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Chronic Bronchitis

giselle

By giselle
in Related Issues & Disorders

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giselle Newbie
giselle
Posted

Hi everyone,

I am new here, I am SO grateful to have found this board because I feel like I am on the verge of falling apart. In brief, I wanted to know if anyone has had the experience of getting repeated episodes of bronchitis, asthmatic bronchitis, or other similiar illnesses while still ingesting wheat and gluten. I am too sick to begin to explain everything, but I am only just beginning to go wheat free. I developed chronic bronchitis over a year ago and have had so many antibiotics/inhalers, etc. and I keep relapsing. I am very frightened from being so sick and weak. My life is in standstill, I can barely function or think. Sorry for the poor writing.

I am newly diagnosed and overwhelmed. Very depressed and teary. But most of all, the bronchitis is scaring me because of how sick it makes me and my doc says I will get resistant to meds if we arent careful. I am about to have a sputum culture done as well.

I would be so very grateful for any feedback.

Completely overwhelmed, giselle

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Guest Eloisa
Guest Eloisa
Posted

Giselle,

Sorry you feel so bad but I completely understand. I used to get chronic sinus infections and my husband used to get chronic bronchitus all the time. I know that having celiac disease weakens your immune system therefore you get sick easily and its takes longer to get well. I just want to let you know that there is hope in this. I take Reliv shakes which are nutritional supplement that are taken in liquid form and since I've taken them I no longer have sinus issues that turned into infections. I've completely gotton off of all my sinus medications and have not had a sinus infection since I've been on Reliv. My husband who was sceptical about taking anything finally went to a Reliv meeting and heard all the great health stories and was convinced to start taking Reliv. Since him being on it, he has not had any bronchial infections and is off his sinus meds as well. He also suffered from old athletic injuries (knee, broken vertibre, broken bones and arthiritus) and had severe intestinal damage in his early twenties. When he started taking Reliv he initially started because of all of the aches and pains he had from injuries but wound up benefiting from all other issues his body has been going through.

Eloisa

cdford Contributor
cdford
Posted

Also, if you use a hot tub regularly, be sure to tell your doctor as this can sometimes trigger infections that react like bronchitis.

Guest nini
Guest nini
Posted

yeah, prior to being dx and going gluten-free, I used to get upper respiratory infections and bronchitis ALL the time. Seems like I would just get off of treatment for one and BOOM along came another one.

anewsprue Newbie
anewsprue
Posted

Hello all, don't know if it's celiac disease related but I just got out of the hospital on Monday after being admitted with pneumonia and pleurisy. I still hurt, can't breathe well at times but feel a little better overall. I think my immune system has left the building, it's just been a very tough year. :(

giselle Newbie
giselle
Posted
  • Author

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the great replies and info. I just got the results of my culture back and found I have Viral Chronic Bronchitis. It's good that I got a second opinion because I had been given 4 different very long courses of powerful antibiotics over the last year. My second doc said I was lucky to have not developed a resistant strep infection (MRSA), scary stuff.

After reading other posts here, it seems I have a severe case of fibro "fog" (also have fibromyalgia like several of you) and I guess that is why I am so mentally overwhelmed about where to begin in starting my wheat/gluten free diet.

I am happy to hear that many of you got relief from your bronchitis after starting the diet, so I guess I have some hope now. Perhaps I should go to the thread about the diet and see how others got going.

Thanks again for your efforts in helping me. In friendship, giselle

  • 1 month later...
BellaSara Newbie
BellaSara
Posted

I was having autoimmune problems and had chronic bronchitis all winter long. I decided to try the gluten free diet to see if it would help. After about five days I was doing good and my bronchitis was starting to heal. I went and I bought what I was told to be gluten free spelt bread. After about 3 pieces I got very tired and took a nap. My bronchitis came back full force and I was immobilized for a week. I also got a very bad case of plurisy which I still have slightly. All from three pieces of bread.

