Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EE)..anyone?

[LoserMomma]

Well, since this thread my user name has changed and my son has been in remission for a year and a half, almost two years. He's 8 now and is growing like a weed. The only thing that was able to get him into remission (and it's called remission because the disease will not go away, you can only manage it and be symptom free) was to pull essentially all possible allergens out of his diet and add them back one at a time. We did a biopsy after each food trial and now we've figured out what the offending foods are. Even if you test positive to a lot of food, you can get some back. It took us almost two years to go through the process with multiple endoscopies, but he can eat enough to sustain his health without the tube feeding formula now.

It's a very frustrating process, but you have to get it under control because if you don't you'll do long term damage. I wish you lots of luck.

 

[Muushka]

LoserMomma, that is great news about your son!

Hello,
I am a 34 year old male, and I was wondering if someone can give me some advice. I was diagnosed with Eosinophilic esophagitis about a year ago after an endoscopy, however, my GI DR. didn't properly explain to me what it was at the time. He basically said it was inflammation from food allergies, and I should get food allergy tested. When I got food allergy tested, It came up I am allergic to Wheat, soy, dairy, tomatoes, chicken, beef, banana, certain nuts, and orange juice. The allergist, who wasn't aware of this condition, basically said the numbers aren't that high, and shouldn't affect me too much. I basically kind of ignored it at the time, and didn't change my diet until the last month, when I have been doing more research on the disease. I have not eliminated most of the allergens from my diet. My question is, other than removing allergens, and swallowed flovent, is there anything out there to help with this condition? Also, is it necessary to remove all allergens, and does the diet change get rid of symptoms. I am concerned I am not getting the proper nutrients with the diet change.
Thanks so much for the help.

Brad

Hi Brad and welcome to the Dis

To answer your question, no, I don't think there is anything else that can be done. I did quite a bit of research back when I was diagnosed and didn't pick up any different advice. It would be nice to be able to take a pill to alleviate the allergic reaction, but I didn't read of any. I do take Benedryl each and every evening, 1.5 tabs (25 mg). If I don't take it, I have a very sore throat. It seems like that should be helping, right?

I'll give your GI doc credit, at least he advised getting the testing done. Mine didn't even recommend that. He just told me to avoid eggs, nuts, and the usual suspects. He did have me do the swallowing Flovent.

The Flovent worked great, but without finding out exactly what I was allergic to, the EE returned.

What I have found (this after 4 years) is that I totally avoid what I am very allergic to. I was 4-5+ allergic to several things and 2-3+ allergic to lots of things. I 'try' to avoid those things.

I ended up doing 3 treatments. About 6 months apart. I feel like I will probably need to do another (Flovent) treatment next year because the cough symptoms seem to be increasing.

EE seems to be not that common in adults. There is an E of E society of sorts that has meetings annually, but it seems to concentrate on children.

As far as your diet, after a while, the things that you eliminate will not seem so bad.

Let me know if that info helped and good luck!