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Do You Get Sick Easily?

GlutenWrangler

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GlutenWrangler Contributor
GlutenWrangler
Posted

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
Deej
Posted

I seem to catch everything going around. :(

CarlaB Enthusiast
CarlaB
Posted

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
jkmunchkin
Posted

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
GlutenWrangler
Posted
  • Author

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
wozzy
Posted

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

Green12 Enthusiast
Green12
Posted
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
Ashley
Posted

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
judy05
Posted
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
GlutenWrangler
Posted
  • Author

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

-Brian

jenvan Collaborator
jenvan
Posted

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
gfp
Posted
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
eKatherine
Posted

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

  • 1 month later...
MandyCandy Rookie
MandyCandy
Posted
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
elonwy
Posted

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
KaitiUSA
Posted

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
Kaycee
Posted

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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    • knitty kitty
      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      @Jane02, I hear you about the kale and collard greens.  I don't do dairy and must eat green leafies, too, to get sufficient calcium.  I must be very careful because some calcium supplements are made from ground up crustacean shells.  When I was deficient in Vitamin D, I took high doses of Vitamin D to correct the deficiency quickly.  This is safe and nontoxic.  Vitamin D level should be above 70 nmol/L.  Lifeguards and indigenous Pacific Islanders typically have levels between 80-100 nmol/L.   Levels lower than this are based on amount needed to prevent disease like rickets and osteomalacia. We need more thiamine when we're physically ill, emotionally and mentally stressed, and if we exercise like an athlete or laborer.  We need more thiamine if we eat a diet high in simple carbohydrates.  For every 500 kcal of carbohydrates, we need 500-1000 mg more of thiamine to process the carbs into energy.  If there's insufficient thiamine the carbs get stored as fat.  Again, recommended levels set for thiamine are based on minimum amounts needed to prevent disease.  This is often not adequate for optimum health, nor sufficient for people with absorption problems such as Celiac disease.  Gluten free processed foods are not enriched with vitamins like their gluten containing counterparts.  Adding a B Complex and additional thiamine improves health for Celiacs.  Thiamine is safe and nontoxic even in high doses.  Thiamine helps the mitochondria in cells to function.  Thiamine interacts with each of the other B vitamins.  They are all water soluble and easily excreted if not needed. Interesting Reading: Clinical trial: B vitamins improve health in patients with coeliac disease living on a gluten-free diet https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19154566/ Safety and effectiveness of vitamin D mega-dose: A systematic review https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34857184/ High dose dietary vitamin D allocates surplus calories to muscle and growth instead of fat via modulation of myostatin and leptin signaling https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38766160/ Safety of High-Dose Vitamin D Supplementation: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31746327/ Vitamins and Celiac Disease: Beyond Vitamin D https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11857425/ Investigating the therapeutic potential of tryptophan and vitamin A in modulating immune responses in celiac disease: an experimental study https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40178602/ Investigating the Impact of Vitamin A and Amino Acids on Immune Responses in Celiac Disease Patients https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10814138/
    • Jane02
      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      By Jane02 · Posted

      Thank you so much @knitty kitty for this insightful information! I would have never considered fractionated coconut oil to be a potential source of GI upset. I will consider all the info you shared. Very interesting about the Thiamine deficiency.  I've tracked daily averages of my intake in a nutrition software. The only nutrient I can't consistently meet from my diet is vitamin D. Calcium is a hit and miss as I rely on vegetables, dark leafy greens as a major source, for my calcium intake. I'm able to meet it when I either eat or juice a bundle of kale or collard greens daily haha. My thiamine intake is roughly 120% of my needs, although I do recognize that I may not be absorbing all of these nutrients consistently with intermittent unintentional exposures to gluten.  My vitamin A intake is roughly 900% (~6400 mcg/d) of my needs as I eat a lot of sweet potato, although since it's plant-derived vitamin A (beta-carotene) apparently it's not likely to cause toxicity.  Thanks again! 
    • knitty kitty
      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Hello, @Jane02,  I take Naturewise D 3.  It contains olive oil.   Some Vitamin D supplements, like D Drops, are made with fractionated coconut oil which can cause digestive upsets.  Fractionated coconut oil is not the same as coconut oil used for cooking.  Fractionated coconut oil has been treated for longer shelf life, so it won't go bad in the jar, and thus may be irritating to the digestive system. I avoid supplements made with soy because many people with Celiac Disease also react to soy.  Mixed tocopherols, an ingredient in Thornes Vitamin D, may be sourced from soy oil.  Kirkland's has soy on its ingredient list. I avoid things that might contain or be exposed to crustaceans, like Metagenics says on its label.  I have a crustacean/shellfish/fish allergy.  I like Life Extension Bioactive Complete B Complex.  I take additional Thiamine B 1 in the form Benfotiamine which helps the intestines heal, Life Extension MegaBenfotiamine. Thiamine is needed to activate Vitamin D.   Low thiamine can make one feel like they are getting glutened after a meal containing lots of simple carbohydrates like white rice, or processed gluten free foods like cookies and pasta.   It's rare to have a single vitamin deficiency.  The water soluble B Complex vitamins should be supplemented together with additional Thiamine in the form Benfotiamine and Thiamine TTFD (tetrahydrofurfuryl disulfide) to correct subclinical deficiencies that don't show up on blood tests.  These are subclinical deficiencies within organs and tissues.  Blood is a transportation system.  The body will deplete tissues and organs in order to keep a supply of thiamine in the bloodstream going to the brain and heart.   If you're low in Vitamin D, you may well be low in other fat soluble vitamins like Vitamin A and Vitamin K. Have you seen a dietician?
    • Scott Adams
      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      I do not know this, but since they are labelled gluten-free, and are not really a product that could easily be contaminated when making them (there would be not flour in the air of such a facility, for example), I don't really see contamination as something to be concerned about for this type of product. 
    • trents
      Desperately need a vitamin D supplement. I've reacted to most brands I've tried.

      By trents · Posted

      Contact them.
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