Coeliac Disease - does it make you more susceptible to illness?

[tkband3]

DD1 (5.5) was diagnosed with coeliac disease when she was nearly 3 and ever since has obviously been gluten free. Her health is generally good and although she has a fairly narrow diet, and doesn't eat many vegetables, she eats loads of fruit and drinks lots of milk.

She doesn't seem to be as susceptible to all the illnesses that sweep through her class each week - her attendance in reception was 98%, but when she does succumb to a virus, she can be quite poorly.

This week she is really suffering with this horrid flu bug - really high temps, a horrid cough which has made her vomit a few times, and a nasty cold. She has been suffering for 4 days now. Her sisters have also had the bug but not nearly as badly.

My mother and MIL (who used to be a nurse) both reckon that the coeliac disease compromises her immune system and so it is inevitable that she will suffer more. I can't see that this should be the case - her paed has never mentioned this possibility and as she is totally gluten free, surely that means she is as likely as any other child to fall prey to any infection she comes into contact with.

Sorry for the ramble, I have posted a query to coeliac uk but they are closed till 2nd Jan. I'm just interested to hear what others think, whether based on science or personal experience .

Hey hon! My dh has coeliac, my ds2 has T1 diabetes and both are autoimmune diseases (linked). Before ds was diagnosed with diabetes he seemed to get everything going and was always having styes on his eyes. Since he started on insulin and got stronger he seems more resistant to stuff (hope I've not cursed myself now).

DH doesn't seem to have more infections, but does seem to have more allergies since he was dx'd - ie egg allergy, worse hay fever, and am sure he's allergic to the cats!

Hello!
Thought I'd write,
I was diagnosed as a Coeliac Sept 2007, and get every illness under the sun! Always something wrong lol! Probably not what you wanted to hear!
Although, its a small price to pay for how ill I was before I was diagnosed!
I hope your dd gets better soon, being a coeliac myself I know how difficult it is to keep 100% gluten free, its hard work!
My local coeliac nurse and consultant and dietician are rubbish at filling me in with certain info, like how much my pregnancy would be affected by my coeliac-ness!
Sorry Im not much help!

Hi, just being gluten-free is not enough! (speaking from experience with my ds)

Coeliac person will have numerous deficiencies acquired before diagnosis and while drs will tell you that after 3 months all is hanky dory - it definitely isn't even if you are meticulously gluten-free. It's because celiac is really an absorption problem.
Various parts of digestive system will be still afected for a long time and unless the diet is broad and includes a lot of fresh ingredients (more veg than fruit as fruit has too much sugar and puts a strain on pancreas and liver, also herbs that will help digestion & absorption as well as add green nutrients).
You need to improve diet towards fresh foods and away from carbs which are nutritionally empty fillers (and in some people absorption is affected by corn gluten too) - to make sure that absorption improves. You could use a multi-vit called forceval, but sparingly, so you don't put too much strain on liver. Cut down on sugar as much as you can.
Celiac can affect various organs, so really you need to consider quality foods only and remove as much as you can of the foods that are not nutritious.
3.5 years on I am still working on deficiencies of various nutrients in my son (in his case it's now aminoacids).

This is all extremely interesting - thank you! DD1's appetite was so tiny before she was diagnosed that I was simply pleased that she was eating! I do try to get her to at least try vegetables, but so far, all she will eat (apart from potatoes in various forms) is raw carrots.

nightcat - how did you find out about the various deficiencies in your son's diet?

tkband3, have you joined www.coeliac.co.uk coeliac UK. you can join on behalf of your DD, and they have lots of advice and info, as well as local groups where they have events tailored for kids throughout the year; parties with GF food, and food fayres etc. they also have a good shop with cookery books (I think there is one tailored to kids) and you will get the food and drink diorectory as part of your membership which lists all the supermarkets and manufacturers of prepared foods that are suitable.

I'm pretty sure that as she gets to know that food isn't going to make her ill any more her appetite will increase and she'll start to eat a wider range of foods. One good thing about coeliac disease (if that isn't a contradiction in terms!!) is that it forces you into eating more healthily as home prepared foods with fresh ingredients are by far the safest things to eat.

nightcat, I was diagnosed coeliac a few years ago and was told that iron and calcium absorption were problematic in the coeliac, but no mention made of organs being susceptible to damage. nothing I have read from coeliac UK has given me to believe this either. Have you got any links or anything as your post has got me rather worried!!

