I was reading your 302 Health premiere issue and saw Louise Bolin’s letter on page 6, “From the Creative Director.” I also have eosinophilic esophagitis. It all started when I was around 25 or 26 years old and I had emergency surgery for a perforated gastric/duodenal ulcer—which I didn’t even know about! After I got better, I still needed EGDs (where they put a camera down your throat) to confirm healing. According to my doctor, she couldn’t even get the pediatric scope to go down my throat. Right then and there, they had to crack open my esophagus. (I was lightly sedated and don’t remember it.) She informed me of what happened when the medication wore off and told me of my EE diagnosis. She suggested that I see an allergist, because this condition can appear if/when you eat foods for years, maybe, that you are lightly allergic to. Sounds strange, huh? In my case, they definitely contributed to my EE. I sympathize with you—I also have had trouble swallowing all my life. I can’t eat steak. Every time I ever have, I have choked on it. I have had to stop eating many things I really like. At first, I just only ate these foods every once in a while. However, subsequent EGDs have shown continued narrowing of my esophagus and resulted in more stretching and cracking one side. It’s just not worth it to eat those things.
I hope you continue to work on your fitness and diagnosis. Continue to listen to and follow your doctor’s directions. Oh, and a great allergist is William Geimeier, M.D. Good luck!
Katie Fowler
Middletown