So Dairy Is Gone Now...

[MBombardier]

As I mentioned in another thread, I challenged dairy this week. Since going GF, I was so glad that I had been left dairy. I thought I could handle anything--no grains, no soy, no nightshades--as long as I could still eat my cheese. Well, when I went paleo/primal, I stopped eating cheese and in fact, really didn't miss it. Then I decided to eat cheese on my omelet, and cheese on my hamburger. Big mistake. I had a really bad flare that lasted for three days.

So... dairy is gone, not just because I want to, but because I have to. But I am really pretty much okay with that, as long as I am proactive about having protein available. Cheese was always my bail-out when I needed protein fast.

The most astonishing thing is that suddenly, I am smaller, even in my face! I had no idea I was still bloated! That's pretty amazing.

What's annoying is that my husband has been telling me for years that I would feel better if I didn't eat so much cheese. Now he knows he was right... But he's being a gentleman about it.

[jmayk8]

getting rid of dairy was SO hard for me and still is. I was okay with milk bc i never loved it (only on my cereal) but cheese?! Ugh..it's 6:44am right now and just talking about it makes me want some nachos! Good Luck, it is def. for the better
Jenny

[MaggieRedwings]

Hi Maliss,

Well sorry to hear you had to give it up but I totally understand. I thought I was getting away with cheese for a number of years now and in the past 3 months have eliminated it completely. Was really my favorite food but was fooling myself all along thinking I could eat it. Only dairy now is a bit of cream in my coffee in the morning and that seems to be OK.

Love, Maggie

[Deb]

Marliss, I am following your experience with a lot of interest as I'm in the same situation. I tested high for casein but have not had any noticeable
effects (at least that I'm aware of) from continuing to eat it. Cheese is also my favorite and, especially trying to eat low carb, a quick source of protein.

[Zizzle]

getting rid of dairy was SO hard for me and still is. I was okay with milk bc i never loved it (only on my cereal) but cheese?! Ugh..it's 6:44am right now and just talking about it makes me want some nachos!

I'm with Jenny on this. I MISS CHEESE AND YOGURT, badly! The fake, non-soy varieties are simply not worth eating. I miss goat's cheese, french cheeses, yogurt smoothies. Oh man. I've been eating more GF pizzas lately, and boy, do they call for cheese. But instead I add bacon, olives, lots of other meats and vegetables, just to make up for the missing ingredient.

But the instant bloating and battery acid D are just not worth it for me. Milk is also a very pro-inflammatory food, even for those who tolerate it, so just think how healthy you are for avoiding it.

[MBombardier]

You're singing my song, Ziz.

[MBombardier]

My granuloma annulare seems to be fading. It gets angry red, raised, and itchy from time to time, being somewhat less noticeable most of the time. But I noticed today that it is much lighter than it has been. Perhaps this is just the course of the disease, but perhaps it is dairy-related.

[sarkin]

Marliss,

I like to think this is the reward for your sacrifice

Hope you're enjoying your new, post-dairy menu.

Love,
Sara

[Zizzle]

Interesting...my sister has GA too. And IBS, but she doesn't think gluten is a problem for her.

[MotherGrizzly]

I have been on the gluten-free diet for about two weeks and I'm seeing a difference in my flares, etc. I am so sad to give up cheese, though! I have soy sensitivities too, so I am hunting for rice cheese :(

It's great that you are feeling so much better! It makes me feel that eventually, I'll feel better too! :)

[Gabes-Apg]

I feel for you Marliss,

out of the ingredients i have eliminated dairy is the one i miss the most.....
mostly cheese and ice cream

before MC Dx, I had been lactose free for 10 years but still *loved* my coffee as a latte with lactose free milk, and thanks to this board i realise why during that time i was able to tolerate my favouriate cheese, it was matured so there would minimal caesin.

Ice cream / gelati has been a favourite food since childhood, prior to MC most of the decisions in my adult life had been contemplated over a baskin robbins two scoop sundae.

thinking of you as you make adjustments to your eating plan.....

[MBombardier]

Thanks, y'all... It's so nice not to feel alone, especially after getting that question, "Just what DO you eat?" for the 1,000 time.

to all...

[Zizzle]

Marliss,
Check out the apparent links between MC, Hashimoto's, celiac and Granuloma Annulare at this link. Very interesting, especially for my sister, who thinks she's immune to all my problems.

http://www.thedoctorsdoctor.com/diseases/hashimotos.htm

[sarkin]

Z,

Do you feel you've put the brakes on additional autoimmune issues, by eating the diet MC has forced on you? I know it's something you've had an eye on for some time.

I'm wondering this kind of for all of us, but you have done good thinking and reading along these lines.

S

[Zizzle]

Sara,
I thought I had slowed things down, not necessarily putting the breaks on things, but now I'm not so sure. Then again, I'm not on the most perfect diet, just GF/DF/SF and trying to stay on a budget (ha!). During my sunny weekend in Key West, I developed new patches of cutaneous mucinosis, one affecting my whole left forearm. My facial "sunburn" seems to be confined only to the malar rash regions of my face, which I find suspicious. Clearly, I am dealing with some level of photosensitivity, a phenomenon I don't know enough about yet. I mean, sun and Vit D should be good things, so why does my body react badly? I'm beginning to wonder whether my gluten intolerance was caused by my MC via leaky gut, and therefore is not the cause. I believe chronic inflammation is the cause, and I think there is an environmental cause of the inflammation. It may be food, but I'm thinking chemicals, not food proteins. Probably estrogen mimicking chemicals and other endocrine inhibitors. I'm beginning to study adrenal fatigue -- I have nearly all the symptoms of low cortisol. I'm making a doctors appt now too, but not with a GI. I see the MC as a side effect of whatever's really going on. I am most concerned by the alarming numbers of women all around me coming down with related autoimmune conditions. My 4 best friends all have autoimmune diseases, most worse than mine!! I feel like I'm investigating a cancer cluster! Something very terrible is happening to women in their 30's-50's, and I'm dying to understand what it is! I know estrogen is pro inflammatory, and we probably have low androgen levels to counter all the artificial estrogens we are exposed to. It can't all be gluten, something else is fueling this epidemic. The wheat we eat now has been around for a while. I think it is certainly fuel for the fire, but it's not the trigger. I can't decide on either of my 2 hypotheses: 1. We've been exposed to a new chemical in our food or our environment, something introduced in the last 15 years, perhaps related to GMO farming methods? or 2. We are reacting to a lifetime of build-up of toxic chemicals, effects of antibiotic use, etc, and it took 30 years of life or longer for the damage to accrue.

Then again, I think whatever is causing this epidemic in women is also responsible for the growing immune issues among kids, but is it something moms are passing on from their toxic body burden, or is it something new in our environment?

I'm so confused. These questions plague me daily. I'm quickly thinking I need to devote my career to research and activism on these issues.

But please know I don't feel sick. I feel pretty good, minus the infrequent D. But I'm learning about how many autoimmune diseases can be clinically asymptomatic until they are shutting down a vital organ, so I feel I need to be more vigilant.

How's that for a cheerful outlook?