Identical twins who 'share everything' shock doctors after being diagnosed with identical illnesses

Glasgow: Twins Alexandra and Lara Pierotti have always enjoyed doing everything together.

They share the same interests , have the same friends, study the same subjects at the same school and hope to be accepted on the same course at the same university.

But when the 16-year-olds fell ill at the same time, doctors were shocked to discover they had been hit by the same autoimmune condition, coeliac disease.

While the illness has genetic links, medics say it is extremely unusual that both girls would be diagnosed with it together, reports the Daily Record.

Mum Lyndi, 49, of Bearsden, Glasgow, said: “Alexandra and Lara are very close and have always done everything together.

"When they fell ill, it took almost 18 months before Alexandra was firstly diagnosed and we knew straight away that Lara had to be tested for it too.

"Having each other has probably made things a little easier for them."

Coeliac disease is when the body’s immune system damages the lining of the small bowel when gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye is eaten.

While common symptoms can include frequent bouts of diarrhoea, vomiting and bloating – neither Alexandra or Lara suffered any tummy complaints.

But they say the disease left them so physically and mentally exhausted, they had to give up the sports they loved, they needed to rest at lunchtime at school and even lacked the energy to chat.

Alexandra, said: “Both Lara and I went from being full of energy all the time to being so tired we didn’t want to do anything. We would fall asleep in the car on the way to school.

"When at school, we would go to the drama department at lunchtime where we knew we could rest.

“We had to stop playing hockey and we struggled in fitness class.

"When we came home, we were always having naps.

Lara added: “It sounds silly but even chatting to our friends was exhausting and I would sometimes struggle to keep up with the conversations.

"We have since learned that having ‘brain fog’ can be a symptom of coeliac disease but at the time, we didn’t know what was going on. It was quite frightening not knowing what it was.”

Over almost 18 months, the girls made repeated trips to their doctors and were prescribed iron tablets after both were found to be anaemic.

When other tests showed no abnormalities, their symptoms were dismissed as being related to puberty.

But worried mum Lyndi says she and husband Roano, 55, a chartered surveyor, knew something more serious was going on.

Lyndi said: "As a parent, you worry that something sinister might be going on but any tests came back normal.

“Then I was back at our GP with Alexandra and he said he was going to test her for coeliac disease to rule it out. When the test came back positive, it was a massive shock.”

Both girls had to undergo biopsies for confirmation.

They were then given strict instructions to remove all gluten from their diet – including standard bread, pasta, flours, cereals and biscuits.

Lyndi said: “As soon as we removed gluten from their diets, the transformation was amazing.

"Within three weeks, their energy was coming back and they were much more like their old selves.”

The girls say their bodies now suffer an extreme reaction if they do digest anything with gluten in it by mistake.

Lyndi said: “Eating out can be a problem as you have to trust in others that something really is gluten-free.

“At home, things are much easier but any gluten-free ingredients are much more expensive."

Lara added: “We would love to set up our own business one day, offering a wider range of foods for anyone who does have to be gluten-free.”