There is Hope!
Hi, sorry to hear about your heath issues but just wanted to let you know that there are several things you can do to try to shore up your immune system. The first thing is making sure that all relevant diagnoses have been made.
I myself have hypogammaglobulinemia and suffer from autoimmune (and other related) conditions (as well as having had an associated cancer). I suffered from terrible sinusitis and infections for years until it was discovered that I had developed food allergies. It turned out that many of the symptoms, initially, acted as though I had inhalant allergies (i.e, they resulted in lung and sinus issues). It was only when the allergies worsened (and I began having anaphylactic reactions) that the allergies were discovered. Once I omitted the offending foods from my diet, guess what . . . my sinus problems almost disappeared! So, while you will always be prone than others to developing to sinusitis and ensuing infections, if you figure out what is triggering it, you may be able to alleviate the problem greatly.
Additionally, have your doctor run certain tests to make sure that you are not deficient in anything that helps shore up and regulate the immune system, such as Vitamin D. See, e.g., Vitamin D status, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, and the immune system, Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Dec;80(6 Suppl):1717S-20S. I was tested about a year ago and was very, very deficient and supplementation has helped immensely.
Also check to make sure that you do not have any of the related problems (such as Celiac Disease) that can cause malabsorption. One issue with testing is that if you are missing the very immunoglobulin on which a test relies, you will necessarily have a false-negative result on the test. Make sure your doctor is aware of that (very common problem with blood tests for, e.g., is one of the blood tests to check for gluten intolerance measures the IgA response - if you are deficient in IgA that test result will not be reliable).
Finally, a healthy diet, exercise and vitamin supplementation can help greatly. In the end, changes to my diet and proper diagnoses have left me in a situation where I get sick less often than most "normal" people. So, there is hope!
Best of luck!!!!
Hi, sorry to hear about your heath issues but just wanted to let you know that there are several things you can do to try to shore up your immune system. The first thing is making sure that all relevant diagnoses have been made.
I myself have hypogammaglobulinemia and suffer from autoimmune (and other related) conditions (as well as having had an associated cancer). I suffered from terrible sinusitis and infections for years until it was discovered that I had developed food allergies. It turned out that many of the symptoms, initially, acted as though I had inhalant allergies (i.e, they resulted in lung and sinus issues). It was only when the allergies worsened (and I began having anaphylactic reactions) that the allergies were discovered. Once I omitted the offending foods from my diet, guess what . . . my sinus problems almost disappeared! So, while you will always be prone than others to developing to sinusitis and ensuing infections, if you figure out what is triggering it, you may be able to alleviate the problem greatly.
Additionally, have your doctor run certain tests to make sure that you are not deficient in anything that helps shore up and regulate the immune system, such as Vitamin D. See, e.g., Vitamin D status, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, and the immune system, Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Dec;80(6 Suppl):1717S-20S. I was tested about a year ago and was very, very deficient and supplementation has helped immensely.
Also check to make sure that you do not have any of the related problems (such as Celiac Disease) that can cause malabsorption. One issue with testing is that if you are missing the very immunoglobulin on which a test relies, you will necessarily have a false-negative result on the test. Make sure your doctor is aware of that (very common problem with blood tests for, e.g., is one of the blood tests to check for gluten intolerance measures the IgA response - if you are deficient in IgA that test result will not be reliable).
Finally, a healthy diet, exercise and vitamin supplementation can help greatly. In the end, changes to my diet and proper diagnoses have left me in a situation where I get sick less often than most "normal" people. So, there is hope!
Best of luck!!!!
