I was diagnosed with Eosinophilic Esophagitis ten years ago in 2009. I had an endoscopy and colonoscopy at the same time. according to the procedure report there was no physical sign like white spots or red inflammation seen on the scope just seen from the esophagus biopsy.
I had not had any symptoms that I was aware of associated with this problem ever so I didn’t give that diagnosis a second thought. What I didn’t think about then was that for many years as a late teen and young adult I had regular bouts of strep throat and then in my late teens and till my early thirties I always drank a lot of coffee and it had started to feel acidy in my throat and I took regular antacid like Tagamet. I my throat would feel a little funny and would squeeze a bit when I ate bananas that were a little unripe.
I didn’t make any of these connections until recently after I got a simple virus that went into my lungs and then my throat didn’t seem to heal at all and then I started having throat pain and reactions to almost every healthy food I was eating like blueberries, strawberries, hamburger, bean chips, coconut milk. My throat felt like it was on fire and swelling. When I looked in my throat, I could see little white spots at the back of my throat. I honestly didn’t think this was going to go away.
A few months back I wrote a blog about multiple autoimmune syndrome and explained eosinophilic esophagitis. EE or EOE is an allergic inflammatory disease and typically chronic disorder that affects from one to four of every 10,000 people in the United States. It is a recently recognized disease with increasing diagnoses, resulting in part from growing awareness of the condition. https://acaai.org/allergies/types/food-allergies/types-food-allergy/eosinophilic-esophagitis.
The American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology also says that this inflammatory condition likely involves both genetic and environmental causes. It seems that since I was exposed to high levels of mold in 2017 that I’ve had different symptoms where my esophagus spasms like with the mold but also with foods like rice and then after a viral infection.
I went to see a nurse practitioner at my gastroenterologist office and she said I had to try some type of proton pump inhibitor or antacid before she would prescribe any steroid because that is the protocol. She also seemed a little insistent that I get another endoscopy which I don’t want right now as I am still nursing my daughter and don’t plan to stop for several more months which poses a big problem for me with an endoscopy and all the drugs involved in having one which I didn’t want go pass in the breastmilk.
What I ended up doing was removing most foods from diet and I was only eating veggies, chicken, pork, and onions which seemed to be a small problem too but it wasn’t as bad as the fruit so I continued to eat them. The American Academy of Asthma Allergy and Immunology says, “Dietary elimination therapy has been shown to be an effective, drug-free prescription for the treatment of EOE…dietary therapy requires in-depth nutrition assessment and management. Elimination diets are not without risk and may impact nutritional status, eating pleasure, and overall quality of live.” Boy do I feel like that is an understatement. I was so depressed on July 4th this year, 2019. I couldn’t eat anything. My throat swelled from a plain hamburger I ate.
My restricted diet helped but I was concerned about the inflammation I knew was going on and those white dots at the back of my throat. I had heard that CBD oil could help with many different health issues so I decided to try that. I took about 2 pills a day for about 4 days and then I took 6 pills on the 5th day and then overnight I was able to eat everything again without any seeming problem and it seems to have stayed that way now. I am simple blown away by the CBD miracle I experienced with this. I thought for sure I would need a steroid which I would only use after August anyway which was my absolute commitment month to continue breastfeeding until. According to research from the National Institute of Health entitled Cannabidiol as an Emergent Therapeutic Strategy for Lessening the Impact of Inflammation on Oxidative Stress says that, “CBD has been shown to modulate the function of the immune system.” https://www.drperlmutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Cannabidiol-as-an-Emergent-Therapeutic-Strategy-for-Lessening-the-Impact-of-Inflammation-on-Oxidative-Stress.pdf.
Praise the Lord! I am so happy and grateful for this substance and that feel so much better. I cannot tell you how simply awful that EOE is. Do you have an amazing story of healing from CBD oil, please share with us all to spread the hope!