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Immune system comprised ?


Emily45

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Emily45 Apprentice

I'm wondering if u have celiac disease/gulten intolerance can it make ur immune system weaker so u get Ill more ? I seem to be getting ill a lot in the last year and didnt  normally get Ill at all . 


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trents Grand Master

First, celiac disease itself is an immune disorder. Specifically, it is and "autoimmune" disorder. So it represents a dysfunction in your immune system to begin with. If you are talking about infectious diseases, the connection may have more to do with poor nutrient uptake due to damage to the small bowel mucosa (villi), which is where most nutrient absorption occurs. 

Being a new member may we also assume you are a recently diagnosed Celiac? How educated are you on where gluten is found in food and also about cross contamination issues? Many new Celiacs are still getting much more gluten than they realize because they just aren't yet very savvy about recognizing how and how often we get glutenned unless one is well-educated and extremely vigilant. Even trace amounts of gluten can prevent healing in the small bowel,  though symptoms may seem to largely reside.

fergusminto Apprentice

In addition to what Trent has said, the jury is still out on whether Coeliac (as we say in Scotland) causes food intolerances or whether the lack of gluten in the diet causes then but nevertheless as can be seen in this forum, food intolerances seem to go hand in hand with celiac disease. In my own case these intolerances cause headaches and fatigue which can last for two days.

Emily45 Apprentice

Im new to the whole thing. I have no idea about cross contamination. I haven't been diagnosed yet I'm scared by the whole thing. But I just know it's gulten 

Ennis-TX Grand Master

Yeah here you can read into getting diagnosed, if celiac then you can rest assured you know hte cure and it will just take time with the gluten free diet. The newbie 101 thread will have many of your answers. Might be worth keeping a food diary just for references for now, and if you intend to get tested you need to be eating gluten sadly.
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https://www.celiac.com/forums/topic/91878-newbie-info-101/

I used to get sick more often when eating gluten...but if you immune system is fighting one enemy on the front line it gives way for something else to sneak past it and hit you hard. So yes I would say so.....I hardly ever get sick now days with a virus.....food intolerance, reaching my personal tolerances for ceratin types of foods in a meal, or some other random quirk normally makes me sick...but these are normally just purge and go on sick....not painful for hours.

 

trents Grand Master

You really do need to get tested. The earlier you catch it the less likely serious and permanent damage to your body will occur. One of the Celiac associated medical problems is osteopenia/osteoporosis because of poor mineral absorption. 

GFinDC Veteran

The instance of getting sick more often is possible.  There have been threads here years ago about people getting sick a lot with colds etc.  I think the opposite is also possible,   Sometimes people with celiac can get sick with various infections less often than other people.  Possibly because their immune system is always charged up and ready to go.  So it can go either way IMHO.

Did I mention that celiac disease can be hard to diagnose?  Most people with celiac disease are undiagnosed today.  It used to be 95% undiagnosed, but I think the medical people have improved their numbers in recent years.  They might even be down to only 75% undiagnosed!  Yeah! :)


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Emily45 Apprentice

I'm ill again now. It's getting to be a right pain . Looks like I need to have a good read . I just don't like doctors will they even take it seriously?  

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    • trents
      Welcome to the forum, @Tyoung! It is possible that you are experiencing some kind of gluten withdrawal but I would thing that would have started to subside by now. There are a couple of possibilities that come to mind. One is the polysaccharide ingredients that are typically found in prepackaged "gluten-free" wheat flour facsimile foods. If you read the ingredient lists of such foods you will usually find things like guar gum and xanthan gum. Their function is to give the product a texture similar to wheat flour but they are hard to digest and give many celiacs digestive issues. I mention this not knowing if you are relying on prepackaged gluten free food items to any extent or are just choosing carefully from mainstream naturally gluten free food items. Another is that your body is just going through adjustment to a major dietary change. Wheat is a significant component to the typical western diet that supplies certain nutrients and some fiber that has now been withdrawn suddenly. Are you experiencing any constipation? Also be aware that foods made from gluten-free flour are typically devoid of nutritional value. Wheat flour is mandated by government regulations to be fortified with vitamins but gluten-free flours are not. It can be smart to compensate for this with vitamin and mineral supplements. Still another possibility is that in addition to being gluten intolerant, your also have other food intolerances. One small study found that 50% of celiacs reacted to dairy like they do gluten. That number may be on the high side in reality and more research needs to be done. However, it is true that dairy intolerance is very common in the celiac community. Another common "cross reactive" food is oats. There are certain foods whose proteins closely resemble gluten and cause the same reaction. About 10% of celiacs react to the protein "avenin" in oats like the do the protein gluten. You might try eliminating dairy and oats for a few weeks and see if your symptoms improve.
    • Tyoung
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