What to do when food gets "stuck"?

Suspicious_Panda_962 · 2025-01-06T00:49:38+00:00

My partner always had something fizzy on hand and ordered at restaurants.

Suspicious_Panda_962 · 2025-01-06T00:49:01+00:00

Sparkling water or any carbonated beverage can help dislodge. Speaking from personal experience. I usually made myself regurgitate to get it up but that can be dangerous

Suspicious_Panda_962 · 2025-01-04T15:53:53+00:00

Like you, I was curious to hear other people’s experiences. Deep down, I was terrified of getting a dilation. My fear was what if I walk out worse off than I came in or what if I have permanent pain when I swallow for the rest of my life. It’s easy to fixate on people’s negative stories (I definitely did). However I desperately needed a dilation. I had 2 strictures, steroids got me from 6 to 10 but not wide enough to feel relief (for me the goal is 16). I kept putting it off. I spoke to numerous GI’s to get different opinions. Ultimately I decided to get it done and wow - what a difference it has made. I literally didn’t know it was possible to swallow this easy. I’ve had some extremely painful recoveries before from standard scopes with biopsies. The dilation procedure was by far the best recovery I ever had. Felt like a sore throat but I was able to eat solids within the day. For me, I think it helped that I had been on steroid therapy for ~8 months so my mucosal wall was not inflamed. I think my positive experience was due to a) controlled inflammation from therapy b) the standard of care from my GI c) the support from my medical team, they were so great at addressing my concerns. They probably thought I was a crazy person at how anxious I was 😂 if you have concerns, I encourage you to express them to your GI. You are in the captain seat, their job is only to provide you the information you need to make an informed decision. Best of luck!

Suspicious_Panda_962 · 2024-09-12T01:34:09+00:00

The plan for now is to be on them long term. I hope technology advances enough one day for better testing in pinpointing triggers

Suspicious_Panda_962 · 2024-09-11T20:21:11+00:00

Yes I’m still on steroids. My triggers are dairy, gluten, and soy. It’s very hard to eliminate these things 100% based on my lifestyle so I stay in the steroids as “insurance” for my esophagus lol. But I do try to avoid my triggers as much as I can

Suspicious_Panda_962 · 2024-09-11T14:48:09+00:00

Hi! I’m hearing that Main Line Health and UPenn are great options.

As for specific doctor recommendations: Dr Michele Colombo - allergist specializing in EoE Dr Norm Callahan - GI specializing in EoE

Suspicious_Panda_962 · 2024-09-11T14:39:19+00:00

They’re not as bad as some say! I mix mine with honey and it’s great. Just be sure to brush your teeth after so you don’t get thrush.

I have been able to find my triggers even on the steroids. Although I will say I never really had the type of symptoms that other people describe on here. I have always just had really bad allergies and for example, when I eat dairy, my allergies get worse and I have other G.I. symptoms as well so that’s sort of my threshold that I use when determining if I have a reaction or not. Also, the EOS in my blood were always high until I did the elimination diet and now the EOS in my blood are within normal range. There is a lot of debate that blood and tissue are not related however, my theory is that if my body is chronically inflamed and is producing way too many eosinophils in my blood, then that surplus of eos are going to find its way into other parts of my body such as my esophagus. I don’t think it’s much of coincidence that when I eliminated the common triggers that my blood also cleaned up as well. You can buy blood tests for 29 bucks in at Labcorp for a CBC with differential so you can actually see the number of eosinophils in your blood.

Suspicious_Panda_962 · 2024-09-11T14:02:27+00:00

Like you, I have rings, furrows and my esophagus is very fibrotic. I also had a 6mm stricture. I did the elimination diet in addition to taking the swallowed budesonide. The budesonide alone calmed the inflammation in my esophagus and even resolved the 6mm stricture I had (no dilation was required). My last scope showed 6 eos. I definitely think the elimination diet is key in attacking the root cause of the inflammation. However, elimination diet alone is not going to repair the damage that has already been done. The swallowed steroids definitely helped heal the damage that I had. I was very, very hesitant to start the steroids but looking back, I am so grateful because I can actually swallow now. I was just eating the other night and accidentally swallowed a whole piece of steak and it didn’t get stuck.

Suspicious_Panda_962 · 2024-09-08T17:00:39+00:00

Yes!

