Non-existant Immune System

[Glutenfreefamily]

Im off to go to the dr tomorrow. Everytime I have come down with a cold it always has turned into an infection the last three years. I do have asthma and it seems that I just cant beat it on my own ever. I have such a short of breath feeling and of course my inhaler is empty as I forgot to refill it as I only use it on a as needed basis.

Do you have the same issues? Do you think its my asthma that is causing this to occur?

I know you guys aren't medical professionals, just curious what your input is

[gfp]

Are you CERTAIN its a cold and not allergies?

I spent a long time thinking I had 'colds' that turned out tobe allergic reactions (hay fever, city fumes, budgies to name a few)

Symptoms are lots of phlegm ... and headaches and the constant phlegm causes me to cough and irritate my throat..

These disapeared almost completely when I went 100% gluten-free... and now return if I get the slightest hint of gluten.

[Joni63]

I always had allergies every Spring and Fall would get an infection in my chest kicked off by allergy season. Most of the time I would have to get antibiotics for it to go away and could not fight it on my own. 3 years ago it turned into pneumonia. This passed Fall was the first season for me since gluten free and I only had a sniffly cold that lasted 10 days but went away on it's own. I'm also off my allergy meds and can breathe fine through my nose.

I think it's weakened immune system from eating gluten that will hopefully get better the longer we are gluten free.

[Glutenfreefamily]

Thanks

I know its not allergies this time although I constantly blame it on it at first since I hate being sick . My daughter became sick first with a fever of 103.6 and I became sick with a fever of 101 three days later. She is doing wonderfully and is basically back to normal, thank goodness, but my issues are still there after 7 days and now I cant eat because everything hurts my throat and Im having difficulty breathing especially when I breathe in. Im a bad patient, I send everyone else off to the dr but my husband had to get rude with me yesterday to see the dr My nose isnt running but Im sure its running down the back of my throat. I havent slept for longer than 4 hours total a night since this started. I just cant stop coughing. It might be gluten damage over the years, its been over two years of being gluten free, I hope Im healed up soon.

Usually the cold winters with ice and frost are my best times for allergies but hardest on my asthma. My outdoor allergies are leaves, grass, trees, and mold. Furnace dust could be a factor too. I do have airway restriction in the cold but I usually have a scarf around my face when outside.

I'll let you know what the dr says

[missy'smom]

I recommend taking an antioxidant formula of vitamin E mixed tocopherals(SP?), selenium and a good beta caroteen supplement(Rainbow Light's Food For Life-check it for barley though I haven't used it for a few years). I did this before I knew I had celiac disease but I knew something was really wrong with my immune system. I was constantly sick with the worst version of everything that went around and I didn't even leave the house. It REALLY helped. Also if you're having problems with allergies, sinuses and infections, rinsing the nasal passages with salt water really helps.

[Joni63]

Sometimes getting out the Christmas decorations can trigger and allergy problem that can lead to an infection. Do you have a live tree?

Good luck at the Dr., hope you get some breathing relief soon.

[jerseyangel]

I was having similar problems--I do have allergies, and had been using an antihistimine, but they didn't seem as effective after going gluten-free. (strange...)

I was found to be highly allergic to dust mites--so much so that the allergist strongly recommended covering my mattress and pillows with protective covering.

Since doing that, my symptoms have been much easire to live with. I only use the antihistimine and steroid nasal spray occasionally now.

[~alex~]

Im off to go to the dr tomorrow. Everytime I have come down with a cold it always has turned into an infection the last three years. I do have asthma and it seems that I just cant beat it on my own ever. I have such a short of breath feeling and of course my inhaler is empty as I forgot to refill it as I only use it on a as needed basis.

Do you have the same issues? Do you think its my asthma that is causing this to occur?

I know you guys aren't medical professionals, just curious what your input is

I felt the same way for awhile after I was diagnosed. It seemed like every small infection turned into something bigger and resulted in a stay in the hospital. A cold turned into a bad bout of pneumonia, a UTI turned into a kidney infection, etc. I think it's just so stressful for the body dealing with gluten and the deficiencies that come along with malabsorption that it takes its toll on the immune system. I'm not sure how long ago you were diagnosed but it if was somewhat recent, your body may just need time to recover from the effects of gluten and malabsorption.

I've been gluten-free for almost 11 months now and I think my immune system has been getting back to normal these past few months. I've had a couple of colds that I've gotten over successfully and besides an icky GI infection, I've been able to stay out of the hospital. Hopefully with time your immune system will also improve. It's good that you're going to the doctor so you can start treatment ASAP if you do have pneumonia.

