As soon as he was weaned off baby milk, Louis, now 23 months, vomited after every meal, and began losing weight.

"He couldn't explain his symptoms," Louis' mother Jessica said. "It must have been awful for him, but we didn't know."

After a particularly bad day, not long after the family had moved to Hastings from London eight months ago, they took Louis to the Conquest hospital, where he was tested for Coeliac disease.

Coeliacs -or gluten allergy- is when wheatflour acts as sandpaper on the intestines, making those affected unable to absorb nutrients in their food, eventually causing muscle wasting and anaemia.

Two weeks after being tested, Jessica, 31, and husband Andrew, 33, had the diagnosis confirmed, and now life is a constant battle to keep wheat away from Louis.

"We were really happy to get the result, but quite sad that he has to have a life-long gluten free diet," Jessica, a Conquest intensive care nurse, said.

"He took half a chocolate digestive biscuit when I was at a coffee morning recently, and he vomited straight away.

"It's tricky because children are always going to pick up things. I'm trying to cook a lot more, and for birthday parties I'm going to have to bring my own cakes.

"I just hope people will be understanding.

"As a baby I would bring my own food with me to restaurants, but as he's getting older I think it's getting less acceptable. Chicken nuggets, pretty much all burgers and sausages contain gluten.

"People just think you're being really fussy. They don't realise it's a medical condition."

Now Louis is back to his normal strength.

Jessica, who lives in Clive Vale, said: "After three days of changing his diet he was starting to run and had lots of energy. You would never think it would such a small amount of time.

"He's pretty active now. And he's put on a good amount of weight."

Jessica is hoping to hear from other parents of children with the disease, and adult sufferers, to learn more about the condition, and possibly arrange an informal social group.

The nearest Coeliac UK restaurant to the Dunne's is in Rye, and as part of Coeliac UK awareness week next week (May 12-18) Jessica will be approaching restaurants and cafes in Hastings to raise awareness of the condition.

Anyone who can offer Jessica help is asked to email her at jessica_whelan77@hotmail.com or call her on 07846 866870.