Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Just Curious: Did Anyone Have A Lack Of Flu, Colds Other Illnesses When With Untreated celiac disease? How About Now?

David

Recommended Posts

David Explorer
David
Posted

So it happened again this weekend. My partner had a summer cold that basically knocked him out over the weekend

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted

I had kind of the reverse happen. Before I was diagnosed I caught every bug there was and most minor colds quickly developed into broncitis. My antibodies were so busy killing me that they didn't have the time to go after any viruses. That would be my guess anyway. I have been gluten free now for 7 years and haven't caught anything at all in that time, not even the sniffles. I was amazed that even when working in the school system for the short time I was physically able to that I never caught anything. I got glutened more than I would have liked but I never caught anything that the kids were passing around.

Jackpru Rookie
Jackpru
Posted
So it happened again this weekend. My partner had a summer cold that basically knocked him out over the weekend
Jackpru Rookie
Jackpru
Posted

Yes you are right. When I used to live at home with my parents, my mother who had Rheumatoid Arthritis and also bowel problems probably celiac, she never ever got ill with any colds virus or anything, not even the flu when everyone else in the house caught it.

My experience is this I went on the gluten free diet 2 months ago, the first week I felt really well, the second week I caught Swine Flu and couldn't shake it off for 3 weeks, when I thought it was going it suddenly came back again and at the moment I still seem to be picking up sniffles and coughs really easy and feel constantly tired so god knows whats going on with my immune system.

But going back to when I was really ill with Chronic Fatigue etc yes i didn't seem to pick up many colds.

Best Wishes

The Fluffy Assassin Enthusiast
The Fluffy Assassin
Posted
I read in Gluten-Free for Dummies that there could be some "science" behind that. Up until this year when I hadn't treated celiac disease, my body kept sending out antibodies to fight what it thought was poision, but was actually just gluten. As a result, my immune system was always on the ready, (if not in overdrive) and it would quickly fight whatever diseases I might have caught. (I
Ahorsesoul Enthusiast
Ahorsesoul
Posted

I've hardly been sick since going gluten free 8 years ago.

darlindeb25 Collaborator
darlindeb25
Posted

In the 9 years I have been gluten free, I rarely ever get sick. Maybe 4 times over 9 years, and 3 of those times have been in the last couple of years. I have enough issues going on without any outside viruses hitting me. About 2 years ago, I got a virus, and had just had surgery about 6 weeks before, I think I was run down from that. This Feb, I picked up a bad virus, and blame it on my iron poor blood. I am working on improving that problem, we will see what this years flu season does to me!

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


chasbari Apprentice
chasbari
Posted

I rarely got sick prior to gluten-free and still do not. I have been dealing with RA as well. My rheumatologist (before my celiac DX) recommended vitamins for me which would make my RA even worse. I told him I felt like I was handing my enemy a bazooka by taking the vitamins and supercharging my immune system. He said I was greatly misunderstanding how RA worked and that I was foolish not to take them. Easy for him to say... he didn't have to live with the consequences. He is also the one that ,after my biospy and diagnosis for celiac, contends that I probably don't even have celiac and that it is probably IBS better treated with Humira. He has found me to be a non compliant patient more and more. Since diagnosed and properly screened for bone density issues the one supplement I am taking is a gluten-free Vitamin D, calcium and magnesium supplement. I tried to wean myself off of it last week and for the first time actually started to feel pretty bad. I think your explanation of the difference between feeling flu or colds as opposed to the feelings of celiac symptoms is right on BTW.

mom26boys Apprentice
mom26boys
Posted

Wow! I'm so glad you posted this! I've been thinking the same thing!!! I'm new to all this and don't have my official dx yet. Blood test came back positive, so I guess endoscopy is next. Anyway, since learning about this I've now wondered why I never get sick, even when my kids get sick (and I have six!). For the past 5 years, I've have totally overhauled the way we eat--no more processed foods, no fast food, raw dairy, lots of fruits and vegetables, very little sugar if any, etc. I did it mainly because I felt so horrible after my last pregnancy that I knew it had to be food related. I'm also obese, and even with all these changes, I have not lost an ounce in the last 5 years!!! I've always attributed the fact that I don't get sick like I used to before I had my 6th child (and even during the pregnancy I was sick the entire time!), to the dietary changes I've made over time. I thought that maybe eating right was what was keeping me from getting sick, but lately its been on my mind that maybe, if I have celiac, my immune syster was always on guard, and thats why I don't get sick anymore, which then leads me to wonder what will happen when I'm gluten free. I did it for only 2 weeks, and I felt great, but now I'm being told that I need to eat gluten until my endoscopy, if I have one. Totally stinks, because I felt so much better gluten-free, that I hate eating ANY gluten now!!!