I also I have asthma, and I think it just comes with the territory that some colds are going to go down into your chest. Even before Celiac that happened to me around once a year. If you have a lot of problems with your asthma you might want to look into taking an everyday controller medication. I've gotten a lot of help from Advair.

[sneezydiva]

I have terrible allergies also. And though winter is better for pollen allergies, it is the worst season for allergies to dust and dust mites, and those are especially troublesome for asthma. And if you use a humidifier for the asthma, you can spread mold. Even though this may be a virus, your indoor allergies aren't helping the situation any.

If you haven't done so already, cover your mattress and pillow with dust mite covers. Do your best to vacuum and dust regularly (a difficult thing to do when you feel ill all the time, I know, get the husband and kids to help) And get a HEPA air cleaner for your bedroom, and use high effieciency furnace filters in your heating system. Avoid the humifier as much as is possible. But if you absolutely need it, go to the health food/Vitamin store and buy some liquid Grapefruit Seed Extract. It is a natural anti-fungal and anti-bacterial. Put 10 drops in the water in your humidifier every time you fill it.

[Glutenfreefamily]

Thanks very much for the responses

We do have a tree up, an artificial one. Im sure it has dust on it. It fully breaks down and is stored in a rubbermaid trunk but Im sure it gets plenty of dust on it when its up. We do have our bedding covered but my 3 year old has quite a few stuffed animals that hold the dust and our carpet. Also my house is over 100 years old, we have updated it fully but its still old. We live in a very old farmhouse.

Well I have bronchitis and a double ear infection along with a throat infection. She put me on an antibiotic along with breathing treatments and codeine cough syrup. Im glad I went in. I will look into the supplements too currently Im on a large amount of vitamins and I take elderberry every day along with probiotics. Im going to be off for the weekend as Im just too tired to post and hopefully the codeine will kick in and let me sleep.

I cant take an everyday med for asthma unfortunately as I have glaucoma so I have to limit my use to keep the pressure in my eyes down but years ago it helped me tremendously. Im on an inhaler for the next week to help me out.

Take care everyone and I hope you have a good weekend

[kbtoyssni]

We do have a tree up, an artificial one. Im sure it has dust on it. It fully breaks down and is stored in a rubbermaid trunk but Im sure it gets plenty of dust on it when its up. We do have our bedding covered but my 3 year old has quite a few stuffed animals that hold the dust and our carpet. Also my house is over 100 years old, we have updated it fully but its still old. We live in a very old farmhouse.

You can try putting the stuffed animals in the freezer for a while to kill the dust mites. We used to do that with my brother's stuffed animals. It's much easier than trying to wash them in super hot water!

[JustJust]

You can try putting the stuffed animals in the freezer for a while to kill the dust mites. We used to do that with my brother's stuffed animals. It's much easier than trying to wash them in super hot water!

THe stuffed animals in the freezer for a minimum of 8 hours will do the trick!

Justine RN

[Glutenfreefamily]

Thanks for the freezer tip, I will have to take them over to my mom and dad's as my freezer is a very tiny one.

[Generic]

I used to get sick every time I turned around. I literally got every thing. I do believe it was a weakened immune system from celiac. I have been gluten free for 20 years now, and was still sick up until about a year and a half ago.

I went through about 6 months of acupuncture, and it turned my immune system completely around. When I do get sick anymore, its is very minor. It is really weird to me. It used to beat me down so bad, i would end up in bed for a few days.

[Glutenfreefamily]

Thanks Generic

Update a bit, Im seeing my ENT next week. He is wondering if they are not going away with amoxycillin and Im still battling the ear infections that I was in June. My cold is much better and my cough isnt near as deep and Im not needing the codeine anymore for it.

[num1habsfan]

Im off to go to the dr tomorrow. Everytime I have come down with a cold it always has turned into an infection the last three years. I do have asthma and it seems that I just cant beat it on my own ever. I have such a short of breath feeling and of course my inhaler is empty as I forgot to refill it as I only use it on a as needed basis.

Do you have the same issues? Do you think its my asthma that is causing this to occur?

I know you guys aren't medical professionals, just curious what your input is

Oh i know how you feel about the inhaler being empty. I've been without it since last wednesday and possibly can get one tomorrow, otherwise will have to survive until Saturday morning without it!

My immune system got shot as soon as I got Celiac. I went from having one, to a non-existant one as you say. And forget about a flu shot. Got one of those I think 4 years ago and I was the most sick ever. Although some are arguing against it I find that if I'm sick with a simple cold its always a really bad one because the asthma makes it much harder. Its like...have a regular phelgm build up and then add the one from the cold on top of it.

~ Lisa ~