Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE) | Kevin Ghassemi, MD & Nancee Jaffe, MS, RDN | UCLA Health

[@MomsWithRA]

My son has EOE, diagnosed at age 12, clearly an undiagnosed problem since birth. Tried Prevacid as toddler due to frequent projectile vomiting that frequently resulted in pneumonia or bronchiolitis. Only had mild improvement. Took multiple inhalers for asthma, which often caused gastrointestinal issues and ER visits. Age 12, saw gastroenterologist and diagnosed with EOE. Tried 12 food elimination diet, which included the 6 you mentioned. I am very well versed in diet changes and was able to accommodate this without issue. No improvement. Added a few more food eliminations. No improvement. Added Zantac, no improvement. Did not want to try inhalers given previous issues and long term side effects. Went to a 6 week trial of Neocate. Found remission. Started adding 2 foods every 6 weeks with a scope. It is tedious and really hard. Thus far, meats and grains seem to be the biggest triggers (turkey, beef, pork, wheat, oats). His current diet is olive oil, white potatoes, carrots, salad greens, peppers, tomatoes, coconut products (oil, vinegar, sugar, milk, flour), apples, blueberries, strawberries, almonds, cashews, pistachios, pecans, walnuts, simple dairy (milk, butter, cheeses that are only milk, salt, enzyme/culture), chicken, and chicken eggs. Currently working on rice and honey, but suspects rice is not going well. Severe reactions are diarrhea and vomiting and can be eliminated without scope. Milder reactions are caught on scope, but noticing a pattern of worsening seasonal allergy symptoms when on an offending food trial. He is currently 16, almost 17, and trying to get to a diet he can deal with at college.

[@aldizzle]

I strongly recommend a carnivore diet. It is working very well for me in many ways. I use seasoned ground beef.

[@SkylerF]

@@aldizzle I totally agree. Easy to conform to because you simply just eat meat. I'm also on this diet for my EoE. Just did 6 weeks, and waiting on my endoscopy results to see if it helped at all.

[@skp2073]

Who can afford all of these endoscopies? I had one and it cost me over $1K out of pocket. I also have the APOE 4/4 gene variant, and the medication you are recommending can increase my chances of dementia by as much as 44%. Add the 4/4 variant and it’s almost a sure thing. We treat symptoms without having a clear understanding of the root cause… why do some people get EOE and not others? What is the latest research in that regard?

[@juliegoldbeck6431]

Not just the cost of these endoscopies, but the cost of missing work.