I also agree with you that I would much rather have a few colds here and there than the daily agony of being weak, lethargic, tired, and achy all the time. Thanks again for posting. Glad I'm not crazy!!!

lovegrov Collaborator
lovegrov
Posted

I most definitely got sick more before going gluten-free.

richard

oceangirl Collaborator
oceangirl
Posted

My experience was that I caught many colds and bugs prior to gluten free and that now, over 4 years in, I have been fortunate not to have any viral thing for a year and a half. I work in a high school and someone is always sick; that said, that may have helped build immunity. as well over the past 8 years. I do think getting rid of the damaging gluten has helped my immune system.

Of course, it's sobering to know that a new bug (not to mention any names) or a virus like the 1918 flu may actually trigger what is known as a "cytokine storm" in younger people's immune systems- an extreme response- that actually seems to be implicated in their high death rate during that flu... tra la la.....) More research is what we need, eh?!

!Salud!

lisa

hannahp57 Contributor
hannahp57
Posted

i almost never catch anything... if i get sick it is gluten, CC or stress. for me stress will make me sick. almost always. but other than bronchitis once i cant remember ever having a cold or the flu.

curiousgeorge Rookie
curiousgeorge
Posted

I have been sick once in the last year after goign gluten-free. I was ALWYS sick before then.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):



    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):



  • Recent Activity

    1. suek54
      - suek54 replied to suek54's topic in Dermatitis Herpetiformis
      5

      Awaiting dermatitis herpetiformis confirmation following biopsy

      Thank you all for your advice and the dermatitis herpetiformis article. The latter made me realise I had stopped taking my antihistamine, which I will restart today. The Dapsone has cleared the rash entirely but I still get quite a bit itching, absolutely nothing to see though. I know its notoriously hard to clear and its still relatively early days for me...
    2. trents
      - trents replied to catnapt's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      3

      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

      So, essentially all of the nutrition in the food we eat is absorbed through the villous lining of the small bowel. This is the section of the intestinal track that is damaged by celiac disease. This villous lining is composed of billions of finger-like projections that create a huge amount of surface area for absorbing nutrients. For the celiac person, when...
    3. catnapt
      - catnapt replied to catnapt's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      3

      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

      thank you so much for your detailed and extremely helpful reply!! I can say with absolute certainty that the less gluten containing products I've eaten over the past several years, the better I've felt. I wasn't avoiding gluten, I was avoiding refined grains (and most processed foods) as well as anything that made me feel bad when I ate it. It's the...
    4. trents
      - trents replied to catnapt's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      3

      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

      Welcome, @catnapt! The most recent guidelines are the daily consumption of a minimum of 10g of gluten (about the amount found in 4-6 slices of wheat bread) for a minimum of two weeks. But if possible stretching that out even more would enhance the chances of getting valid test results. These guidelines are for those who have been eating gluten free for...
    5. catnapt
      - catnapt posted a topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      3

      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

      after several years of issues with a para-gland issue, my endo has decided it's a good idea for me to be tested for celiac disease. I am 70 yrs old and stunned to learn that you can get celiac this late in life. I have just gradually stopped eating most foods that contain gluten over the past several years- they just make me feel ill- although I...
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):

  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      133,257
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    KariNoMoreGluten
    Newest Member
    KariNoMoreGluten
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.6k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):

  • Who's Online (See full list)

    • There are no registered users currently online

  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • suek54
      Awaiting dermatitis herpetiformis confirmation following biopsy

