2 Months Into Treatment and I Am Sick

Bella--

Very good. Are you cooking with a cold?

Hold your dominion.

Cooking with a cold?

My temp is actually low today...weird.......

Hey Bella that's great news!

Sorry.

I'm sorry you're not feeling well but it sounds like not feeling well is progress.

Congratulations on your illness.

Thanks guys! Yes, catching a cold is a good sign because it means that my immune system is being controlled, which means my illness is being controlled. But like I said, it could be bad if it gets supressed too much.

<ya know - I noticed that I hadn't seen one of your "I'm depressed/angry/crying - how does my husband deal with me" threads in a while - seemed like a good sign>

It is a good sign! I can't believe the changes already taking place in me. It's crazy.

I'm a bit confused... what exactly is a controlled immune system and how does getting sick mean getting better?

And I don't understand how you figure that having an autoimmune process in your body would keep you from getting a cold.

I can understand if you are taking something to tamp your immune system down that you need to watch it with a fever -

but not that having a high titer of antibodies to your thyroid gland would give you antibodies to a cold virus. Maybe it's true and I just haven't read about it.

Graves disease causes your immune system to go haywire. My wbc count was very high and so I just didn't get sick.

Now, my wbc count is normal. And I got sick.

Hmmm... so you have normal WBC now so your immune system isn't working as good as it used to?

I would take some extra Vitamin B, C, and Zinc if I was you. They all help boost your immune system and keep you healthy. Vitamin B is not stored in your body so it is often difficult to get enough in your everyday diet but is an essential element to keep your immune system strong.

Even with a now normal WBC, getting sick is a sign that something is wrong (obviously). Your immune system should be able to fight off a cold within a couple of days and a real good immune system fights it off before you even feel the effects of the virus.

Just my .02 if you are interested.

Because, my level of wbc's was always running very high, so high it was literally off the chart. They didn't even list a number. Lot's of people I've talked with who have Graves describe the same thing. They haven't been sick with a cold or the flu for years.



The drugs I am taking have the potential to shut down my immune system totally and is completely unrelated to the reason I am taking the drugs in the first place. The side effect is rare but can be fatal so at the first sign of a fever I have to have blood drawn to ensure that my immune system is functioning properly on this drug.

Right, in the respect that my immune system was working overtime before and now is functioning "normally".

"The drugs I am taking have the potential to shut down my immune system totally and this reaction is completely unrelated to the reason I am taking the drugs in the first place. "


I went back and read that...I have to correct this.

Still, I am not sure if your anecdotal observations mean that you were protected by your increase in white cells, which I am guessing were primarily an increase in your T-cell lymphocytes and not B-cell lymphocytes.

This happens in a lot of autoimmune diseases, and I haven't heard of it being common for people with untreated autoimmune disease to not have colds - not that I am right, I may be quite wrong. I'm just curious.

Don't know since all the lab said was wbc.

Personally, I despise cooking with a cold--particularly a holiday meal.

To each her own.