Featured Image Credit: Inside Edition
Topics: Health, North Carolina, Life
Callum Jones
A woman who has to experience debilitating symptoms every day due to a chronic condition has detailed the impact it has had on her life.
Shelby Edge, 26, from North Carolina, first started experiencing symptoms during middle school, which was the first indication she had eosinophilic esophagitis, or EoE - a condition Shelby told Inside Edition she 'wouldn't wish on her worst enemy'.
"I was sitting at lunch eating spaghetti when it suddenly felt like something was stuck in my throat," she told the outlet. "I thought I was choking and I was freaking out, and there was nothing there."
The horrible experience led to Shelby being 'terrified' to eat for about a month, to the point where she stopped eating altogether. Staff from her school suspected she had an eating disorder, but her symptoms unexpectedly disappeared a month later.
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However, the unexplained symptoms surfaced once more a few years later, and by her early twenties, Shelby's symptoms had become debilitating.
“It felt like something was stuck in my throat 24/7," she recalled. "It didn’t stop for eight months.” She couldn’t eat solid food and quickly lost weight. “Everyone noticed. I looked really sick."
"It’s like your body attacks itself," Shelby added. "Bread, potatoes, meat — all the normal things people eat — feel like they get stuck."
According to Mayo Clinic, eosinophilic esophagitis 'is a chronic immune system disease'. "With this disease, a type of white blood cell, called an eosinophil, builds up in the lining of the tube that connects your mouth to your stomach," the health site adds.
Such buildup is caused by a reaction to foods, allergens, or acid reflux, which can then inflame the oesophagus and lead to some of the unpleasant symptoms Shelby has described.
Symptoms in adults include difficulty swallowing and chest pain that is often centrally located, according to Mayo Clinic. Meanwhile, children with this condition may experience vomiting, abdominal pain, and difficulty eating.
The impact of living with the condition has had a huge impact on Shelby's life, as she explained to Inside Edition: "People don’t understand what it’s like. Imagine being terrified three times a day, every day. The world revolves around food. When you take that away from someone, it’s devastating."
As a result, Shelby frequently avoids eating in public due to embarrassment and tends to stick to soft foods while avoiding dairy and bread, which often trigger her symptoms.