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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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    • SamAlvi
      Hi, thank you for the reply. Unfortunately, no other antibody tests were ordered. I am a 32-year-old male. About two months ago, I ate pancakes and then developed severe diarrhea that lasted the entire day. At night, I became unconscious due to fluid loss and was admitted to the ER, where I received IV fluids. Two days later, I ate bread again and once more developed severe diarrhea. I ended up in the ER again and received IV fluids. In my country, Pakistan, doctors are unfortunately not very thorough, so they treated me for a stomach infection. I visited three or four doctors, including a gastroenterologist, but it seemed like they just wanted to keep me on medications and IV fluids. Eventually, I did some digging myself and started connecting the dots. For years, I’ve had excessive gas buildup and frequent loose stools, but I never paid much attention to it. I also cannot easily digest dairy products. Two years ago, I had a CBC test that showed iron deficiency. My doctor told me to eat more meat and said it was nothing serious. However, for the past five years, I’ve also had severe motion sickness, which I never experienced before. Whenever I get on a bus or in a car, I sometimes lose consciousness for 10–20 seconds and wake up sweaty, and occasionally I feel the need to vomit. After more research on the internet, I came across gluten and celiac disease, so I got two related tests (TTG-IgA & TTG IgG) done along with a stool test and another CBC. The stool test showed weakly positive blood. Ever since eating those pancakes and bread, I’ve had a burning sensation in my gut. My doctor reviewed my tests, he told me to completely stop eating gluten and started me on IV fluids for 20 days, saying that I had severe inflammation in my gut. It has now been two months since I quit gluten, and I’m still not sure whether this is celiac disease or gluten intolerance. I don’t really trust doctors in Pakistan, so I thought I might get some help here.
    • trents
      Welcome to the celiac.com community, @SamAlvi! Were there any other antibody tests ordered? Particularly, was there a "total IGA" test ordered to check for IGA deficiency. When people are IGA deficient, celiac panel IGA test scores, such as the TTG-IGA, are likely not valid. If a total IGA test was not ordered, I would request such to be done. Note: "Total IGA" goes by other names as well. I will include a primer on celiac disease antibody testing which does a good job in covering the nomenclature variations connected with the various tests. Elevated IGG scores can certainly indicate celiac disease but they are more likely than elevated IGA tests to be caused by something else.  
    • GlorietaKaro
      Thank you— yes, valid and essential— The issue either doctors is that every one I have tried to talk to about this has essentially rolled their eyes and dismissed me as a hypochondriac, which gets discouraging. I believe a diagnosis would help me to be taken seriously by doctors as well as being validating, but can carry on without it.    There are many, probably most people in my area of my age and gender, who avoid gluten, but many just avoid it casually— eating the occasional plate of wheat pasta or a delicious-looking dessert, or baking cookies with wheat flour for gatherings.  That is not an option for me. I don’t eat other people’s cooking or go to restaurants that do not have strict cross- contamination procedures. It can be boring and lonely, and people do look at me as if I am being a bit dramatic but weeks of symptoms after a single small exposure has taught me to respect my experience.    Thank you very much for your response— sometimes I just need to hear that I am not crazy—
    • lalan45
      You’re not crazy—some people have severe neurological and physical reactions to gluten, not just digestive issues. While testing can be tricky without eating gluten, documenting symptoms and seeing a specialist familiar with atypical celiac or gluten-related disorders can help. Your reactions are real, and it’s valid to be cautious.
    • SamAlvi
      Anti TTG (IgA) 2.430 U/mL Anti TTG (IgG) 288.2 U/mL
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