Daisy, we are members of coeliac UK - we joined as soon as DD1 was diagnosed nearly 3 years ago. The change in her appetite was apparent within 2 weeks of her diagnosis, but her diet is still quite limited, because she is such a fussy eater. But compared with what she was eating before her diagnosis, her diet is fantastic . She is just very resistant to eating vegetables - like many children .

I hadn't realised about the events if you join your local group, or about the cookery books, so I shall investigate further - thank you!

I am a coeliac diagnosed as a child of 3 now 41..so feel that I have a bit of experience to work on here. I still do have Iron and calcium absorption concerns and take supplements as 12daisys has stated is problematic for coeliacs. However I am quite healthy and am very rarely ill with colds or any bug/ virus type illnesses...cannot even remember when i was last ill..so in my opinion I feel I am no more susceptible to illnesses than the next person, and my coeliac plays no part in making me more ill when I do get something...if that makes sense. I too am rather and that in all my years of hospital visits and the amount of reading i have done on coeliac disease that i have never ever ever heard of it affecting other organs, nightcat could you please expand on this as like 12daisys..has got me concerned. Many thanks.

Should add .... my DH always maintains as my diet is nutritous and healthy with limited processed foods (could be any non coeliac persons diet easily) that is what keeps me healthy ie: processed foods and all the additives does nobody any good if eaten in excess.

I meant to add last night that I don't think it has made me any more susceptible to illness, but I do have some other, minor auto-immune issues like mild asthma and eczema.

tkb, I made a beeline to a v. good paeditrician and asked him not to give up on us like many other drs we saw. Every so often I ask him for various tests, mainly blood & urine, that I would have found too difficult to convince my GP about.
My ds is still bodrerline low in some fat-soluble vits, vit B's & minerals (one of the more obvious celiac issues is absorption of fats and fat soluble vitamins). I have worked though his various symptoms, some seemingly minor, but all of them have been linked to nutritional deficiencies of one sort of another. Right now we are trying to work out whether vit B's & vit E will improve his taurine. But I had to do most of this analysis myself, because a lot of tests will say OK when they are borderline low or even deficient (might be highlighted on a actual result, but overall comment might still be "normal". So I have copies of all his results and I read up on things.
NB. For veg, best to cook soups or caseroles, then you can hide veg, also, always have a salad on the go - and FAT doesn't make you fat, carbs make you fat (and stress pancreas), so avoid low-fat/no-fat foods.

12daisy, calcium & iron absorption depend on acid environment in the stomach as well as absorption in the gut. My ds had reflux which resolved with the diet, which is yet another facet of celiac. In fact my ds is not even celiac, "just" gluten-sensitive, but this was picked up by a neurologist, who works in a team with gastro drs and only by crossing the disciplines they have been able to link it all.
The book you might want to read: Dangerous Grains by Braly/Hogan (one of them is a dr).
Also, try this collection (no need to worry, if you keep the diet you will be fine).

Gluten File

Although the introduction in the gluten file link is written by a non-medical person, as you scroll down, there are various conditions listed, where you will find links to published research.

PS. Don't ever believe in growing out of this, the set of symptoms might change and new ones might appear - but they most likely will have one common cause..

Thanks for that info nightcat. DD1 has annual check-ups and blood tests which obviously check her gluten levels and for other coeliac-associated issues such as thyroid problems. They also check her iron levels. No-one has ever mentioned any other issues that we should look out for.

Is it perhaps the case that the other issues your DS has are not in fact linked to his gluten-sensitivity, as he is not coeliac? Hope you don't take this the wrong way - I am genuinely interested in the information you have (but I have not yet had the time to go through it all, so please forgive me if the answers are there ), and obviously want to investigate further to ensure my DD is not suffering from any deficiencies. I'm more than slightly concerned that we have not been told to watch out for other symptoms highlighting other issues.

hi tkb, my ds had a gene test that confirmed his gluten sensitivity rather than biopsy becuase he had such a miraculous recovery on the diet that there was no way I would have put him back on gluten again at the beginning of the secondary school.
You could check your dd for fat-soluble vitamins and omega fats for a start. Also minerals, which may be part of the full blood test.
Unless your dd had auto-antibodies previously, you probably don't need to worry about thyroid, diabetes and so on.

Thanks for that nightcat.

Following on from my OP, thought I would just paste the following reply I had to my query to Coeliac UK...

"There is no evidence to suggest that children with coeliac disease are more prone to common infections during childhood such as colds, virus' etc, or have a longer recovery time.

If a child is sticking well to the gluten-free diet, and has responded in terms of symptoms of coeliac disease etc, any additional or newly presenting symptom should be discussed separately with their doctor."