Allergies and Eosinophilic Disease...
My three kids all have difffering degrees of food allergies, ranging from true , life threatening, food allergies to simply Lactose Intolerance. What is a true food allergy? It is the body over reacting to a specific food protien with an antibody called an "IGE Antibody" These antibodies attach themselves to cells called "Mast Cells". When the body comes into contact with the food protein the IGE Antibodies push themselves into the mast cells releasing a large amount of Histamine, similar to a balloon filled with ping pong balls being popped. The histamine will cause an Allergic Reaction.
You can find out what and how allergic you are to certain foods by either a Scratch Test or a blood test called a RAST or CAP RAST Test. Both depend on the amount of IGE antibodies in your body.
What is an Eosinophilic Disease? I have heard it called "The mother of all food allergies" because it tops them all. But it isn't a true food allergy, it is much more. Instead of your body reacting to the food protien with an IGE Antibody; it reacts, instead, with a white blood cell called an "Eosinophil". These Eosinophils do not normally reside in the esophogus or gastrointestinal system, but for those with an Eosinophilic disease- they occure in high numbers causing inflamation and damage. While there is inflamation from whatever is causing the reaction, the body will literally react to EVERYTHING. The name of the disease is directed to where the Eosinophils occure I.E. : Eosinophilic Esophogitis (EE) occures in the esophogus, Eosinophilic Gastroenteritis (EGE) occurs in the stomach and small intestines, Eosinophilic Colitis (ECE) occurs in the large intestine and colon.
Because you can't do a normal allergy test to find the offending food protiens or IGE antibodies, finding a suitable diet is often done by trial and error.
Our Story
"C",
My oldest daughter, first had an allergic reaction when she was 15 months old to a peanut butter granola bar. She didn't eat it- she just crumbled it in her hands. Instantly, she started getting hives all over her body. This was quite a new experience and, not sure what was even happening, we called the pediatrician's office and talked to a nurse, who told us to hurry and give her some Benadryl. Only a few months after that she had the same reaction to some scrambled eggs, and we were prescribed 2 Epi-Pen Jr's, and we were sent to get her allergy tested. Today we know she has true IGE allergies to Peanut, Egg, Soy, and Wheat. She is Lactose Intolerant, found by testing her enzymes during an Endoscopy. We did the endoscopy in May of 2010 because of persistent stomach pain and found that she has mild EG. We have been very lucky and have been able to treat her symptoms with a daily antiacid and additionally removing Dairy, Oats, and Sorghum from her diet. She is 9 years old and growing well!
"B"
My second daughter, was a puzzle for so ever long! She is 6. We had her tested for true food allergies when she was 2, after avoiding the top 8 allergens till then, and found she was allergic to "Peanut, Egg, Soy and Dairy". Then as we started to introduce more foods to her diet, her behavior drasticly changed from a happy sweet girl to a girl to was desperatly trying to be happy. I had a lot of people ask me often "what was wrong with her" as if she had autism or was bi-polar. I knew in my heart she simply didn't feel good, and couldn't express that feeling. Having a niece with Cystic Fibrosis and one with Celiac Disease, my little girl was tested for both, and both were negative. Regardless, her stomach pain eased up some when we removed gluten from her diet. We assumed for a while this would help, but it was soon clear that was not the only problem as her stomach pain continued. When she was 4 I tried about every elimination diet possible and recorded in a food journal every morsal that went into her mouth to see if I could find a connection to what she was eating and her pain. Everything hurt! She started to loose weight then and we finally heard from some other sweet allergy moms about Eosinophilic Diseases. We found the best GI in the Houston area and a few months before she turned five we did an endoscopy and she was diagnosed with both EE and severe EGE. After a year of medicine treatments to reduce the inflamation and formula suppplements, she managed to stop loosing weight, but could not gain any weight or height. In October 2010 she had surgery to put in a G-Tube, a feeding tube going directly to her stomach right by her belly button. We only feed her a special hypoallergenic formula that has all the food protiens broken apart down to amino acids called Neocate. This was a hard decision, but she had thrived on it! She has gained a few pounds and is now growing well, with no pain. Eventually she will try one food at a time until she has enough safe foods in her diet to sustain her without the tube.
"T"
My son, and our youngest is "Daddy's eating buddy" because he has all the treats the girls have to avoid, until recently. He started vomiting when has Dairy, with no other symptoms. We took him off of Dairy until we can further get him allergy tested or see if things clear up on their own. Wish us luck!
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