Can I still become a nurse with a disease

[trew1020]

Hello,

I am a student with hopes of becoming a nurse. I recently found out that I have Celiac Disease which is a immune defficiency. I can not eat wheats nor gluten foods. I am perfectly healthy other than this. Would they deny my application to nursing school because of this?

Thank you in advance!

[rubato, ASN, RN]

Celiac disease is not an immune deficiency. This will not hurt your nursing career in any way. I work with a nurse who has celiac and I would have never known except for her declining to participate in out pizza ordering.

Celiac disease is, in fact, an autoimmune disease. I have it as well as Hashimoto's thyroiditis which is another autoimmune disease. I am in nursing school. Neither of these diseases is spreadable. Neither of these diseases will get worse based on the patient population you are exposed to. They will show up on an antibody test, but this is not the type of test needed for nursing school. I was up front about my thyroid disease during the interview process and found out about Celiac during my 2nd semester of school. I have gotten nothing but support.

[Mandy0728]

How's it an autoimmune disease?

[dt70]

One of my family members has celiac & diabetes.

They wear an auto pump and you would not even notice it.

I'm not sure if nursing requires you to eat certain foods.

Just like being allergic to chocolate . Don't expect to be able to eat deserts given out at gatherings. Make your own and pass it out.

[claritasd]

Yeah, no reason to worry about that. Having celiac isn't going to affect your ability to work with people, and it's certainly not something contagious for you to spread around!

[Alisonisayoshi, LVN]

How's it an autoimmune disease?

Here is the pub med on why

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/16214317/

I have Type 1 diabetes and my daughter has Celiac. My fiancée calls it the house of odd food.

[rubato, ASN, RN]

I'm surprised that people don't know it's autoimmune. Any time your body attacks itself, it's autoimmune. Celiac is not just the inability to tolerate gluten, it's that the body attacks its own intestines, specifically the villi when gluten is ingested. It kind of sucks since I love my gluten, but I have learned to give it up. When I unintentionally (or sometimes intentionally) eat something with gluten, I pay the price.

[Mandy0728]

So it's an autoimmune disease...it's not going to affect her job unless she eats something that she's not supposed to

[amberdawn85]

Just watch your diet so you aren't sick to often. I'm diabetic and it's been tough because of the busy schedule. I find myself wanting the fast easy foods because I'm always on the go. I just need to stop and take time to pre make all my lunches.

[rubato, ASN, RN]

So it's an autoimmune disease...it's not going to affect her job unless she eats something that she's not supposed to

Well, mostly yes. However, when your immune system is out of whack, you can have really bad days where you feel horrible. Trust me, I know. Stress can really trigger things and nursing school is STRESSFUL! So, it will affect her but she can manage it. Make sense?

[Stephalump]

If anything I would say it is a disease of overactive immune reaction. Like others have said, no need to worry about it. Good luck with nursing school![/quote'] Exactly. Not an immunodeficiency (more like a hyperimmunity) and not at an issue that has any affect on nursing school.

[Mandy0728]

Well mostly yes. However, when your immune system is out of whack, you can have really bad days where you feel horrible. Trust me, I know. Stress can really trigger things and nursing school is STRESSFUL! So, it will affect her but she can manage it. Make sense?[/quote']

Very true. I know too, because I have anxiety which has gotten a lot worse recently. It affects a lot and i don't think many people understand how sick it can make you. I hate it so much and I know it'll get worse once I start nursing school.