Does anyone have experience with a corn allergy?

[MommyOfTwo+1]

We had DS1's allergy testing today for when he was breaking out in hives all over a few weeks ago.  He popped for tomato as the worst then corn then orange.  I'm not sure I'm totally buying it, but I'm willing to do an elimination diet to see if anything happens.  He has always been diagnoses with NON-allergic rhinitis because of constant stuffiness but we always tested for environmental, we never tested for food since we really didn't see the need to. 

Could it be that all this time any of those items have been the culprit?

We are going to eliminate tomato and orange first for the next couple of weeks while school is still in then add those back one at a time.  Then when school is over we will try corn elimination and see what happens with that. 

I've started looking for corn free diets but holy cow!!!! Seems like EVERYTHING has corn in it!?!?!?! Anyone dealing with a corn allergy? What does your day to day menu look like? 

[rebekahc]

Yes, unfortunately just about everything has corn in it and it doesn't have to be labeled <sigh>.  I'm sorry I can't be much help with current products since we haven't needed to avoid corn with DS for a few years.  I know our best bets were less processed foods.  Also, since Passover wasn't too long ago, you may have some luck finding Kosher for Passover foods that are corn-free. 

Two sources I found invaluable back in the day:

http://www.vishniac.com/ephraim/corn.html
http://forums.delphiforums.com/n/main.asp?webtag=AvoidingCorn&nav=start&prettyurl=%2FAvoidingCorn%2Fstart%2F

I haven't really looked at either site in years, but I'm guessing they're still a good starting spot.  Many of the people there don't have typical IgE mediated allergies, but even so, they're great sources for finding corn-free products and knowing what to avoid.

[MommyOfTwo+1]

Those are super helpful Rebekahc! Thanks!

I'm starting to gather an "ok to eat" list now so I know what to shop for.  I can already tell there is going to be a lot of baking/freezing to be done for pancakes, waffles, snacks, etc... good thing we aren't starting until he is done with school to give me enough time to prepare!

[Janelle205]

My brother had a corn allergy when he was very young, but has since grown out of it.  However, he only had to avoid major corn ingredients luckily.  I'll be hoping that if corn is a problem for your ds that his situation will be similar.

[MommyOfTwo+1]

Thanks Janelle, that is what I'm hoping for too.  We will do the corn-free diet then add back in the products that contain syrups and stuff like that then try back on actual corn on the cob and and the more obvious and see what happens.  I certainly hope too that if it is it that it will be something he can outgrow!

[YouKnowWho]

It's my understanding that corn is one of those commonly misdiagnosed allergies.  We went through it a few years ago when DS1 tested positive to wheat, rye, barley, oats, rice, corn, eggs, soy, dairy, peanuts and tree nuts (plus a few others that I cannot remember).  False positives often occur with someone who has twitchy skin and higher than usual allergy load.

If it was me - I would start with removing overtly corn based products ie syrup, starch, corn.  And then work your way backwards to removing other products.

Calling to find out if certain products are corn based is enough to make you bang your head.  Been there, done that and still have the dent.

[MommyOfTwo+1]

Yeah I'm really not sold that corn or orange are the issue.  We are going to try it because it won't hurt doing an elimination diet for a bit to see if it makes a difference.  I just can't believe how many products have the high fructose corn syrup in them!! Reading through the websites I see there are over a dozen various terms for corn ingredients.  I think we are going to do what you suggest and stay away from the obvious ones.  Even that in itself may make a small dent in my head! lol

I'm leaning more towards tomato...or I wonder if it was a combo of all them just caused a system overload.  Perhaps we did pizza, then tomato soup, and corn and he has orange juice every morning...maybe he does have an intolerance to all of them but we usually eat them in enough moderation to not cause an obvious reaction, but maybe that week all the stars aligned and his body just had enough.

The dr was a bit concerned when I told her how he had said the hives hurt and were painful more than itchy.  Apparently he has marbling on his skin as well.  I guess the hives and skin marbling can also *possibly* be related to rheumatoid issues.  But she said there are false positive tests on that as well so unless it happens again after we rule out some of the food possibilities then we can try a blood test for that IF the hives happen again out of no where or other symptoms pop up.  DS1 does complain of joint pain sometimes but I honestly always attribute it to growing pain since he is 8 and growing like a weed!