket and half a chocolate bar. She puts it back in the front pocket, where it lives. On Monday she asks about the fryer. It takes ten seconds. It always did.

Good days count too

Close-up: the corner of the cream card showing in the front pocket of Zoe's canvas bag, her teal hoodie sleeve beside it, morning light

The good days are not a reason to stop. They are what the rules are for. Our free pocket card has the three questions, and it fits in any front pocket.

For you, straight

Feeling fine is not the test. The NHS says mild coeliac disease may not cause any noticeable symptoms, and that treatment is recommended even when symptoms are mild or non-existent, because complications can still occur. So a week with no symptoms tells you very little about what is happening inside.

“A little won’t hurt” is the myth. In the NHS’s words, it is a common misconception that eating a little gluten will not harm you: even tiny amounts can trigger symptoms and increase the risk of complications.

What “complications” means. Coeliac UK lists the long-term risks for people who are not following a strict gluten-free diet; two of them are weak bones (osteoporosis) and iron deficiency. That is why the NHS recommends treatment even when symptoms are mild or non-existent: the gluten-free diet is the treatment, and it counts on the good days too. Sticking to it on those days is the part you control.

What actually helps. Not guilt, and not a new rule. Just the routine you already have, on the days it feels unnecessary: the three questions, the back of the packet, ten seconds each. If you have had a run of shortcuts and you are worried, talk to your GP or dietitian rather than guessing.

Sources: NHS, “Coeliac disease: Symptoms” and “Coeliac disease: Complications”; Coeliac UK, “Ongoing symptoms and complications”. All checked on 11 October 2026. We inform, we don’t diagnose: for medical questions your doctor or dietitian has the last word.

Skill recap: Feeling fine is not the test. Good days count too. Keep your three questions.

Read on

Reviewed against the HTGF methodology: every claim sourced, every listing tiered and dated. This article is practical guidance, not medical advice.

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