Diagnosed yesterday
I was diagnosed yesterday after a follow up with my GP and honestly left the appointment feeling a bit overwhelmed and still kind of confused about what EOE actually is. The way it was explained made it sound like PPIs or steroids long term were basically the only options.
When I got home I ended up googling and reading through posts here to understand it better. I don’t really have the more “classic” symptoms like choking on food or impaction. I originally had a colonoscopy and gastroscopy because I was having nausea, gas with bad chest pain, chronic constipation, and this weird fullness/tight feeling in my throat. I always thought the throat thing was maybe my tonsils because one doctor said my throat constantly looked infected, so now I’m wondering if the EOE explains that too. I was really surprised by the diagnosis, especially paired with gastritis in the antrum.
I tried PPIs a couple of months ago and they didn’t do much except make the nausea worse and I felt less horrible off them. They’ve now givem me Rabeprazole to try instead and mentioned steroids if this one doesn’t work or i feel worse.
What surprised me most was diet wasn’t even mentioned in the appointment as something to look at or to go back to the Gastroenterologist. From what I’ve read since, it seems like food triggers can play a pretty big role. I’d much rather try to manage this through diet before jumping straight into long term medication if possible. If I was having major impaction issues I’d probably feel differently, but I’m not there yet.
I wanted to ask how people here approached elimination diets/testing. I’m mostly plant based but do eat eggs and some dairy, so I was thinking maybe starting with dairy and wheat first since that would be the least painful change for me, then moving to soy, nuts and eggs if needed. I already avoid fish and shellfish because they’re known allergens for me.
A few questions:
- If you did an elimination diet, did you still take PPIs/steroids during it or does that interfere with figuring out triggers/re testing?
- Did you do a step up approach or full elimination then add foods back one by one?
- Did you work just with your gastroenterologist or also a dietitian/allergist?
- Did anyone end up finding a trigger outside the common food groups?
- Overall what was your experience like?
Thank you for sharing 💜☺️