HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

auto-immune?

Support Forums
>
Crohn's Disease
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 6/26/2012 9:05 PM (GMT 0)
Just wondering how this auto-immune disease affects our immune system. I'm just getting over a very bad cold and am wondering if i'll be more prone to them.. or more prone to catching stuff with an auto-immune disease.

Also, I assume that it's common to get more symptoms while sick? i found myself a lot more achy and i assume it's the inflammation acting up.

Hope everyone is well,

Chrissy
Posted 6/26/2012 9:19 PM (GMT 0)
Chrissy, I kind of think of my auto-immune system as hypervigilant. Crohn's is an inappropriate reaction of the immune system to benign stimuli, theoretically.

I hardly ever get colds.

When I do get weird fluctuations in my immune function I get sores on my tongue, or a slightly red throat, or an ache in my knee, or an outbreak of herpes on my mouth.
Posted 6/26/2012 9:55 PM (GMT 0)
I can't even remember the last time I've had a cold and my CD has been in an active flare the entire 21 yrs I've had it...the last time I had a tummy bug was 1994.

Since researchers can't all agree if our immune systems are underactive or overactive, they've basically concluded that it's simply malfunctioning (whatever that's suppose to mean...it certainly doesn't clarify anything does it LOL).

It's very possible that some meds used to treat IBD can causes some patients to get sick with flues more often compared to if they weren't on them.
Posted 6/27/2012 10:08 PM (GMT 0)
I used to get sick all the time before I was diagnosed with crohns. Once the Crohns became active I stopped getting colds and regular illnesses. Except there are times when I find I have a flare right after people around me have been sick with things. so I figure my immune system overreacts, keeps me from getting sick and then continues to attack my own body. When I got the flu one year the Crohns got much worse.
Posted 6/27/2012 10:08 PM (GMT 0)
I used to get sick all the time before I was diagnosed with crohns. Once the Crohns became active I stopped getting colds and regular illnesses. Except there are times when I find I have a flare right after people around me have been sick with things. so I figure my immune system overreacts, keeps me from getting sick and then continues to attack my own body. When I got the flu one year the Crohns got much worse.
Posted 6/27/2012 10:16 PM (GMT 0)
i was actually a bit relieved to get a cold this bad again... before i got diagnosed i was a bit curious why i wasn't catching anything... i have 3 kids so it's not like the germs aren't around. while everyone was getting ill this winter i would only get a scratchy throat for a day. i was thinking that my immunity must be so strong.. and then i started worrying about it.. now after being diagnosed, i understand a bit better.

it's funny because it's a debate about the auto-immune thing and crohn's but for those who have it, that's what it feels like at times.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply