Down Mulberry Lane

Allergy update...

We've determined chocolate to be a huge problem with our daughter, whether with dairy or without, it just triggers something in her to cause her to lose bladder control and she gets so wound up. 

We were eliminating dairy based on the fact that bedwetting is a common sign of dairy allergies.   Also her soy allergy seemed to have lessoned, so we allowed her to have some soy, but not alot.  We were on week 3 of no dairy, no chocolate (with the oops on the chocolate a week ago), and I began to notice that my daughter's eyes were becoming dark... very dark circles under her eyes (allergy eyes).  I was concerned that the soy was enough to set this off.  She also was having increased skin problems... dry cracking skin. 

Yesterday we were at the Mall of America and my daughters got a smoothie and were sharing it with her and I tasted it and instantly realized there was dairy in the smoothie... UGH.  So, since the dirty was done, I allowed her a cheese roll-up from taco bell.  She ate it slowly, didn't finish it all, but did eat it.  So, we are switching gears with the allergy diet test.  We are now eliminating soy totally from her and no chocolate.  And seeing what will happen.  Today... no wets...   The chocolate affects her within an hour or two.  But the dairy she had last evening... nothing... as of yet. 

Problem is, in doing the diet, I found that dairy is MY problem.  Once off the dairy... my stomach aches went away.  I felt more vigor during my day, not so weighed down.  I wasn't crabby all the time.  I ate cheese twice last week and stomach aches... like I had eated way too much... and then my attitude just soured... so hard to not be upset.  Off the dairy, I felt so cheerful.. .and I hadn't felt cheerful like that in a long long time... Funny what a food can do to a person.  I also found out that some people with dairy allergies often have problems eating beef... and since I was 20 years old, when I ate beef, I got just sick.  It was easy to go vegetarian, but I used cheese... my face flared up and we wondered why... I hadn't had acne hardly at all as a teenager, now suddenly I was stricken with it.   Nothing I tried helped it to go away... but not eating dairy... has decreased my acne by 50-75% in just a couple weeks.  UGH!  I wonder why I hadn't figured that out years ago! 

So, now what is the plan?  We are trying no soy, no chocolate for Paige.  With this test, she also put the chocolate thing together and has actually REFUSED candy because she thought it was chocolate (it was those reece's pieces...peanut butter candies).   I was so proud that a 3yo was able to accept it and knew she felt better not eating chocolate to actually refuse to eat it!  Woo Hoo!  gaining ground!  For me, no dairy.  And as main cook of the house... that means dairy will be greatly reduced.  I used to buy 3-5 gallons of milk each week.  The last couple weeks... I buy a half gallon to a gallon each week.  This last time I bought a gallon and it has lasted nearly 10 days!  The girls have even tried the rice, soy and almond milks.  At the moment, I use rice milk for baking, soy for my cereal, and almond milk for dessert milks.  And cashews for creamy gravies/ alternate cheeses. 

Dh said he would handle the allergy much better if it was just the chocolate and not the dairy.  Which is true... one food to eliminate is way easier than two ... or three.  He was trying to scoff my dairy free, and finally asked... it seems that by eliminating it you have a bigger reaction to dairy when you eat it now... why not just eat it all the time... is there any benefit to going dairy free... and when I told him about being less crabby and less tired and less weighed down and my skin was clearing up and ... he sighed and said... well we still have to eat two different meals, then...

For most our married life, I have cooked two separate versions of the same meal... one with meat, one without.  To me doing one with dairy one without... is not any more work than I've done all along... but... I am finding that the girls are liking the without dishes and even Dh doesn't mind them, so I may end up better off, anyways.  I wanted to lower our animal food intake, our dairy intake, and with this trial, we found out that we can eat things without so much dairy.  My food bill has gone down a bit... cheese is soooo expensive!  Milk is SOOOO expensive.  And yes, rice milk and all those others are not cheap, but I don't use them as freely as I did milk... we reduced our intake and did without more than making substitutes. 

Staying away from soy for me is OK.  I may miss the sour cream tofu or other toppings that make the change-over easier, but when I have soy... I want to eat it... I lose control of how much I've eaten... It's a really weird phenomenom, but I noticed it when I made tofu cottage cheese loaf... I just ate it non-stop... for every meal and more than I normally eat.  Craving it.  Craving a food can be a sign of an allergy as well.  When I make a tofu stir-fry... same thing... eat until it is gone... every meal!  Very odd! 

I think really what I am looking at is going soy free and chocolate free for the entire family!  Limiting dairy for most, but eliminating it from my diet... so cheese won't be IN a dish, but rather a topping if chosen to eat it by the others.  (And I won't shred the cheese... so that will limit it to when the others feel like shredding it for all the rest).  I will offer a dairy free alternative that all can eat... and encourage that as I found it cheaper and more economical to make a cashew cheese than to buy real cheese.  Overall, it will help the goals of reducing fat intake, reducing dairy intake (from a health standpoint), and eating more foods naturally, not so many toppings (to help my weight issues!).  Even if the rest of the family doesn't want to admit their dairy issues (I see problems that are common with dairy allergies within each member of the family), we will still be eating less of it, and hopefully overall we will all feel better, not just me and Paige! 

Warmly, ~Melissa

Untitled Comment

12:02 PM, October 17, 2008 .. Posted by JubileeFarm5

Goat milk isn't suppossed to be as high of an allergen as cow milk. Any thoughts on finding a goat milk supplier?