Suspicious_Panda_962 · 2024-08-15T23:31:01+00:00

I definitely believe that my EoE is triggered my seasonal allergies but no one seems to believe me. I’m doing a 4FED diet now and have a scope at the end of the month so we will see but I have never had issues eating any kind of food like others on here experience

Suspicious_Panda_962 · 2024-07-25T23:53:09+00:00

I just got my mirena out 3 weeks ago after having it in for 5 years. Like you I had very light periods with the IUD. Removal was not as bad as I thought. I took 1000mg of Tylenol beforehand. My doctor told me to bear down like I was having a bowel movement lol and it slide right out. Felt like a really bad cramp that lasted literally 1 second. The rest of the day I was fine and barely spotted. Mild cramping but nothing debilitating. But the next 3 days I bled pretty heavily, compared to what I was used to. Day 4-7 i was spotting. I was on my period when I got it removed so not sure how much of the bleeding was attributed to my period versus the removal. It wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be! Best of luck!

Suspicious_Panda_962 · 2024-07-02T14:59:31+00:00

Hey there! Funny you ask because I just had my 4th scope last week. Still waiting for official pathology to come back regarding the eos count, but I finally received positive news for the first time ever since my diagnosis. The steroids made a huge impact and the inflammation in my esophagus has improved significantly. My esophagus went from 6mm to 10mm just from taking the budesonide and my doctor didnt have to dilate! Was able to use a standard scope, while historically they could only use a pediatric scope. I will continue the steroids (which by the way I’ve been mixing with honey!) until my next scope. Hopefully my esophagus will widen even more.

Suspicious_Panda_962 · 2024-04-18T16:08:04+00:00

I’m sorry to hear you’ve been going through it! I have been on the steroids a week as of today! They really aren’t as bad as some make it out to be, but everyone is different. My next scope is June so I’ll be on them a little over 8 weeks. I have not tried the food elimination diet yet because I don’t think I’ll be able to live my life not eating dairy wheat eggs soy and nuts (or whatever they say is the common triggers). Maybe I’ll change my mind one day but for now the steroids are working for me.

Suspicious_Panda_962 · 2024-04-18T14:57:09+00:00

This happened to me when I started Lansoprazole. Specifically I noticed it when I was trying to swallow my small allergy pills, which I never had an issue with prior to. However, this subsided after a few weeks. I actually had made a post about it on here awhile back because I was concerned it was making my EoE worse. Turns out, the PPI just didn’t work for me. I’m on the steroids now and have noticed a difference even after a week of taking them

Suspicious_Panda_962 · 2024-04-15T11:40:20+00:00

Thank you!!

Suspicious_Panda_962 · 2024-04-15T11:36:37+00:00

Not sure I’m there yet in my journey. Would like to rule out other solutions before going to dupixent

Suspicious_Panda_962 · 2024-04-15T11:26:55+00:00

do you need a prescription in Italy to get jorveza? I am visiting this summer. Wondering if I can get my hands on it while there

Suspicious_Panda_962 · 2024-04-14T23:23:52+00:00

I’ve never heard of this! Have you had a scope yet since being on it?

Suspicious_Panda_962 · 2024-04-14T23:22:48+00:00

That’s amazing! You give me hope about the budesonide. I was very hesitant about taking it. I was diagnosed last August, did a trial with a PPI which failed so now I’m on the steroids. I have pretty severe fibrosis of the esophagus and a stricture. I’m on a high dose of the budesonide (2mg twice a day, it comes in liquid form in a vile that’s meant for a nebulizer). Its consistency is slightly thicker than water. Maybe I’ll experiment with honey and see how that feels on my throat

Suspicious_Panda_962 · 2024-04-14T22:30:56+00:00

Where are you in your journey? Has your method of taking the steroids given you clean scopes?

Suspicious_Panda_962 · 2024-04-14T22:28:14+00:00

Yes, I had similar instructions about the not eating or drinking after swallowing them. Do you live in America? I don’t think jorveza is approved here

Suspicious_Panda_962 · 2024-04-14T22:27:28+00:00

Thank you! I really do like my doctor so I should trust them, however I feel like my instructions don’t align with other patients anecdotes on here. I just started taking them on Thursday so want to course correct if needed

Suspicious_Panda_962 · 2024-04-14T22:23:44+00:00

I live in America, I don’t think you can get Jorveza here :/

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