To really know the Edwards family and our lives, we have to dive head first into our allergy experience. Food allergy parents understand that one little diagnosis changes your way of living. We are fortunate to not have multiple food allergies, but we have an allergy to what I would consider, one of the most insidious foods in the American diet and lifestyle: Corn.
Our journey with food allergies is a long one. So, let’s start at the very beginning. After all, as they say, it’s a very good place to start. (Disclaimer: None of this is meant to be used as medical advice. It is merely the story of our trek through discovering food allergies)
We first started this allergy journey when we moved back to the US from Germany. We noticed a HUGE change in our, already, spirited then-4-year-old, Josiah. He has always been an intense child. He has never done anything halfway. He has been 0 to 60 his entire life. Whether that was in his tantrums and meltdowns or in his big bear hugs and squeezes. He lives life BIG. When we moved to the States from Germany (where he was born) he became even more intense. He was now going 0 to 100 in .2 seconds flat. His emotions were literally out of his control. He had even less impulse control than the small amount he had before. He acted as if he was in a constant state of pain. You know that pain your toddler has but can’t express to you so they just hit and scream and cry all the time? That’s how we lived for months. It’s hard to put it into words, but we literally could not recognize the ball of emotions and anger our 4 year old had become. We assumed it was the stress of moving from the only home he had ever known…and not just a small move, a transatlantic move.
Then, we spent a weekend at a family friends’ house. They avoid artificial dyes in their foods. Magically, Josiah had an amazing weekend. His emotions were more regulated. He wasn’t hitting his siblings, cousins, or friends. He played and smiled and had fun. My brother-in-law, Michael, pointed out the difference in our friends’ diet. It hadn’t even dawned on me that the diet change from Germany to the US could have an effect on us beyond the obvious of less beer and Schnitzel. So, desperate to try anything, we decided to cut artificial food dyes and see what happened. Slowly, we started to see our Josiah resurface. We still had super intense moments. We still had meltdowns that could rival any nuclear reactor. But, we saw glimpses of the child we knew peek through the fog. We had slivers of hope and could finally see a small light at the end of the tunnel.
After a few months, we started seeing less of our Josiah through the emotions and meltdowns, so we went back to ingredient labels and started tracking his foods and behavior. We narrowed it down to high fructose corn syrup being the culprit. So, then, we cut that too. Again, we saw more and more of the child we knew in Germany coming back to us. We knew we were on the right track. Every few months, we had to reevaluate his diet and the ingredients he was consuming. And every time we cut a new ingredient, we saw more of our precious child emerge through the mess.
The list of ingredients we had cut out of his diet was snowballing and seemed endless. In 3 years of slowly weeding out ingredients, we had eliminated all artificial food dyes, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, dextrose, maltodextrin, fructose, glucose, sucralose, molasses, and xylitol. We were baffled as to how all these ingredients were related. We just assumed that it was a processed sugar issue and did everything we could to only consume cane sugar in any food items. It wasn’t until our friend, Shannon, (the same friend who avoids artificial food dyes) mentioned that she saw a post on social media that suggested all those items were corn-related ingredients. Surely, that can’t be. Josiah eats corn on the cob and corn tortillas, he can’t be allergic to corn…can he?
I jumped over to good ol’ trusty Google and dove into a rabbit hole of corn derivatives and ingredients. The amount of information on corn in the American diet was overwhelming and had my head spinning. All of the ingredients we had proven that Josiah was reactive to were, in fact, somehow related to corn. Were we overlooking reactions when he ate actual corn? The next time we had chips and salsa, we decided to really pay attention. We only allowed him one small corn chip, just in case. Within 15 minutes he had a rash on his face.
At this point, Josiah was 7 years old and was much more able to communicate with us what he was feeling in his body. He was finally able to explain what happened when he had foods that his body couldn’t handle. He described intense headaches, stomach cramps, feeling flush, and nausea (well, this explains that 4 year old ball of anger…who wouldn’t lash out while suffering from these things constantly?!?). These were also accompanied by symptoms we could clearly discern: diarrhea, restless sleep, and, now, hives.
Our pediatricians had always been aware of the foods we avoided and the rationale behind it. They were always on board, but never had any additional advice or input. After finally feeling like we had narrowed down the source of the reactions, we went to the pediatrician armed with the corn derivative list and a food journal that explained, in detail, every ingredient he consumed and reactions he had to each. We walked away with a referral to a pediatric allergy specialist. I called to set up the appointment…and had to wait 3 months for the next available appointment.
While we waited, I started researching more and more. If there’s one thing you should know about me, it’s that I need an abundance of information on any topic. I am never in the camp of “that’s too much info.” So, when I started researching, I really mean, I became consumed. I found a facebook group of people allergic to corn who shared their experiences. I stumbled upon a blog called “The Corn Allergy Girl” that was filled with lots of invaluable information. Jason and I spent hours pouring over food labels in the grocery store only to realize there was merely a handful of items that didn’t include corn in some way shape or form. I learned how to make homemade bread. We started cleaning out our cabinets and our fridge. We started eating more fresh foods and less packaged snacks. We eliminated all forms of obvious corn and significantly cut down on corn derivatives. All the while, we saw continuous improvements in Josiah. He was now able to focus on schoolwork without fifty thousand (this does not even feel like an exaggeration) redirections. He would get his chores done without a meltdown. He was cooperating with his siblings more often. He was becoming a brand new child.
When we finally arrived at the allergist appointment, we were ready. We had an arsenal of evidence. We had a food journal and pictures of reactions. We had heard that a corn allergy was a tough one to diagnose and that many allergists didn’t understand it and some even dismissed it. So we walked in ready to explain all the information we had gathered and experienced. We were lucky enough to not have to fight to be heard. The allergist diagnosed Josiah’s corn allergy based on the food journal and a skin test. We left his office with the instructions to avoid corn and follow up in a year. Little did we know that this was just the tip of the iceberg in our corn allergy journey. See our post-diagnosis journey in next week’s post.
Abundantly Blessed Life 
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