Eosinophilic Esophagitis

[Shredder83]

Here's a bit of different one...anybody tried to apply to the Forces with eosinophilic esophagitis?

Long story short, I was rejected quite some time ago due to an anaphylactic peanut allergy. After a lot of oral immunotherapy, I'm past that one and just about ready to restart the application process, but a side effect of that treatment was EOE. I can see the potential concern being food impaction, but I'm not on medication, not having any symptoms, and no difficulty swallowing.

I plan on seeing this one through for better or worse so not for any "ask the medical staff" replies; I just want to see if anyone on the board has any lived experience with this one.

I'll come back and let everyone know how it went...probably not for a long time, mind you.

 

[medicineman]

I could see how it would put you on a category in that, per guidelines I was perusing, needs specialist follow up annually to biannually, depending on symptoms. As a main common denominator is food allergies, mainstay of management is dietary - which can be a category issue as well - on top of steroids, acid reducing agents and sometimes esophageal dilation if inflammation/scarring require. If it's severe and person ends up on a biologic, again can restrict how far away from skilled/specialist medical care you can be deployed.

I'm going to pop some corn for this one I think...

 

[Jarnhamar]

anaphylactic peanut allergy. After a lot of oral immunotherapy, I'm past that one

How exactly does that work? I'm pretty sure my friend with a peanut allergy starts dying if she sees a peanut. Did you slowly build up an immunity like the guy in Princess Bride did to poison?

 

[calculus]

Here's a bit of different one...anybody tried to apply to the Forces with eosinophilic esophagitis?

Long story short, I was rejected quite some time ago due to an anaphylactic peanut allergy. After a lot of oral immunotherapy, I'm past that one and just about ready to restart the application process, but a side effect of that treatment was EOE. I can see the potential concern being food impaction, but I'm not on medication, not having any symptoms, and no difficulty swallowing.

I plan on seeing this one through for better or worse so not for any "ask the medical staff" replies; I just want to see if anyone on the board has any lived experience with this one.

I'll come back and let everyone know how it went...probably not for a long time, mind you.

If you're lucky, and symptoms come back, it can be usually be mitigated if caught early with a ppi. My daughter had a similar story with nut allergies, and ended up with EOE. She was scoped several times, and had biopsies done, so that diagnosis was confirmed, but because it was caught early before much damage was caused, she was prescribed a very low-dose ppi (Lansoprazole), which reduced the stomach acid and eventually the EOE went away. She does have follow up, but only every 2 years. I guess what I'm trying to say is, sounds like you might be in the same category, and as long as you are followed regularly, it should not interfere with your duties as a CAF member.

What branch are you applying for?

 

[Shredder83]

How exactly does that work? I'm pretty sure my friend with a peanut allergy starts dying if she sees a peanut. Did you slowly build up an immunity like the guy in Princess Bride did to poison?

Inconceivable!! Actually, that's pretty much how it works...a very small amount to start with (usually 3 mg of peanut protein) and increasing the dose every two weeks until you hit 500 mg which is basically the equivalent of two peanuts. Obviously, you do this under supervision of an allergist the first time, just in case something goes sideways as it sounds like it would in your friend's case...

If you're lucky, and symptoms come back, it can be usually be mitigated if caught early with a ppi. My daughter had a similar story with nut allergies, and ended up with EOE. She was scoped several times, and had biopsies done, so that diagnosis was confirmed, but because it was caught early before much damage was caused, she was prescribed a very low-dose ppi (Lansoprazole), which reduced the stomach acid and eventually the EOE went away. She does have follow up, but only every 2 years. I guess what I'm trying to say is, sounds like you might be in the same category, and as long as you are followed regularly, it should not interfere with your duties as a CAF member.

What branch are you applying for?

Interesting - thank you for sharing! Yeah, I'm certain there's going to be a specialist visit and an endoscopy in my future during this process. Hopefully everything still looks good. I'm applying for army reserve Combat Engineer.

 

[medicineman]

How exactly does that work? I'm pretty sure my friend with a peanut allergy starts dying if she sees a peanut. Did you slowly build up an immunity like the guy in Princess Bride did to poison?

Think of getting allergy shots for bee stings or hay fever or whatever...essentially the same thing. In a scenario where we have a patient that has an infection that needs penicillin (as a for instance) and they're allergic to it, there's a rapid, supervised desensitization protocol that can be used so they get the antibiotic...