Tag Archives: adult eosinophilic esophagitis

GI Appointment: New Medication, More Testing

I went to my gastroenterologist today. The appointment’s purpose was to follow-up on my eosinophilic esophagitis, which is actually doing a lot better on the ranitidine and on the rotation diet. I’m hoping it continues to improve as my allergens die off. We have also been working on doing a thorough clean of our house, which we just haven’t gotten a chance to do since we moved in (we do clean, just not a thorough job around the whole house every time). I am going to go see Dr N tomorrow (allergist) and I’m going to ask for specifics on the testing (like what chemical they tested for the “house dust,” even though he only did food he should know), so hopefully I’ll know exactly what I need to know to better control this EoE thing. Right now, not having throat spasms daily and not having choked in months is a plus! A huge plus!

gastroenterology

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The Rest of the Food Allergy Puzzle, Kind Of

On top of the skin testing, Dr N ran some blood panels. One panel was for candida yeast, one was a liver panel that was ordered preemptively because it’s necessary for the candida yeast treatment, and one was to check the likelihood that I could have an anaphylactic allergic reaction. Apparently, candida yeast overgrowth in the esophagus could cause my EoE symptoms.

candida yeast

Yay, cultures. ::sarcastic woot flags::

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Delayed Postings

So, I realized I need to stop apologizing for being late with my posts. There is nothing wrong with providing you guys an explanation, but I can’t keep apologizing. I just don’t need the guilt.

All of you with chronic illnesses understand that life is anything but predictable for us, and sometimes even breathing hurts. Those of you without Chronics understand that life just can get crazy sometimes.

Yesterday (8/31), I wrote up a post. Completely typed in a Word doc. I found photos I wanted to go with it. Then, my pain medication wore off and BAM!!!!! out for the count. So, now that post will get posted a little later today (9/1). Hopefully, my regular blogging schedule will return shortly!

The Four Levels of Food He… Allergies. I Meant Allergies.

food allergy

I recently had an appointment with Dr N to go over the results of my food allergy testing. There are four reaction levels (allergy levels) for the skin test (well, five I suppose if you decide to count “no reaction” as a level): +1, +2, +3, +4. Levels 1 and 2 are not allergies yet, but are definitely sensitivities and are accumulating in your system, while levels 3 and 4 are allergies. All of the allergens are treated similarly: rotation diets. In the discussion that follows, A designates a day where you can have as much of the food as you want, L designates a day where the intake of the food is limited, and X designates a day in which the food needs to be completely eliminated.

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Drumroll Please… The Food Allergy Skin Test Results Are In!

Food Test Title Image

I just got back from doing the skin test for foods. I hate doing these… My ENT office (and now allergist office) first does a scratch test on the inside of your forearms. Then, if you didn’t have a reaction larger than 9mm, they inject the same things right under the skin (intradermal test)… that’s the uncomfortable part.

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The “Allergen Account”, and the Shots to Combat It

Last week I started my allergy shots. Turns out I’ll be doing two shots (one in each arm) once a week for the next, well, probably two to three years. Left arm is always going to be molds, right arm will always be pollens. They’re given in a weird spot though, the back of my upper arm. I’m supposed to monitor the injection site… how am I expected to do that when they’re back there?! It involves sense of touch, mirrors and lots of twisting, I can tell you that much.

Pollen Death

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The Big Allergy Hurrah! Seriously, it’s exciting!!!

I’m going to be getting allergy shots!!! YAY!!!!

So, yeah… if you knew me, you’d realize how crazy that sounds. Well, how crazy the level of excitement is… then again, if you knew me, then you’d also realize why I’m so excited.

For YEARS I have had atrocious allergies. I take three allergy medications a day (currently Nasacort, Singulair, and Xyzal), that all work in different ways… and that isn’t enough! Regularly I need to add Sudafed and Benadryl to the mix. Sometimes, actually usually, even the extra medications aren’t quite enough for people to stop asking me if I’m sick. Luckily, they’ve been slightly better recently, but it’s also not my main allergy season (and Xyzal is stronger than the Claritin I had been taking). Obviously, having allergy symptoms that constantly make people ask if I have a cold has been less than fun.

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My Chronic Illnesses (part 3)

If you’re just starting to read my blog, please read the About Me section, as well as the first and second parts of this summary.

In this part of the summary, we’re going to cover: temporal mandibular joint dysfunction, eosinophilic esophagitis, and lactose intolerance/sensitivity.

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