Introduction and a few questions about corn and dairy

*LilaC* · May 2011

Hi! I am so happy they finally created this board!

I have 2 kids, DD will be 5 this summer and DS is 17 months. DS was a preemie and we figured out about his milk protein allergy fairly early on. His main symptoms were congestion, coughing, gas, vomiting and rash. I was EBF, so we cut out all dairy in my diet and his and he started getting better. At around 10 months old, I tried to supplement with formula and he reacted with vomiting and rashes to both the hypoallergenic and soy formulas. Since we know that he is not allergic to soy, his dr said that she thought he was allergic to corn, since "corn syrup solids" is the first ingredient in all 3 of the formulas. We kept the corn issues in the back of our minds and sure enough, anytime he had anything processed (cereal, bread, crackers) he would get a rash and throw up. He is fine when he has special organic cereal and homemade bread.

He hasn't had his allergy testing done yet, but the Children's hospital has his referral. So far, by avoiding dairy and corn he seems to quite well. Our biggest issue is traveling. He is okay when I am home with him and can cook whole foods from scratch, but I have a hard time even knowing what to take for day trips and as I am sure you can relate to, it is nearly impossible for him to eat at a restaurant. I will say that LARABARS were a great discovery for me. He does not react to cashews so it is nice to have a high calorie snack to throw in the diaper bag. Oh and I should mention that he is so small that he is not even on the charts so the high calorie diet is especially important.

I would love to hear your experiences with similar allergies, especially corn, since it seems to be in everything and is not on the usual allergy labels.

Thanks

macchiatto · May 2011

Oh, I hear you. Corn allergies are a PITA! Eating in restaurants is the toughest for sure. We sometimes just have to bring our own food.

In terms of formula, the formula Will tolerated best was Nestle Good Start (they've changed the name but it was the one in the green can). I have another friend whose LO has a corn allergy and she's the one who told me that's one of the few that doesn't have corn syrup solids. I thought Alimentum and Nutramigen didn't either? Guess not, eh? Will didn't have a dairy allergy so I'm not sure what we would have done otherwise!

Quick meals that he could eat in a restaurant (that we brought in) were things like a pita (or crackers, bread, whatever) with hummus--we had a rice bread we fed him until he outgrew the wheat allergy, black or kidney beans (he'd eat those cold or at room temp; we could keep them in a little insulated lunch bag with his sippy), and then of course fruit and veggies, applesauce, etc. Not a lot of options but it was hard to find things that didn't need to be heated up!
Thanks for your response to my post, too, btw!

carlinlp · May 2011

None of my kids are allergic to corn but we have eliminated it from our diets completely. Corn is known to cause inflammation in the body and with the amount of healing going on at our house we had to stop consuming it. About 90% of the corn on the market is also GMO. I've often wondered if those allergic to corn are allergic to the chemicals in the corn or the actual corn itself. My son had a severe vaccine reaction so we have eliminated a lot of inflammatory foods. Corn is so hard to avoid, especially in Texas where we're surrounded by mexican food! We basically eat fresh prepared food, nothing packaged except for rice cakes, daiya rice cheese, lara bars and sunbutter. I'm hopeful that we can add organic, non-gmo corn back in at some point after we've done a lot of healing because it is a huge PITA to avoid it. We have a hard time traveling too with my dd's long list of allergies and find we can only do so if there is either a whole foods or natural grocers located where we are going. Cause otherwise there is just no way to eat out. There are some places we can eat here in Austin but the area is pretty progressive about healthy eating. We tried to travel to Alabama and it was very stressful. I'm traveling with dd to new orleans next week and I'm really worried about what to feed her and how even with a WF near the hotel. I wish we could eat out but it's not possible.

*LilaC* · May 2011

macchiatto:
Oh, I hear you. Corn allergies are a PITA! Eating in restaurants is the toughest for sure. We sometimes just have to bring our own food.
In terms of formula, the formula Will tolerated best was Nestle Good Start (they've changed the name but it was the one in the green can). I have another friend whose LO has a corn allergy and she's the one who told me that's one of the few that doesn't have corn syrup solids. I thought Alimentum and Nutramigen didn't either? Guess not, eh? Will didn't have a dairy allergy so I'm not sure what we would have done otherwise!

Thanks for your response! I still have the formula in my pantry so I checked the labels...Corn syrup is the first ingredient in the Nutramigen, but you are right, I can't see it on the Alimentum label. The ironic thing is that he had the worst reaction to the Alimentum...he projectile vomited immediately after taking a few sips so I never tried again. The Nutramigen affected him as well, but not as quickly. So frustrating!

We have started packing fruit, veggies, beans, bread, cashew butter etc everywhere we go as well. I think the hardest part for DS is watching the rest of us eat normal food in a restaurant. We don't eat out at home, but on a three day trip it is unavoidable!

*LilaC* · May 2011

carlinlp:
None of my kids are allergic to corn but we have eliminated it from our diets completely. Corn is known to cause inflammation in the body and with the amount of healing going on at our house we had to stop consuming it. About 90% of the corn on the market is also GMO. I've often wondered if those allergic to corn are allergic to the chemicals in the corn or the actual corn itself. My son had a severe vaccine reaction so we have eliminated a lot of inflammatory foods. Corn is so hard to avoid, especially in Texas where we're surrounded by mexican food! We basically eat fresh prepared food, nothing packaged except for rice cakes, daiya rice cheese, lara bars and sunbutter. I'm hopeful that we can add organic, non-gmo corn back in at some point after we've done a lot of healing because it is a huge PITA to avoid it. We have a hard time traveling too with my dd's long list of allergies and find we can only do so if there is either a whole foods or natural grocers located where we are going. Cause otherwise there is just no way to eat out. There are some places we can eat here in Austin but the area is pretty progressive about healthy eating. We tried to travel to Alabama and it was very stressful. I'm traveling with dd to new orleans next week and I'm really worried about what to feed her and how even with a WF near the hotel. I wish we could eat out but it's not possible.

Thanks! I have been reading your blog for oh, 4 years now I think. LOL. We were on parenting and the PB together way back in the day, but I had a different name back then. I have been following your son's journey and I just want to say thanks for sharing it on your blogs. I think I remember that you mentioned something about your DD having sensory issues. Do you think that is tied into the allergies/diet at all? Did you know about her allergies before she was tested? My DD who is nearly 5 has really bad sensory issues but as far as I know, doesn't have any allergies, but I was just curious based on some things I have read in books about diet and behavior.

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