      By suek54 · Posted

      Thank you all for your advice and the dermatitis herpetiformis article. The latter made me realise I had stopped taking my antihistamine, which I will restart today. The Dapsone has cleared the rash entirely but I still get quite a bit itching, absolutely nothing to see though. I know its notoriously hard to clear and its still relatively early days for me.  The iodine issue is very interesting. I do eat quite a bit of salt because I have Addison's disease and sodium retention is an issue. I also have autoimmune hypothyroidism, not sure how a low iodine diet would play into that? Because of my Addison's I am totally steroid dependent, I take steroids 4 x daily and cannot mount any defence against inflammation. I need to increase my meds for that. Now that I know what is wrong I can do just that if Im having a bad day. Life is very sweet, just so damn complicated sometimes! Hey ho, onwards. Thank you again for your advice.  
    • trents
      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

      By trents · Posted

      So, essentially all of the nutrition in the food we eat is absorbed through the villous lining of the small bowel. This is the section of the intestinal track that is damaged by celiac disease. This villous lining is composed of billions of finger-like projections that create a huge amount of surface area for absorbing nutrients. For the celiac person, when gluten is consumed, it triggers an autoimmune reaction in this area which, of course, generates inflammation. The antibodies connected with this inflammation is what the celiac blood tests are designed to detect but this inflammation, over time, wears down the finger-like projections of the villous lining. Of course, when this proceeds for an extended period of time, greatly reduces the absorption efficiency of the villous lining and often results in many and various nutrient deficiency-related health issues. Classic examples would be osteoporosis and iron deficiency. But there are many more. Low D3 levels is a well-known celiac-caused nutritional deficiency. So is low B12. All the B vitamins in fact. Magnesium, zinc, etc.  Celiac disease can also cause liver inflammation. You mention elevated ALP levels. Elevated liver enzymes over a period of 13 years was what led to my celiac diagnosis. Within three months of going gluten free my liver enzymes normalized. I had elevated AST and ALT. The development of sensitivities to other food proteins is very common in the celiac population. Most common cross reactive foods are dairy and oats but eggs, soy and corn are also relatively common offenders. Lactose intolerance is also common in the celiac population because of damage to the SB lining.  Eggs when they are scrambled or fried give me a gut ache. But when I poach them, they do not. The steam and heat of poaching causes a hydrolysis process that alters the protein in the egg. They don't bother me in baked goods either so I assume the same process is at work. I bought a plastic poacher on Amazon to make poaching very easy. All this to say that many of the issues you describe could be caused by celiac disease. 
    • catnapt
      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

      By catnapt · Posted

      thank you so much for your detailed and extremely helpful reply!! I can say with absolute certainty that the less gluten containing products I've eaten over the past several years, the better I've felt.   I wasn't avoiding gluten, I was avoiding refined grains (and most processed foods) as well as anything that made me feel bad when I ate it. It's the same reason I gave up dairy and eggs- they make me feel ill.  I do have a bit of a sugar addiction lol so a lot of times I wasn't sure if it was the refined grains that I was eating - or the sugar. So from time to time I might have a cookie or something but I've learned how to make wonderful cookies and golden brownies with BEANS!! and no refined sugar - I use date paste instead. Pizza made me so ill- but I thought it was probably the cheese. I gave up pizza and haven't missed it. the one time I tried a slice I felt so bad I knew I'd never touch it again. I stopped eating wheat pasta at least 3 yrs ago- just didn't feel well after eating it. I tried chick pea pasta and a few others and discovered I like the brown rice pasta. I still don't eat a lot of pasta but it's nice for a change when I want something easy. TBH over the years I've wondered sometimes if I might be gluten intolerant but really believed it was not possible for me to have celiac disease. NOW I need to know for sure- because I'm in the middle of a long process of trying to find out why I have a high parathyroid level (NOT the thyroid- but rather the 4 glands that control the calcium balance in your body) I have had a hard time getting my vit D level up, my serum calcium has run on the low side of normal for many years... and now I am losing calcium from my bones and excreting it in my urine (some sort of renal calcium leak) Also have a high ALP since 2014. And now rapidly worsening bone density.  I still do not have a firm diagnosis. Could be secondary HPT (but secondary to what? we need to know) It could be early primary HPT. I am spilling calcium in my urine but is that caused by the high parathyroid hormone or is it the reason my PTH is high>? there are multiple feedback loops for this condition.    so I will keep eating the bread and some wheat germ that does not seem to bother me too much (it hasn't got enough gluten to use just wheat germ)    but I'm curious- if you don't have a strong reaction to a product- like me and wheat germ- does that mean it's ok to eat or is it still causing harm even if you don't have any obvious symptoms? I guess what you are saying about silent celiac makes it likely that you can have no symptoms and still have the harm... but geez! you'd think they'd come up with a way to test for this that didn't require you to consume something that makes you sick! I worry about the complications I've been reading about- different kinds of cancers etc. also wondering- are there degrees of celiac disease?  is there any correlation between symptoms and the amnt of damage to your intestines? I also need a firm diagnosis because I have an identical twin sister ... so if I have celiac, she has it too- or at least the genetic make up for having it. I did have a VERY major stress to my body in 2014-2016 time frame .. lost 50lbs in a short period of time and had severe symptoms from acute protracted withdrawal off an SSRI drug (that I'd been given an unethically high dose of, by a dr who has since lost his license)  Going off the drug was a good thing and in many ways my health improved dramatically- just losing 50lbs was helpful but I also went  off almost a dozen different medications, totally changed my diet and have been doing pretty well except for the past 3-4 yrs when the symptoms related to the parathyroid issue cropped up. It is likely that I had low vit D for some time and that caused me a lot of symptoms. The endo now tells me that low vit D can be caused by celiac disease so I need to know for sure! thank you for all that great and useful information!!! 
    • trents
      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

