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More Susceptible To Colds And Flu Now?

book-worm

By book-worm
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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book-worm Apprentice
book-worm
Posted

Guys, with it coming in to winter in Australia again, I

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mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

I think you're due for a break. Everything I've read indicates that once your body stops fighting the gluten it is better able to fight the things it should be fighting. :D I miss out on that benefit because I have to suppress my immune system to fight my RA, so while I don't get the colds or flu any more easily, if I do get them it's that much harder tp get rid of them. Gain on the swings, loose on the roundabouts :P

ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted

I was sick contantly for years catching every bug that went around. I literally have not even had a cold since I was diagnosed 8 years ago. I don't miss them. Hopefully the same will happen for you.

nicolebeth Apprentice
nicolebeth
Posted

I can't answer to the celiac part of this, but highly recommend taking supplemental Vitamin D. Getting your levels between 60-70 is ideal for fighting off illness. Mine were 38-39, and I got what I thought was mild H1N1 (here in the Eastern US, it was going around in late October). I've since brought it up to 62, haven't had a cold since. My kids were on Vitamin D, and didn't get flu; same with my husband. There's starting to be more and more information about this out there.

Btw, none of us had flu shots this year. In 2009, I was the only one taking any D and was the only one not to get the flu. That happened in a few friends' houses as well back in 2009--the ones on D avoided the flu, the others didn't. In 2008, we all got the flu (none of us were taking D).

Good luck!

Open Original Shared Link

Open Original Shared Link (Dr. Oz didn't get swine flu vaccine for his kids, actually)

bluebonnet Explorer
bluebonnet
Posted

aside from my gi issues, catching colds/flu and pnuemonia seemed to constantly be a problem because my immune system was so weak. hands down i believe there is a link between celiac and weak immune system. i caught it all despite my healthy intentions!! before diagnosis, i thought it was because of my insomnia and what they claim not getting a proper amount of sleep will do. anyway, working towards my 4th month gluten free, i haven't caught a cold and my allergies even seem to be less intense. and hopefully it will stay that way!!! :)

YoloGx Rookie
YoloGx
Posted

I have had the same experience--no colds or flu since I have gone off all gluten and trace cross contamination(CC). I do have to be careful if I have been glutened however, and make sure I take time out if I have been. By not doing so in the past I got dreadfully ill with bacterial infections no less!! And yes my history in the past pre going off all trace gluten was that I was always getting sick from colds and flu, and had it worse and longer seemingly than anyone else. It is so very worth it to stay off the gluten and away from CC!

Bea

K8ling Enthusiast
K8ling
Posted

Also, some people are just more susceptible to colds/flu/stomach bugs. It just depends on what you are genetically predisposed to. My sons friend caught 7 SEPARATE stomach bugs this winter, I caught one, and the baby? None! My husband NEVER gets sick, and I catch colds but thats about it.

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foodiegurl Collaborator
foodiegurl
Posted

I agree with taking vitamin D3, I take it daily, and thankfully got through the winter ok. In addition since going gluten-free my seasonal allergies have been much milder. I hope it gets better for you!

book-worm Apprentice
book-worm
Posted
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Awesome! I

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

      By catnapt · Posted

      oh that's interesting... it's hard to say for sure but it has *seemed* like oats might be causing me some vague issues in the past few months. It's odd that I never really connect specific symptoms to foods, it's more of an all over feeling of unwellness after  eating them.  If it happens a few times after eating the same foods- I cut back or avoid them. for this reason I avoid dairy and eggs.  So far this has worked well for me.  oh, I have some of Bob's Red Mill Mighty Tasty Hot cereal and I love it! it's hard to find but I will be looking for more.  for the next few weeks I'm going to be concentrating on whole fresh fruits and veggies and beans and nuts and seeds. I'll have to find out if grains are truly necessary in our diet. I buy brown rice pasta but only eat that maybe once a month at most. Never liked quinoa. And all the other exotic sounding grains seem to be time consuming to prepare. Something to look at later. I love beans and to me they provide the heft and calories that make me feel full for a lot longer than a big bowl of broccoli or other veggies. I can't even tolerate the plant milks right now.  I have reached out to the endo for guidance regarding calcium intake - she wants me to consume 1000mgs from food daily and I'm not able to get to more than 600mgs right now.  not supposed to use a supplement until after my next round of testing for hyperparathyroidism.   thanks again- you seem to know quite a bit about celiac.  
    • trents
      IBS-D vs Celiac

      By trents · Posted

      Welcome to the celiac.com community, @SilkieFairy! You could also have NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity) as opposed to celiac disease. They share many of the same symptoms, especially the GI ones. There is no test for NCGS. Celiac disease must first be ruled out.
    • trents
      how much gluten do I need to eat before blood tests?

      By trents · Posted

      Under the circumstances, your decision to have the testing done on day 14 sounds very reasonable. But I think by now you know for certain that you either have celiac disease or NCGS and either way you absolutely need to eliminate gluten from your diet. I don't think you have to have an official diagnosis of celiac disease to leverage gluten free service in hospitals or institutional care and I'm guessing your physician would be willing to grant you a diagnosis of gluten sensitivity (NCGS) even if your celiac testing comes up negative. Also, you need to be aware that oats (even gluten free oats) is a common cross reactor in the celiac community. Oat protein (avenin) is similar to gluten. You might want to look at some other gluten free hot  breakfast cereal alternatives.
    • SilkieFairy
      IBS-D vs Celiac

      By SilkieFairy · Posted

      After the birth of my daughter nearly 6 years ago, my stools changed. They became thin if they happened to be solid (which was rare) but most of the time it was Bristol #6 (very loose and 6-8x a day). I was on various medications and put it down to that. A few years later I went on this strict "fruit and meat" diet where I just ate meat, fruit, and squash vegetables. I noticed my stools were suddenly formed, if a bit narrow. I knew then that the diarrhea was probably food related not medication related. I tried following the fodmap diet but honestly it was just too complicated, I just lived with pooping 8x a day and wondering how I'd ever get and keep a job once my children were in school.  This past December I got my yearly bloodwork and my triglycerides were high. I looked into Dr. William Davis (wheat belly author) and he recommended going off wheat and other grains. This is the first time in my life I was reading labels to make sure there was no wheat. Within 2 weeks, not only were my stools formed and firm but I was only pooping twice a day, beautiful formed Bristol #4.  Dr. Davis allows some legumes, so I went ahead and added red lentils and beans. Nervous that the diarrhea would come back if I had IBS-D. Not only did it not come back, it just made my stools even bigger and beautiful. Still formed just with a lot more width and bulk. I've also been eating a lot of plant food like tofu, mushrooms, bell peppers, hummus etc which I thought was the cause of my diarrhea before and still, my stools are formed. In January I ran a genetics test because I knew you had to have the genes for celiac. The report came back with  DQ 2.2 plus other markers that I guess are necessary in order for it to be possible to have celiac. Apparently DQ 2.2 is the "rarer" kind but based on my report it's genetically possible for me to have celiac.  I know the next step is to bring gluten back so I can get testing but I am just not wanting to do that. After suffering with diarrhea for years I can't bring myself to do it right now. So that is where I am!   
    • catnapt
      anyone here diagnosed with a PARAthyroid disorder? (NOT the thyroid) the calcium controlling glands

      By catnapt · Posted

      learned I had a high PTH level in 2022 suspected to be due to low vit D  got my vit D level up a bit but still have high PTH   I am 70 yrs old (today in fact) I am looking for someone who also has hyperparathyroidism that might be caused by malabsorption    
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