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mouse Enthusiast
mouse
Posted

For MANY years I would get Bronchitis so severly that I would end up as a patient in the hospital or intensive care. I had an 18 hour window to get on antibiotics before I ended up in the hospital. And of course this would always happen on a weekend LOL. Had the pneumonia shot and exactly 2 weeks later I had pneumonia and again landed in the hospital. Two years later I had a very rare and painful pneumonia and ended up in the hospital. Went from intensive care to cardiac intensive care. 6 days after I was admitted I had lung surgery. I was there two weeks and that was when my husband started talking about early retirement and to get me out of the cold. A long bout of allergy attacks would trigger Bronchitis and my doctor gave me potent antibiotics to keep on hand. Since I have been gluten-free (year and a half) I have not used an Epi-Pen and had one bout of Bronchitis the beginning of this year. It was Asthmatic Bronchitis and required a trip to the emergency room with lots of meds fed intraveniously - BUT, I was not hospitalized. This has been the best year and a half that I have had with only relative minor asthma problems (except for the one just mentioned. This beats the last 15 years. So, I think that going gluten-free made a big difference in all of this.

Armetta :D

Misa Rookie
Misa
Posted

Bronchitis was actually the reason I started to investigate celiac disease B) I got really bad coughing spells everytime I ate gluten grains. It took a while for me to see the connection, but one day after yet another coughing attack I suddenly said to a friend; Iget this everytime I eat bread. Saying it out loud made me think of course and just after the first gluten-free day my coughing stopped and hasn't returned in six weeks now..... :P

It just blows me away how many symptoms can be gluten-related.

Misa :D

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    • trents
      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

      By trents · Posted

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    • catnapt
      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

      By catnapt · Posted

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    • trents
      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

      By trents · Posted

      Welcome, @catnapt! The most recent guidelines are the daily consumption of a minimum of 10g of gluten (about the amount found in 4-6 slices of wheat bread) for a minimum of two weeks. But if possible stretching that out even more would enhance the chances of getting valid test results. These guidelines are for those who have been eating gluten free for a significant amount of time. It's called the "gluten challenge".  Yes, you can develop celiac disease at any stage of life. There is a genetic component but also a stress trigger that is needed to activate the celiac genes. About 30-40% of the general population possesses the genetic potential to develop celiac disease but only about 1% of the general population actually develop celiac disease. For most with the potential, the triggering stress event doesn't happen. It can be many things but often it is a viral infection. Having said that, it is also the case that many, many people who eventually are diagnosed with celiac disease probably experienced the actual onset years before. Many celiacs are of the "silent" type, meaning that symptoms are largely missing or very minor and get overlooked until damage to the small bowel lining becomes advanced or they develop iron deficiency anemia or some other medical problem associated with celiac disease. Many, many are never diagnosed or are diagnosed later in life because they did not experience classic symptoms. And many physicians are only looking for classic symptoms. We now know that there are over 200 symptoms/medical problems associated with celiac disease but many docs are only looking for things like boating, gas, diarrhea. I certainly understand your concerns about not wanting to damage your body by taking on a gluten challenge. Your other option is to totally commit to gluten free eating and see if your symptoms improve. It can take two years or more for complete healing of the small bowel lining once going gluten free but usually people experience significant improvement well before then. If their is significant improvement in your symptoms when going seriously gluten free, then you likely have your answer. You would either have celiac disease or NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity).
    • catnapt
      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

      By catnapt · Posted

      after several years of issues with a para-gland issue, my endo has decided it's a good idea for me to be tested for celiac disease. I am 70 yrs old and stunned to learn that you can get celiac this late in life. I have just gradually stopped eating most foods that contain gluten over the past several years- they just make me feel ill- although I attributed it to other things like bread spiking blood sugar- or to the things I ate *with* the bread or crackers etc   I went to a party in Nov and ate a LOT of a vegan roast made with vital wheat gluten- as well as stuffing, rolls and pie crust... and OMG I was so sick! the pain, the bloating, the gas, the nausea... I didn't think it would ever end (but it did) and I was ready to go the ER but it finally subsided.   I mentioned this to my endo and now she wants me to be tested for celiac after 2 weeks of being on gluten foods. She has kind of flip flopped on how much gluten I should eat, telling me that if the symptoms are severe I can stop. I am eating 2-3 thin slices of bread per day (or english muffins) and wow- it does make me feel awful. But not as bad as when I ate that massive amnt of vital wheat gluten. so I will continue on if I have to... but what bothers me is - if it IS celiac, it seems stupid for lack of a better word, to intentionally cause more damage to my body... but I am also worried, on the other hand, that this is not a long enough challenge to make the blood work results valid.   can you give me any insight into this please?   thank you
    • trents
      Accuracy of testing concerns

      By trents · Posted

      The biopsy looks for damage to the mucosal lining of the small bowel from the inflammation caused by celiac disease when gluten is ingested. Once you remove gluten from the diet, inflammation subsides and the mucosal lining begins to heal. 
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