Eosinophilic Esophagitis and Allergies

Alzheimer's, cardiovascular, and other chronic diseases; biomarkers, lifestyle, supplements, drugs, and health care.
pharmacydoc
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 38
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2017 10:53 am

Eosinophilic Esophagitis and Allergies

Post by pharmacydoc »

I have recently been diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis and am searching for more information. To give you some background, a couple of months ago, I had an anaphylactic reaction to fire ant bites. When I went to my allergist, he found that my tryptase was very high at 25. I also had been having some GI issues (nausea and diarrhea about once or twice a week), and an endoscopy showed eosinophilic esophagitis. I went for allergy skin testing and was amazed that I was allergic to dust mites, mold, and various pollens! However, the food tests were all negative. My allergist told me that food allergies are often a delayed reaction and don't usually register a response.

The allergist recommended an elimination diet but didn't give me more details. He did suggest eliminating dairy especially. However, without another endoscopy, how will I know if the elimination has been effective? The GI problems are not regular and only seem to happen at random times so it has been difficult to tie them to a particular food. I eat yogurt almost every day, so I don't think dairy is a problem. Has anyone been able use the elimination diet to get answers?

BTW, I am APOE 3/4.
User avatar
floramaria
Support Team
Support Team
Posts: 1423
Joined: Tue Jul 04, 2017 11:22 am
Location: Northern New Mexico

Re: Eosinophilic Esophagitis and Allergies

Post by floramaria »

pharmacydoc wrote: The allergist recommended an elimination diet but didn't give me more details. He did suggest eliminating dairy especially.
Hi pharmacydoc, I did an elimination diet many years ago at the suggestion of my naturopathic physician when I was having some gastrointestinal issues. In my case the elimination only confirmed what I already suspected, no food allergies but some sensitive to dairy. The elimination diet could help you to figure out If you have any food allergies and sensitivities. If those turned up, you could then remove them from your diet. As you point out, it would not specifically show you if the dietary changes have been helpful relative to your eosinophilia esophagiitis. If you do a search you will find many websites that provide a list of the foods to be avoided on elimination diet. The general idea is to avoid all of the foods that are commonly associated with food sensitivities or allergic response for a period of several weeks, then gradually re-Introduce the foods, one by one , watching closely to see if you have any reaction to that particular food.
Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach
IFM/ Bredesen Training in Reversing Cognitive Decline (March 2017)
ReCODE 2.0 Health Coach with Apollo Health
pharmacydoc
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 38
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2017 10:53 am

Re: Eosinophilic Esophagitis and Allergies

Post by pharmacydoc »

Hi Floramaria,

Thanks for your quick response. Did you eliminated all of the common allergens at once? Giving up dairy, eggs, soy, corn, and nuts all at once would be difficult, so I'll try stopping one food at a time. I stopped peanut butter last week and already feel better. I'll start with dairy this weekend. Are there any books or resources that you would recommend?

Carolyn
User avatar
Julie G
Mod
Mod
Posts: 9187
Joined: Sat Oct 26, 2013 6:36 pm

Re: Eosinophilic Esophagitis and Allergies

Post by Julie G »

When I went to my allergist, he found that my tryptase was very high at 25.
So sorry that you're dealing with this, Carolyn. It's a great sign that you're already seeing signs of improvement by eliminating peanuts. Given your high tryptase level, I'm wondering if mastocytsosis was ever explored?
User avatar
Tincup
Mod
Mod
Posts: 3558
Joined: Fri Aug 08, 2014 2:57 pm
Location: Front Range, CO

Re: Eosinophilic Esophagitis and Allergies

Post by Tincup »

pharmacydoc wrote: Has anyone been able use the elimination diet to get answers?
Here I recount using Dr. Coca's pulse approach for food sensitivity. In Coca's 1956 book, in a nutshell he suggests taking your pulse before and 30/60/90 minutes after eating (a one minute pulse is better than a instantaneous one from a device as it is an average). If you see >6 BPM difference, you are sensitive. Of course, if you are eating a mixed meal and get a spike, you have to go back and eat things separately to figure it out. I had non subtle spikes of 15-25 BPM. I still wrestle with this today, as am sensitive to many things. When I eat and don't spike my pulse, my HR overnight is much lower and Oura ring sleep scores much better.

