The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Elimination Diet
Posted by Lavoras (Chicago, Il) on 12/06/2010
★★★★☆
Hi my son is 4 and was diagnosed 6 months ago with EE. I am a nurse and I am on the pursuit to find the cure, as physicians dont seem to know too much about this disease. When he was born they told me he had GERD and Colic. After many doctors, they went in did a biopsy and voila we now know what it is. We then did the elimination diet, went back in scoped and no eosinophils, great, however 4 weeks after he was vomiting 10-14 x a day.
Currently I took him off prevacid and I am trying the alternative route (chinese medicine). He is back on all foods due to chinese teas including ginger and we have 1 more week, no vomiting for 2 days and then yesterday only 1x. I must exhaust this avenue before I start pumping him up with steroids, etc. We havent gone down the road of a gtube because he is gaining weight. Let me know if I can help in anyway.
Bananas
Posted by Gitmogrunt (Houston, Tx) on 10/28/2010
★★★★★
I suffered with Acid Reflux, hiatal hernia, gastritis, etc. for years, which in the past year turned into esophagatis. Many years of prilosec, nexium, prevacid, etc. Apple cider vinegar did nothing for me. I read your post on banana's and tried them, after dinner, and I have not felt so good in years. I have tried numerous natural remedies, including plantains, and cabbage juicing. The bananas are a great help, although I'm not saying they are the "cure" , they have definitely helped a lot. To the point where I can have a sip of coffee, in between green tea, kefir and yogurt. Daily doses of plain yogurt, not the sugared up stuff, have helped alot also. I could go on, but will cease for now.
Elimination Diet
Posted by Angel (Concord, Nh) on 10/17/2010
My son is almost 3. He was diagnosed with EE over a year ago. Since that time, so much allergy testing has followed. He has many positives including anaphylactic and environmental. A few weeks ago, after being on a limited diet omitting all of the things he tested positive to, he had another scope, only to find that his esophagus is still in tough shape. They are trying one last diet, removing all the common allergens, whether testing positive to it or not. After 6 weeks, another scope will follow. If he doesn't look better, the recommendation and next step from Children's Hospital Boston EE clinic, is to insert a feeding tube and doing an elimination diet, after 2 weeks of oral foods. Has anyone gone this route? Is this scarier for me than it really is? I am looking for input either from parents who have gone this route or parents with children who have the same issues but took other measures. Thanks for all of the information posted so far. Angel
NAET
Posted by Anelec (Indianapolis, In) on 08/17/2010
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!
NAET
Posted by T (Maryland, Usa) on 05/22/2010
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?
NAET
Posted by Krissi M (Washington, Pa) on 05/21/2010
My son's been diagnosed with this condition after about a year of throwing up and gagging. He does appear to have acid reflux because I observe him closely right before an "episode". We still have no idea what causes it in him, aside from the reflux. They've put him on Pulmicort which is a steriod he swallows. I sure do not like this and want something natural as well. Unfortunately, the common cures for acid reflux are things like cayenne pepper and ACV, and he's not quite old enough to take capsules. I'm afraid also that the course of treatment makes one worse before making them better. My son is three so I feel I cannot do this. Hoping someone else has found something.
Bananas
Posted by Ed (Heber City, Ut) on 05/01/2010
★★★★★
When the esophagus is irritated nothing feels good and at night the problem worsens. I tried eating bananas every hour at night it is the only thing that worked. after few days I feel better. I tried all the remedies for four weeks and nothing worked as good as the bananas.
Dietary Changes, Supplements
Posted by Khloe (Fresno, Ca) on 11/09/2009
★★★★★
EOSINOPHILIC ESOPHAGITIS
Try reading about leaky gut. I was diagnosed with EE several years ago after I had a gallbladder surgery, and they overdosed me on antibiotics. Several weeks later, I ended up developing leaky gut syndrome, which I believe is the altrenative medicine's name for the same condition. I could not eat anything without having an allergic reaction, and was down to just lettuce and brown rice and cooked vegetables. The only raw items I was able to eat was lettuce. I also ended up not only being allergic to mostly all food, but became severely chemically sensitive as well. It took me over a year and a half being on probiotics and supplements, mainly Zinc,digestive enzymes, NAC, and l-glutamine to help rebuild my intestines. I also did plenty of colonics and sauna treatments to help detoxify my body. Finding a good naturopath is extremely important. Especially someone who can test you for deficiencies.
When you take antibiotics, it destroys all bacteria, whether good or bad. The good bacteria never have a chance to colonize in the gut unless you replenish by taking probiotics. The bad bacteria end up creating tiny holes in your intestines. When you consume certain foods, the undigested proteins cross the blood barrier through these holes, and cause an allergic reaction.
I currently am on several vitamins and supplements daily, but I am now able to have a wider range of choices to eat from. I recommend also getting an ALCAT test to figure out what foods you may be intolerant to. These foods can be trigger foods, and set you up with a whole host of immune reactions from other seemingly safe foods.
Currently I try to avoid all gluten containing products as well as corn, soy and especially sugar. Try limiting your fruit to only two pieces, and make sure that they are not too sweet. Green apples work well. Get plenty of vitamin D (sunshine, fresh air, and spiritual time, and try to relieve stress through exercise. Stress makes it much worse.
Good Luck.
NAET
Posted by Chad (Atlanta, GA) on 12/12/2008
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!
NAET
Posted by Angela (Tonasket, WA.) on 08/13/2008
★★★★★
An eating disorder only recognized since about 30 years ago is called EE for short. It is way under diagnosed, and often mistaken for acid reflux, and even celiac disease. A simple blood test can diagnose celiac disease, but when that comes back negative, you may need to do a scope of the esophagus to do a eosiniphil count. A lot of doctors don't even watch for an elegated count, or know what it means, but that's EE if it is. Basically it means your body is attacking itself bacause of an allergy causing inflamation. The result is coughing, throwing up some or all foods around the time of ingesting an allergen. When there are many allergens, it can cause malnutrition and even death if they can't figure out what to avoid. Not being a skin allergy, the doctor way of diagnosing is faulty at best. The only way I've found to help and we believe now cure it, is a muscle test to know what the allergy is, and then using a proceedure called NAET to permanently cure the allergy. It could be done at home yourself, but as it's not as likely to succeed without a trained professional. Some are better than others too. We found a chiropractor who has been curing people of allergies and allergy related diseases for 15 years. It's not exactly a home cure, but it's so helped us! With people everywhere still saying that EE is incurable, I just want to get it out there that this has been a life saver. Please pass it on.
