Strep And Autoimmune

[2kids4me]

I have had a crazy week, this board has kept me sane only cause I know many of you have been through similar stuff..... you know that there are things will make you scared - that others might just say "What's the big deal". More than one person today said - oh its going around, no big deal, its just strep..

My son was very sick last Monday, vomiting every 20 minutes - took him to the hospital and he needed IV fluids and management of his diabetes while he could not eat. They diagnosed Norovirus (formally Norwalk). He was fine til Friday when he got a sore throat - over the weekend he went from bad to worse. His sore throat and swollen lymph nodes kept him up most of the night, plus he stared getting sores all over his face. Took him in this morning and he was diagnosed with probable strep throat (awaiting culture) and impetego. Impetego is cause by the same strep bacteria that causes strep throat so he is being treated with anitbiotics.

My emotions are all over the place - the lesions on his face are improving through the day and he is living off milkshakes, popsicles and slurpees, and tomato soup (gluten-free of course).

What are the odds of this massive insult to his immune system triggering more autoimmune conditions? All I can find is that strep throat can trigger Rheumatoid arthritis if left untreated. But this kid has an underlying flaw in his immune reactions (as does his mom and sister) so I am quite concerned.

Any thoughts??

[trents]

A generation or two ago, before antibiotics were widely available, strep throat was associated with rhumatic fever and heart valve damage. I haven't heard the term in years, though. Of course, that is not an autoimmune condition. But, it is widely held by experts that acute illness can trigger the onset of Celiac disease in adults who have had a latent form of the disease hiding in their genes.

Hope your little guy improves soon. Love and prayers to you and your family.

Steve

[TCA]

Bless your heart! What a week. I hope he's much better soon. I have always had problems with strep. If I ever get really run down, I end up with strep. A friend of mine has had it so many times that the drs. say she's a carrier. She has it even when she's not infectious. I think my Dad has celiac, though no testing has been done yet. He had strep all the time as a child. he now has more health issues than I can count. I don't know if there is a connection or not.

[GF in canada]

My husband has been gluten-free for about 6 months. Within the last 6 months, he has had 5 diagnosed cases of strep throat and has taken antibiotics each time (he has never had a single case before). With each episode, it seems to get more painful and the onset of symptoms seems to be getting faster and faster. He has been told by our family doctor that he is a carrier. Does anyone know whether a gluten-free diet seems to disable the body from fighting this bacteria? ANY insight would be much appreciated.

[mommida]

More insight would be helpful for me too. Considering I have just finished another round of antibiotics and still have strep.

[debmidge]

I used to get strep throat multiple times per year. This might sound crazy but I now get strep throat about once every 18 months. The difference is from the time I had my partial hysterectomy. Now you may ask how does this make sense? I asked my ob/gyn and she said that the unterine fibroid tumors I had were bleeding excessively, which in turn ran down my immune system. So it was basically the immune sytem being bombarded and it couldn't respond enough to take are of the assaults.

This has now made me think of what is going on with your situation .... the diabetes complicates your son's situation. I don't know if doctors know how to improve immune system response.....

[buffettbride]

Strep is the weird thing my family seems to get. I never had it as a kid, but I've probably had it 10 times (no kidding) in the last 6 years. My daughter (the Celiac) has also had it 3-4 times in her life.

She just had it a few weeks ago, but it was just in the throat. She also had a series of incidental glutenings a few weeks prior to that. My theory is the glutenings suppressed her immune system making it harder for her body to fight off any strep bacteria she may be exposed to (which can happen at school, home, etc. especially this time of year).

Her main ongoing symptom before DX was sore throats and sinus troubles, so we always watch for those anyway if she's had a rough time food-wise. Seems like we can go months with no trouble, then we have a whole LOT of trouble all in a short period of time.