Saturday 27 September 2008

Got Milk?


It's been a while, but since some of you emailed me at the time asking me to keep you up to date, I thought I'd take a moment to update you on my (much better, thank you!) stomach situation.

So apparently, for whatever reason, I have developed an allergy? intolerance? to milk protein. Which, really.... what? (Plus, as an added bonus, if you google "milk protein allergy" you'll find out that almost all of the sites talk about infants. Of which I am not one. I promise!*)

But whatever the medical reasons, since I've been steering clear of milk and cheese (sob) things have been so much better. Whew. I've substituted with goat's milk, when necessary (tea!) but even that has its limits. I've also discovered that I can tolerate small doses of milk (say, the amount found in chocolate, WOO HOOO!) but that, most other things (for example, the bowl of Mac and Cheese I just had) makes the imaginary knives stab themselves into my stomach (boo!)

So long story short, for those of you who were interested (wait, is anyone else still reading?) or those of you who might be dealing with your own strange stomach pains, I'm not lactose intolerant, but I can't have dairy. (Well, if you want to get technical, I can, but um... ow) And while getting tons of negative results back from tests was frustrating, it was also important to know that there wasn't anything serious going on in my body. And last but not least, I did a lot of my own research and asked my doctor to send me to an allergist once I started to suspect it was some kind of food allergy.

Oh, and I'm supposed to stay away from sulphites too. But that's a whole other blog post. One which I'll never write, because.... booooooooring!

Oh, and, I have to make sure I take my calcium to make up for all the calcium I'm not getting from milk. And yogurt. And ice cream. And whipped cream. And cheese. Especially melty cheese on the top of a hot pizza.

Nuts. Now I've made myself hungry.

So there you go. A completely unasked for update on something that probably doesn't mean much to anyone but me. But, hey, at least it included some advice. From me! A single girl.

(Gotta live up to my moniker, you know. )


*Although, what kind of a prodigy genius child would I be if I was an infant and all able to type (fairly) coherent sentences, eh?

10 comments:

Aleks said...

Still reading, don't worry.

Laura said...

Well, I'm so glad you figured out what the problem was! The guy I've been dating has the same issue, so he avoids ALL dairy - butter, milk, cheese, yogurt, goat's milk and goat's cheese etc. I have to really think when I cook for him but it's been a good eye-opening experience for me to realize how much dairy I consume! Have you tried almond milk or rice milk? I really like almond milk and you can use it in baking so that you can still eat lots of the same foods you liked before...

Likalia said...

I feel for you hun, I know I have some kind of food intolerances but I refuse to get tested and then told I can't eat the foods I love so for now I suffer. Maybe one day I'll be a grown up and remedy the situation. :)

GF Girl said...

There are lots of great soy sources out there for those wonderful things. I realize they aren't quite the same but Nutra whip works okay as whipping cream, soy cheese like Tofuti are decent for melting and Silk soymilk is actually good, they even a have a Silk soy creamer for your tea. I understand the stabbing feeling, so I guess I feel your pain. On a side note lactose intolerance actually increases with age, granted that's not this case, but a little side note.

Take care

Ms Behaviour said...

I have developed an intolerance to eggs late in life. It truly sucks. Bananas too, apparently. So what exactly is it about dairy that you're allergic to? The lactose-free stuff is out, I take it? Mac and cheese used to make me very miserable but I've discovered that substituting lactose-free chocolate milk helps a LOT!

Ms Behaviour said...

Also, my gastro-enterologist boosted my bran intake (3 tablespoons of wheat bran every single freakin' day). It's a huge drag but I've discovered that the bran really helps to moderate the symptoms (pain, nausea, gas, etc) when I accidentally ingest eggs and/or dairy when I eat at someone's house and they neglect to tell me they have used those particular ingredients.

Ms Behaviour said...

I came back to see if you had posted a response to my comment and WTF chocolate milk in my mac n cheese? Man I was drunk last night!

Victoria said...

Alex, glad to hear you kept on reading :)

Laura, I'm glad it's been figured out too! (And I smile when you talk about the guy you've been dating!) Yeah, I should really be avoiding all dairy, so high five your guy for me, he can be my role model! And it's true, we do eat a lot of dairy and don't even know it :) I have tried almond and rice and I like the almond stuff too! The only time I don't like it is when I'm drinking it in something like tea or with Cheerios :) Good to know I can cook with it though, thanks for that tip!

Likalia, I hear you on not wanting to get told you can't! ;)

Jenn, I've tried the soy stuff and it's ok, but I'm not supposed to take soy cuz I've got a thyroid problem and soy interrupts the uptake of thyroxin. Crazy eh? (I do like the idea of the creamer though, that might be worth a try!)
:)

EB, I was away this weekend so I didn't get to your comments til now. I'm giggling though, because I probably wouldn't have noticed the "chocolate" part until you mentioned it and now it's the funniest thing. Except if you actually imagine how it would taste it would be grooooooossssssss! :)
I've made some drunken comments myself, but yours were good!
And, yes, the lactose free stuff is out because I'm not good with the protein of the milk, not the lactose. (Huh?)
And I have a meeting with a gastro-enterologist eventually so I wonder what he/she'll say :)
Hope you're not hungover or anything :D

Yvonne said...

aw, that sucks! ;(

I have yet to find a non-dairy cheese substitute that isn't disgusting. I'm assuming goat's milk cheese would be okay for you? I think there's a Saltspring Island company that makes mainstream cheeses (eg, cheddar etc.) but with goat's milk.

I don't mind a soy latte now and then but it just isn't the same as a "regular" one!

Victoria said...

There's a ton of "regular" goat's milk cheeses out, so yay for that!

But yes, sometimes nothing matches good ol fashioned milk!