Eosinophilic Esophagitis Treatment: Alternative Health

Hi Krissi, Sorry to hear your little one is going through all that. Has he been tested for food sensitivities? Have you tried an elimination diet?

Reading here:

http://allergies.about.com/od/foodallergies/a/ee.htm

...tells me:

"How is EE Diagnosed?
The diagnosis of EE is generally made by performing a biopsy of the esophagus, with evidence of eosinophils infiltrating the esophageal tissue. A biopsy is performed via endoscopy (a camera inserted into the esophagus), usually by a gastroenterologist. There are many other diseases that can cause eosinophils in the tissue of the esophagus, including gastroesopheal reflux disease (GERD), parasitic infections, fungal infections, inflammatory bowel disease, certain cancers, recurrent vomiting, and others. These diseases need to be ruled out before EE can be diagnosed."

Did he have that biopsy done? Was he tested for the things noted above?

Hi, I have a 1.5 year old son who has been struggling with food allergies, vomiting, etc. for the last year. We went to the allergy specialist today and he is pretty certain he has EE. I just wanted to make a note to Krissi above. Read the book Guts and Psychology Syndrome by Natasha Campbell-McBride. My son was developing more and more allergies to food. Basically anything he ate on a regular basis he would develop an allergy to it and start throwing it up every time I tried to give it to him. We were down to about literally 3-4 foods he could eat and I knew it was only a matter of time before he would start reacting to those foods also. Then I found this book and it has been such a blessing to us! We have been following the intro diet (find it on her website) and added the suggested supplements and have seen great progress. His allergies are still very prevalent but so far he has not thrown up in just over a month and I've been able to add some more foods back into his diet. I've read a lot of books and articles on allergies, candida, leaky gut, etc. over the last year and Dr. McBrides has been the most informational and helpful. I do recommend an allergy screening to help you to know what foods to avoid and that could be causing the inflammation. We also tried the NAET route with someone who I felt was a very gifted and qualified practitioner. We did the treatments for about 7 months. However NAET will not take care of the leaky gut and in my son's case he was developing new allergies as we treated the previous ones and then would be okay for a while with a food he was treated for and then start reacting to it all over again. The whole focus of the GAPS diet is healing of the digestive system. It has been the only thing that has helped us in the last year. Also to Kloe above, what were you able to do about your chemical sensitivities? I want to learn more about this as my son also has has MCS. Thanks for all the advice and info!

Before I knew what I had, I was using lemongrass, myrtle and myrrh essential oils to treat what I thought was a thyroid problem. I would rub it on my throat and put it on the bottoms of my feet as well. It helped immensely. I could swallow without discomfort within minutes of doing this. Soon after I found out I had eosinophilic esophagitis. I'm now researching oils specific to Eosinophilic Esophagitis. Next week I plan on starting a daily regimen of myrhh, basil, frankincense and cinnamon along with Manuka honey. A great natural remedy but I can't imagine a 3 year old swallowing it willingly and essential oils aren't always recommended for ingestion for children - but oils on his feet or externally on the esophagus could help.

Hi Kacy, Just wondering if you had any luck in searching how to heal EoE with essential oils. I've been looking into it and haven't found much.

Thanks! Jen

I have recently been diagnosed with EE and would like to find a more holistic treatment than what my Gastroenterologist is prescribing since he seems incapable of answering my questions satisfactorily. He has told me to stop eating fish, eggs, milk, soy, nuts, and wheat. Since i'm mostly vegan i asked him what i should eat and he replied, "i don't know just do what you can" He has prescribed Flovent HFA 220mcg which is an steroid asthma inhaler 2 puffs on my tongue 2x a day. Hoping that the steroid will be then swallowed down to my esophagus. Because one of the side effects of this action is yeast infections i'm supposed to mouthwash with baking soda several times a day. After every 5 or 6 months he wants me to come in for endoscopes. This just isn't really acceptable in my opinion so i'm here looking for some better options. I have done some muscle testing for my allergies but not 100% sure on my results. Seems that I should reduce my soy intake. Would love to hear more detail on how you and others (if there are others) have dealt with this. My Dr said that they have only very recently diagnosed this problem in adults. Thanks!

I wanted to follow up on my original comment up top. While I do believe that NAET still helped, I think now as someone else mentioned, that it was just a temporary patch job. My daughters allergies would have been never ending if we hadn't of found a chiropractor who deals with the whole body through the Brimhall method. They are now in every major city and getting very popular. Anyhow, through our chiropracter we were exposed to the thought of building up my daughter's immunity through food too. We read about that book on gut that was mentioned above, and it made perfect sense.

Lately we realized not only the reason why she got the EE in the first place, (a round of antibiotics in her first year... That made her sick a lot that next year... ) but we found the missing puzzle that further agravated it; grains. Actually, after going grain-free for awhile I realized that the grains weren't the problem, as they had been a healthy part of every culture's diet... It is the methods they are prepared with. In particular, the quick toxic yeast we have has only resently been used as a culture. It use to be wild sourdough starter that we soaked flour with. Come to find out that removed phytic acid and gluten, while adding probiotics and vitamins! All cultured foods would heal the gut, not hurt it... So eat up that batch of sourdough starter pancakes, that sourdough pizza, cake or the like, just make sure it has an 8 hr. soak with wild sourdough starter. (You can get it free online!)

Wow, reading your post is so encouraging! My daughter is 6 and was dx with EE about 10months ago, she is on the top 6 elimination diet. I have found she is deff allergic to soy. I have been researching the GAP diet in hopes of help. Now I think I'll be looking for a chiropractor! Thank you.

What is this? Can I get more info?

Hi Greg, and how is this 'Riboflavin, folic acid' remedy working out for you? I'm the same - proton pump inhibitors don't work for me, and I'm keen to try anything to get rid of my ee.

I am also wondering how the riboflavin is working out? We want to avoid medications for my son and are curious if this is still working for you. Thanks

My 12yo son had mild EE, but serious abdominal pain just left of and below the navel for a few months. He had some lymphoid nodularity in his terminal ileum on colonoscopy. We have him on zinc l-carnosine (polaprezinc) and soy-free diet. He is amazingly better. Try googling zinc and eosinophils or zinc and gastric mucosa to get a better idea of what zinc does. Best of luck.