      By trents · Posted

      Welcome, @catnapt! The most recent guidelines are the daily consumption of a minimum of 10g of gluten (about the amount found in 4-6 slices of wheat bread) for a minimum of two weeks. But if possible stretching that out even more would enhance the chances of getting valid test results. These guidelines are for those who have been eating gluten free for a significant amount of time. It's called the "gluten challenge".  Yes, you can develop celiac disease at any stage of life. There is a genetic component but also a stress trigger that is needed to activate the celiac genes. About 30-40% of the general population possesses the genetic potential to develop celiac disease but only about 1% of the general population actually develop celiac disease. For most with the potential, the triggering stress event doesn't happen. It can be many things but often it is a viral infection. Having said that, it is also the case that many, many people who eventually are diagnosed with celiac disease probably experienced the actual onset years before. Many celiacs are of the "silent" type, meaning that symptoms are largely missing or very minor and get overlooked until damage to the small bowel lining becomes advanced or they develop iron deficiency anemia or some other medical problem associated with celiac disease. Many, many are never diagnosed or are diagnosed later in life because they did not experience classic symptoms. And many physicians are only looking for classic symptoms. We now know that there are over 200 symptoms/medical problems associated with celiac disease but many docs are only looking for things like boating, gas, diarrhea. I certainly understand your concerns about not wanting to damage your body by taking on a gluten challenge. Your other option is to totally commit to gluten free eating and see if your symptoms improve. It can take two years or more for complete healing of the small bowel lining once going gluten free but usually people experience significant improvement well before then. If their is significant improvement in your symptoms when going seriously gluten free, then you likely have your answer. You would either have celiac disease or NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity).
    • catnapt
      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

      By catnapt · Posted

      after several years of issues with a para-gland issue, my endo has decided it's a good idea for me to be tested for celiac disease. I am 70 yrs old and stunned to learn that you can get celiac this late in life. I have just gradually stopped eating most foods that contain gluten over the past several years- they just make me feel ill- although I attributed it to other things like bread spiking blood sugar- or to the things I ate *with* the bread or crackers etc   I went to a party in Nov and ate a LOT of a vegan roast made with vital wheat gluten- as well as stuffing, rolls and pie crust... and OMG I was so sick! the pain, the bloating, the gas, the nausea... I didn't think it would ever end (but it did) and I was ready to go the ER but it finally subsided.   I mentioned this to my endo and now she wants me to be tested for celiac after 2 weeks of being on gluten foods. She has kind of flip flopped on how much gluten I should eat, telling me that if the symptoms are severe I can stop. I am eating 2-3 thin slices of bread per day (or english muffins) and wow- it does make me feel awful. But not as bad as when I ate that massive amnt of vital wheat gluten. so I will continue on if I have to... but what bothers me is - if it IS celiac, it seems stupid for lack of a better word, to intentionally cause more damage to my body... but I am also worried, on the other hand, that this is not a long enough challenge to make the blood work results valid.   can you give me any insight into this please?   thank you
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.