What Can The Autoimmune Thing Do To Us?

[utahlaura]

I know Celiac disease is an "auto-immune" disease, but why? What's up with that? Does that mean I can have a hard time with infections or getting over colds too? I don't know what the auto-immune dangers are.

[Mother of Jibril]

If you have an autoimmune disorder... and celiac is one of them... it means that your body is reacting to some "foreign" object in your bloodstream. This could be undigested particles of food (gluten and dairy are common culprits), bacteria, a virus, fetal cells, etc... This is what your immune system is designed to do, however... in people with autoimmune disorders your immune system overreacts and starts producing antibodies to your own organs: skin, thyroid, kidneys, liver, intestines, adrenal glands, brain, salivary glands, ovaries... you name it, there's probably an autoimmune disorder for it! Some of these affect only one organ, but others are "systemic" and affect multiple organs at the same time.

One common autoimmune disorder that's usually not life-threatening is Hashimoto's disease (autoimmune hypothyroidism). As your body destroys your own thyroid gland, it produces symptoms like depression, fatigue, low blood pressure, feeling cold all the time, infertility, miscarriage, hair loss, joint pain, constipation, terribly dry skin, etc... A mild case of lupus could give you fatigue, a rash on your face, joint pain, and a low-grade fever, but a severe case could destroy your kidneys or your heart.

A good place to start for more information is AARDA, the American Autoimmune and Related Disorders Association: Open Original Shared Link

[JennyC]

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease because your body mounts a response to gluten complexed with your tTG molecules. If you have active celiac disease, meaning that you are consuming gluten, then you may be more likely to get sick since your body is using energy to attack itself, so it has less energy to protect itself against pathogens.

[utahlaura]

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease because your body mounts a response to gluten complexed with your tTG molecules. If you have active celiac disease, meaning that you are consuming gluten, then you may be more likely to get sick since your body is using energy to attack itself, so it has less energy to protect itself against pathogens.

That's just the enlightenment I was going to get. I thought I was getting a lot of colds and they lasted longer that say if my husband caught it. So the Celiac can cause this. Such a bummer, huh?

[Hummingbird4]

Such a bummer, huh?

Yes, but the good news is that if you avoid gluten, your immune system won't be so busy attacking your small intestine that it CAN fight off bacteria and viruses.

[mysecretcurse]

This is so true. I used to get colds that lasted MONTHS, literally. I'd be sick from like sometime in November and not get over it til mid march. People would always ask "What's wrong with you?" (thanks thats a lot of help).

This winter was the first time in my LIFE I caught a cold, and got over it within about a week, like a normal person! Dear god, thank you lord!

[mushroom]

I had to resign from my bridge club because every time I played I caught something from someone who had "the sniffles" and I would be sick for three weeks. (Germs all over the cards!!) Was sick for Christmas and New Year last year, first with the flu and then with acute bronchitis. Coughed for six weeks.

Have been gluten free for a year and (touching wood here) have not been sick all year since then. Woohoo!!

[happygirl]

Also means that since autoimmune disorders often cluster in packs, all Celiacs (statistically) have an increased risk in developing other autoimmune disorders. Doesn't mean that it will happen, just means that for any one person, they have a higher risk than a non-Celiac.