Boy Can't Eat - Eosinophilic Esophagitis Awareness - NBC Richmond

Imagine having difficulty swallowing every time you eat or never being able to eat solid foods. Most people cant fathom not being able to eat, but 6 year old Justin and his mom Tami of Richmond Virginia (and thousands of others) struggle with food everyday. Since Justin was born he couldnt keep down solid foods and his mom knew something was very wrong. Only after 2 years of meeting with a number of doctors and going through many tests and incorrect diagnoses, did Tami learn Justin had a disease called eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE). EoE is an allergic inflammatory condition of the esophagus that can cause difficulty in swallowing and heartburn, and in severe cases it can lead to food impaction (food getting stuck in the esophagus) and in children, a failure to thrive (poor growth or weight loss). Due to the lack of education of the medical community and the general public of this disorder, it is currently taking patients and families 2 to 4 years of suffering to be able to obtain an accurate diagnosis. EoE is an emerging disease and there has been a dramatic rise in the number of patients diagnosed with EoE. The disorder is believed to have a higher prevalence than well recognized disorders such as Crohns disease. Story includes an interview from Dr. Anne-Marie Irani.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• gastrointestinal
• asthma
• GERD
• Reflux
• Food Allergy
• Food Allergies
• Anne-Marie Irani

[3era8]

Finally someone gave it a name! my son had been suffering with this since he was 17 years old. Now he's 25 and done every test there is and seen many specialists and all diagnosed it as ACID REFLUX when he told them it was NOT. Some doctors even insulted him by saying it's in your head. He's always irritated and have discomfort on his chest, at one point in time we thought he was having heart attack. All they can do is prescribe him with Acid reflux medications.

[carabeanieify]

I got diagnosed a little while ago, they put me on Flovent and it has helped SO much! but this disease pretty much sucks. very much.

[AstronomerAri]

Im 13 and Ive been diagnosed with this for a little over a year. My allergy is oats (i had patch test. If you have a child with this and you dont know what cause it, take them to an allergist and have patch testing done. Its horrible but it tells you what they are allergic to!) and it is hard. I take flovent abd Zantac. Im going in for more allergy testing because of difficulty breathing.

[msdoleta]

My daughter is 33 and has been officially diagnosed for several years. It has been three months since she has had solid food this go round. This story was greatly encouraging to her and for that I am truly grateful. Never give up the fight!

[JennHarris29]

Our official results will be here Friday but our endoscopy yesterday showed my son most likely has EE

[14RacingRocks]

My son age 12 was diagnosed a week ago. Is on Flovent and prilosec. Not sure where we are going from here. He hurts all the time and sometimes refuses to eat. What complicates things is he is also a type 1 diabetic.

[CommanderCoward]

Yeah, now he's probably got to take a corticosteroid which have horrible side affects.

[bdog167]

Also this case can not get you killed obviosly, the food is stuck past ur air vent it just hurts like hell. -_-

[bdog167]

I also have this im 12, im on a diet in which i cant eat the main 8 allergie food groups, on the 17th im getting one group back in lets hope im not allergic to alot, already alerrgic to apples, peaches, and tree nuts. D:

[anmoney93]

I have Eosinophilic Esophagitis too. Im 18, and I only learned that I had it, about 3 years ago. But I've had trouble eating all my life, but my regular family doctor, and parents thought I wasn't chewing up my food good enough. Im on the liquid diet thing now, and I can only eat 5 foods, because Im allergic to 11 foods.(so far)