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Do You Get Sick Easily?


GlutenWrangler

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GlutenWrangler Contributor

Hi Everyone,

I have found that since I have had celiac, I get sick much easier. If someone around me has a cold or stomach bug, I pick it up myself. I used to only get sick about once or twice a year, but it is much more now. I was wondering if this is a common theme with other celiacs. It makes sense, being an autoimmune disease, but I just wanted to see what others had to say. Thanks.

-Brian


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Deej Newbie

I seem to catch everything going around. :(

CarlaB Enthusiast

I used to catch everything going around, but after gluten-free my whole family can be sick and I won't catch it.

jkmunchkin Rising Star

Actually funny you should post this. I was just commenting to DH on Saturday that ever since I went gluten free I hardly ever get sick. Before I was pretty much always sick with something.

GlutenWrangler Contributor

I've only been gluten free for less than a month, so I'm sure it will be a while before I notice a difference in getting sick. I thought I was getting glutened for the past few days, but it turns out I've just been sick. I hope the gluten/casein-free diet will kickstart my immune system again.

wozzy Apprentice

Yeah I get sick less...I didn't even get a cold this spring! I think that was the first time ever.

Green12 Enthusiast
Yeah I get sick less...I didn't even get a cold this spring! I think that was the first time ever.

I get sick lesss too, when it comes to colds, flus, etc. But I react to foods really easily and often and have lots of symptoms surrounding these reactions that mimic colds, flus, etc, so go figure!


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Ashley Enthusiast

I stay sick all the time <_< , feels like. I just had two sinus surgeries and that's really helped with sinus infections and whatnot, but, I'm always sick-to-my stomach, tired, no energy. It's just something I've learned to live with.

-Ash

judy05 Apprentice
Hi Everyone,

I have found that since I have had celiac, I get sick much easier. If someone around me has a cold or stomach bug, I pick it up myself. I used to only get sick about once or twice a year, but it is much more now. I was wondering if this is a common theme with other celiacs. It makes sense, being an autoimmune disease, but I just wanted to see what others had to say. Thanks.

-Brian

I am much healthier going gluten -free. I can't remeber the last time I had a cold or needed antibiotics. I also take a flu shot and I haven't had the flu in over 5 years. (knock on wood)

GlutenWrangler Contributor

Thanks for the replies. I'm looking forward to the positive effects of the diet. I hope it starts pretty soon.

-Brian

jenvan Collaborator

I also tend to get rundown, sick easily. It is improving for me that longer I have been on the diet. A big factor is setting good boundaries with my schedule and making sure I get down time to rest and enough sleep. I keep my vitamins and balanced diet up too...

gfp Enthusiast
I've only been gluten free for less than a month, so I'm sure it will be a while before I notice a difference in getting sick. I thought I was getting glutened for the past few days, but it turns out I've just been sick. I hope the gluten/casein-free diet will kickstart my immune system again.

Its a common misconception to regard celiac disease as a weak immune system, if anything its a over reactive one.

Looking back I have hardly ever been sick from disease, mostly it has been allergies or autoimmune things or being rundown which os prably adsorbtion issues.

Since being gluten-free for 3 years I have had a cold once but mainly I don't get colds, flu etc. and never have. Most of what I thought were colds were allergies which explains why I never caught what was going around but thought I had colds when the rest of the community didn't and visa versa.

Same goes for scratches and things, I never get infected ?

Having said that continued poisioning by gluten can probably damage peoples immune systems eventually so people shouldn't rule that out.

eKatherine Apprentice

I hardly ever got sick before, and I hardly ever get sick now, so nothing has changed.

  • 1 month later...
MandyCandy Rookie
Hi Everyone,

I have found that since I have had celiac, I get sick much easier. If someone around me has a cold or stomach bug, I pick it up myself. I used to only get sick about once or twice a year, but it is much more now. I was wondering if this is a common theme with other celiacs. It makes sense, being an autoimmune disease, but I just wanted to see what others had to say. Thanks.

