low immune system

Do people with crohns all have a low immune system or is it just some of us when crohns has been active? Im a bit confused.

I agree with Kitti, I'm pretty sure that all CD sufferers have a very compromised immune system, it's the nature of the disease.

Yes, immunosuppresants by definition suppress the immune system so not only are Crohn's patients on these meds more likely to get sick, when sick they are also likely to be sicker that others might be.

Dixie made a lot of great points, most of which I agree with.

However, the overdrive theory was popular for a very long time, but now researchers are starting to look in another direction. In fact, within the past two years evidence has suggested that Crohn's patients have under-active immune systems, not overactive ones.

Why is why there are clinical trials going on right now that use meds that do NOT suppress the immune system. 

There is no question that Crohn's patients have dysfunctional immune systems. That something in the environment sets off a trigger and then inflammation sets in. However, it is possible that instead of having overactive systems, they have weak or at least inefficient systems. That an attack is mounted that might resolve itself easily in somebody who does not have Crohn's. But in a Crohn's patient, the attack is inneffectual...not strong enough to finish the job so instead you get stuck in the fester mode.   

The immunosuppresants do a good job of suppressing the damage that can be done by Crohn's. However, they are not just suppressing this action, but the  immune system for your entire body. A small minority of researchers have even speculated that the suppression of the Crohn's inflammation might not be good over the long run, because it does not really get to the root of what caused the inflammation, to begin with.  

I don't believe in the overdrive theory, because my daughter's immune system was terrible long before she had Crohn's.

Actually, the whole autoimmune process is extremely complex. There is no good answer - if you're talking about autoimmune disease - whether your "immune system" is "overactive" or "underactive." I put all of those words in quotations because they are somewhat oversimplified. If you get right to it, the autoimmune immune response is actually hyperactive. Your body normally reacts to invaders by developing antibodies and fighting off the invaders. This is what happens when you get a vaccine - they give you a piece of virus that is dead/inactivated, your body mounts a response against it, and when it encounters that antigen (or foreign substance) again it will be able to mount a better attack. In autoimmune disease, your body starts looking at a piece of itself as a "foreigner" and wants to mount an attack. Hence the increase in white count, inflammation, etc. But this is what makes you feel so crappy. This "attack" of the "foreigners" is actually to blame for your symptoms - not the tissue itself.

It's very weird. Very, very, very complex. Different systems act different ways. There are some autoimmune diseases that act upon one single organ (like Hashimoto's), and others that seem to attack many (like lupus). We still have a lot to learn about autoimmune diseases. And we still don't know if Crohn's actually fits into that category yet.

The immunosuppressants many of you are on are likely to make you more susceptible to infection because they are actually attempting to decrease your body's (hyperactive) response.

The following links help explain why people with Crohn's might actually have weak, rather than hyperactive, immune systems:

http://autoimmunedisease.suite101.com/blog.cfm/113

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8759