My New Fad Diet

Super excited* to start my new diet next week, in which I won’t be eating:

  • Wheat
  • Soy
  • Eggs
  • Dairy
  • Tree Nuts
  • Peanuts
  • Sesame
  • Oranges

Why? Well, that’s a rather lengthy medical post, so I’m putting it behind the break.

I have eosinophilic esophagitis (EE). In people with EE, eosinophils, which are a type of white blood cell, attack the lining of the esophagus, causing it to become inflamed or deformed, resulting in the loss of motility, i.e., food gets stuck in there. In my case, food gets stuck so regularly that I don’t eat anything without a liquid handy to make sure I can flush it down when that happens.

The condition is a fairly recent discovery, and is not well understood. Food allergies appear to be a main cause, but determining the actual allergen is problematic because there is no instantaneous reaction.

In the past, the general course of action to determine the culprit allergen has been to go on a diet that eliminates suspected allergen(s) (based on skin allergy testing). I’ve been on some form of an elimination diet for the last 5 years with no real improvement shown.

However, the most recent research has shown that there is no real correlation between skin allergy test results and the allergens that cause EE. So now I’m going to start a new elimination diet that eliminates most of the allergens that have frequently been linked to EE (my doctor also wanted me to eliminate corn, shellfish, and beef, but I talked him out of those). I’ve got to stay on the diet for 2 months and then get an endoscopy to check for changes in the condition of the esophagus. If the condition has improved, I’ll reintroduce one of the eliminated foods into my diet for two months and get another scope. Rinse. Repeat. The cause can be a combination of more than one allergen, so reintroducing a food and finding a worsened condition does not necessarily identify the only culprit. Obviously, this will result in me becoming well acquainted with the staff at the endoscopy center.

I’m somewhat nervous about this, and not just because I won’t be able to eat pizza. (Oh, I’m sure I’d be able to find a wheat-free, dairy-free, soy-free pizza, but I don’t think I’d want to eat it.) I’m actually nervous about being able to maintain weight on this diet. I’ve been told that people often lose a significant amount, but I really don’t have much to give. I think if I lost more than 10 lbs (4.5 kg) I’d start looking gaunt.

At least I’ll avoid adding 10 lbs of holiday weight this year.

27 Notes/ Hide

  1. medhba said: :-(
  2. monkeyfrog said: Oh man. I’m sorry, that is tough.
  3. mathcat345 said: Good luck with this. It’s tough to eat out when you have to check for egg and all of the other stuff. No mayonnaise (egg), and most baked goods have wheat, eggs, dairy. Try to keep your weight up. Can you drink specialty drinks (Glucerna, Ensure)?
  4. redjeep said: Bummer…
  5. samsplace said: Wow, that’s brutal. Sorry to hear.
  6. do-over said: :( All the suckage.
  7. ungracefulme said: Bodies are dumb. :(
  8. frageelay said: Oh man. I’m so sorry. Do you also have reflux pain with this condition? I’m asking because I have GERD and am allergic to everything and probably have food sensitivities too.
  9. cwj posted this