I'm sorry! That really bites.
My DS6 gets hives all. the. time. He has ultra-reactive skin and seems to have a hive reaction to many, many different things. He does break out in hives because of his food allergies (soy, usually, which he's very allergic to, and wheat, rarely, because he's only mildly allergic and only reacts if he gets lots), but he also gets hives if he's stressed out, over-tired, has a virus (esp. if he has a fever), goes swimming (he's sensitive to chlorine), gets too much sun (even loaded with sunscreen), or gets exposed to regular (read: affordable
) sunscreens (he's allergic to PABA). (Lemmee tell ya', raising a super-fair redhead on the high desert who's allergic to most sunscreens is not an easy thing!)
So, my point is, it's definitely possible that your DS is reacting to several things at once. Or he could just be reacting to corn. (I know, really helpful, huh?). What I've noticed with DS is that, if he gets going with hives, he's likely to have a run of them for awhile, for lots of different causes. When he breaks out in hives, I always clamp down really hard on his diet, but he'll keep getting them for several weeks or months before things calm down for awhile.
FWIW, a daily antihistamine has been great. He has other reasons to take that (asthma that's triggered by pollen/dust/smoke allergies), but it really takes the edge off the hives. I think Claritin syrup is sweetened with sucralose, so maybe that would work? Nobody in my house has a corn allergy, so I've never run up against that problem. I would go talk to a pharmacist about this; they'll know more about inactive ingredients than a doc. Plus, you don't have to convince a pharmacist that your kid is allergic to corn. Just tell him/her that he IS, and they won't question you the way a doc would.
Good luck! I hope you get things figured out and get some relief for your DS very soon.
Oh, and I won't really get started on this because I could go on for days, but I feel you on the corn problem. We have the same issue with soy, and the same reason: they're massively subsidized, so they're in everything. It stinks, but eventually you'll find a few products that you like so you don't have to make every single thing from scratch. I still haven't found any palatable salad dressing so I'm still making my own, but I found spaghetti sauce and bread, so that's a huge help.
My DS6 gets hives all. the. time. He has ultra-reactive skin and seems to have a hive reaction to many, many different things. He does break out in hives because of his food allergies (soy, usually, which he's very allergic to, and wheat, rarely, because he's only mildly allergic and only reacts if he gets lots), but he also gets hives if he's stressed out, over-tired, has a virus (esp. if he has a fever), goes swimming (he's sensitive to chlorine), gets too much sun (even loaded with sunscreen), or gets exposed to regular (read: affordable
) sunscreens (he's allergic to PABA). (Lemmee tell ya', raising a super-fair redhead on the high desert who's allergic to most sunscreens is not an easy thing!)So, my point is, it's definitely possible that your DS is reacting to several things at once. Or he could just be reacting to corn. (I know, really helpful, huh?). What I've noticed with DS is that, if he gets going with hives, he's likely to have a run of them for awhile, for lots of different causes. When he breaks out in hives, I always clamp down really hard on his diet, but he'll keep getting them for several weeks or months before things calm down for awhile.
FWIW, a daily antihistamine has been great. He has other reasons to take that (asthma that's triggered by pollen/dust/smoke allergies), but it really takes the edge off the hives. I think Claritin syrup is sweetened with sucralose, so maybe that would work? Nobody in my house has a corn allergy, so I've never run up against that problem. I would go talk to a pharmacist about this; they'll know more about inactive ingredients than a doc. Plus, you don't have to convince a pharmacist that your kid is allergic to corn. Just tell him/her that he IS, and they won't question you the way a doc would.
Good luck! I hope you get things figured out and get some relief for your DS very soon.
Oh, and I won't really get started on this because I could go on for days, but I feel you on the corn problem. We have the same issue with soy, and the same reason: they're massively subsidized, so they're in everything. It stinks, but eventually you'll find a few products that you like so you don't have to make every single thing from scratch. I still haven't found any palatable salad dressing so I'm still making my own, but I found spaghetti sauce and bread, so that's a huge help.