I'm a lifelong rhinitis sufferer. Eater per my doc, Gundry, noted an 80% improvement. The pulse testing helped more. Before, I had an average heart rate over night of 63 and when more optimal, 45.. In the last few months, I started doing Wim Hof Breathing (3 rounds of 30 hyperventilation {nasal in my case} breaths followed by a long exhaled breath hold followed by a 15 second inhaled breath hold, repeated 3 times), followed by reduced breathing (per this mp3) to restore adequate CO2 levels after the hyperventilation. Now my nose is clearer than it has ever been. Some of the folks who've seen dramatic improvements with Wim's approach are those with autoimmune conditions. The breathing does bring on a sympathetic response, but this seems to cause a system "reboot." I make an effort to always breathe through my nose, even during HIIT exercise and at 13,000' and at night (I tape my mouth at night) except when I do the deliberate hyperventilation. More on breathing.
Tincup
E3,E4
buck3Maureen
Senior Contributor
Senior Contributor
Posts: 203
Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2016 6:14 pm

Re: Eosinophilic Esophagitis and Allergies

Post by buck3Maureen »

Hi Carolyn,
I had been having gastro problems for over two years spent a whole lot of money on a whole lot of tests and learned nothing. THen I started taking different probiotics. Thought they were working and then back to square one after a day or two. I am vegan so already not eating some of the suspect foods. A couple months ago I decided to take a food sensitivity test offered by life extension. It was expensive - I think about 300 dollars and tested for sensitivity to over 300 foods. I was shocked to find that the one food it said I should avoid was almonds. Everything suddenly made sense since I was using almond flour for more and more foods. I cut it out and suddenly within a week or two I had no more problems. Perhaps the elimination diet would have worked, but I might have cut out all nuts and the only nut I am to avoid is almonds. Well worth it for me.

Good Luck,
Maureen
User avatar
SusanJ
Senior Contributor
Senior Contributor
Posts: 3058
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 7:33 am
Location: Western Colorado

Re: Eosinophilic Esophagitis and Allergies

Post by SusanJ »

pharmacydoc wrote:The allergist recommended an elimination diet but didn't give me more details. He did suggest eliminating dairy especially. However, without another endoscopy, how will I know if the elimination has been effective? The GI problems are not regular and only seem to happen at random times so it has been difficult to tie them to a particular food. I eat yogurt almost every day, so I don't think dairy is a problem. Has anyone been able use the elimination diet to get answers?
I have used an elimination diet a few different times in the last 10 years. If you're looking for guidance, check into the Autoimmune Protocol. It lists food to eliminate (based on the science of which are most allergenic), but also how to reintroduce them to see if they were the problem. It might help you figure out if the food you eliminated was the problem. https://www.thepaleomom.com/start-here/ ... -protocol/

You still might need to play around with the AIP approach. For example, over the years, I've seen many AIP recipes that contain lard, coconut oil, and other high saturated fat ingredients. For me, those will raise my LDL numbers quite high, so I just substitute avocado oil or EVOO.
pharmacydoc
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 38
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2017 10:53 am

Re: Eosinophilic Esophagitis and Allergies

Post by pharmacydoc »

Julie G wrote:
When I went to my allergist, he found that my tryptase was very high at 25.
So sorry that you're dealing with this, Carolyn. It's a great sign that you're already seeing signs of improvement by eliminating peanuts. Given your high tryptase level, I'm wondering if mastocytsosis was ever explored?
I had a bone marrow biopsy last month to rule out mastocytosis. The results showed no evidence of disease even though there was mild reticulin fibrosis and anisopoikilocytosis, which my doctor said was not significant. He wants to re-check the labs in 6 months. So the reason for the high tryptase is unknown.
pharmacydoc
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 38
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2017 10:53 am

Re: Eosinophilic Esophagitis and Allergies

Post by pharmacydoc »

[ A couple months ago I decided to take a food sensitivity test offered by life extension. It was expensive - I think about 300 dollars and tested for sensitivity to over 300 foods. I was shocked to find that the one food it said I should avoid was almonds. Everything suddenly made sense since I was using almond flour for more and more foods. I cut it out and suddenly within a week or two I had no more problems. Perhaps the elimination diet would have worked, but I might have cut out all nuts and the only nut I am to avoid is almonds. Well worth it for me.

Good Luck,
Maureen[/quote]

Thanks for the info. I decided to bite the bullet and order the food sensitivity test. It's actually $ 375 , but worth it to me because some days I suffer so much with nausea and diarrhea. This way, I'll know about more foods that the 6 most common allergenic foods. I suspect that I have more than one sensitivity.
pharmacydoc
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 38
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2017 10:53 am

Re: Eosinophilic Esophagitis and Allergies

Post by pharmacydoc »

I have used an elimination diet a few different times in the last 10 years. If you're looking for guidance, check into the Autoimmune Protocol. It lists food to eliminate (based on the science of which are most allergenic), but also how to reintroduce them to see if they were the problem. It might help you figure out if the food you eliminated was the problem. https://www.thepaleomom.com/start-here/ ... -protocol/

You still might need to play around with the AIP approach. For example, over the years, I've seen many AIP recipes that contain lard, coconut oil, and other high saturated fat ingredients. For me, those will raise my LDL numbers quite high, so I just substitute avocado oil or EVOO.[/quote]

I've looked at the AIP in the past, but it was so restrictive! However, that was before I knew I had eosinophilic esophagitis and GI issues. I'll look at it again.
Post Reply