-Brian

I've only recently gone gluten free but in the past if anyone has a cold I'll catch it (only I get it 100x worse), If i catch strep throat i get stage 4 strep throat. My mom could never figure it out from the time I was little why I get so sick. It's like my body can't fight off the infection (even though i've always been very active and at the time I thought healthy) I also have many allergies to Antibiotics to the point there's nothing I can be put on right now. I'm hoping now that i'm gluten free that I'll see an improvement and not get so sick all the time! Hopefully you'll find improvement too!

Mandy

elonwy Enthusiast

I used to get sick all the time and I don't think I've had a cold since I've been Gluten free.

Like gfp said, having an auto-immune disorder means you have an overly strong immune system, it just happens to be a confused one. When you're gluten free and its not busy fighting your cells, it has time to deal with the stuff that it should. When its busy freaking out at gluten, its got no time to deal with the real stuff.

Obviously other factors make everyone different, but thats a simple explanation.

Elonwy

  • 2 weeks later...
KaitiUSA Enthusiast

I would get sick alot at first but now my immune system is pretty strong. If you are prone to getting sick you should definitely be on a good multi vitamin and be strengthening your body by getting proper rest and nutrients.

Kaycee Collaborator

Before going gluten free, I would only get one decent, horrible cold or flu each year.

But last year pre gluten free, was an annomolly, as I only had slight hayfever, which hardly gets me at all, but no colds or flus.

This year, as we still are in winter, I have not had anything to even warrant a day off work, yet everybody around me at work have been dropping like flies with flus etc. So I feel quite lucky, but it does not stop me wondering when I am going to get my big cold for this year and last year.

Another thing of interest, is it worth having flu injections. I am trying to put that off till I am old and gray, and maybe when my defences are worse than what they are now. But what are peoples opinions on this.

Cathy

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    • Scott Adams
      This is a very common question, and the most important thing to know is that no, Guinness is not considered safe for individuals with coeliac disease. While it's fascinating to hear anecdotes from other coeliacs who can drink it without immediate issues, this is a risky exception rather than the rule. The core issue is that Guinness is brewed from barley, which contains gluten, and the standard brewing process does not remove the gluten protein to a level safe for coeliacs (below 20ppm). For someone like you who experiences dermatitis herpetiformis, the reaction is particularly significant. DH is triggered by gluten ingestion, even without immediate gastrointestinal symptoms. So, while you may not feel an instant stomach upset, drinking a gluten-containing beer like Guinness could very well provoke a flare-up of your skin condition days later. It would be a gamble with a potentially uncomfortable and long-lasting consequence. Fortunately, there are excellent, certified gluten-free stouts available now that can provide a safe and satisfying alternative without the risk.
    • MogwaiStripe
      Interestingly, this thought occurred to me last night. I did find that there are studies investigating whether vitamin D deficiency can actually trigger celiac disease.  Source: National Institutes of Health https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7231074/ 
    • Butch68
      Before being diagnosed coeliac I used to love Guinness. Being made from barley it should be something a coeliac shouldn’t drink. But taking to another coeliac and they can drink it with no ill effects and have heard of others who can drink it too.  is this everyone’s experience?  Can I drink it?  I get dermatitis herpetiformis and don’t get instant reactions to gluten so can’t try it to see for myself. 
    • trents
      NCGS does not cause damage to the small bowel villi so, if indeed you were not skimping on gluten when you had the antibody blood testing done, it is likely you have celiac disease.
    • Scott Adams
      I will assume you did the gluten challenge properly and were eating a lot of gluten daily for 6-8 weeks before your test, but if not, that could be the issue. You can still have celiac disease with negative blood test results, although it's not as common:  Clinical and genetic profile of patients with seronegative coeliac disease: the natural history and response to gluten-free diet: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5606118/  Seronegative Celiac Disease - A Challenging Case: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9441776/  Enteropathies with villous atrophy but negative coeliac serology in adults: current issues: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34764141/  Approximately 10x more people have non-celiac gluten sensitivity than have celiac disease, but there isn’t yet a test for NCGS. If your symptoms go away on a gluten-free diet it would likely signal NCGS.
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