Dairy Allergy

So I am allergic to dairy. At first it's like... man! no cheese! But that's really only the beginning... we'll get to that in a second.

I lived with a dairy allergy for years before actually knowing that I had it. Being allergic to dairy doesn't mean you break out into hives, or your throat swells up and you're in the hospital. It means headaches, and not breathing well. Because, if you are allergic than your body simply makes too much mucus in your sinuses when you eat dairy. This leads to a sinus headache for me. For others it may just be a stuffy nose, some to the point that they feel they cannot breathe.

Now being allergic to dairy is very different than being lactose intolerant. When you are lactose intolerant your body does not have the right enzymes, or enough of them, to properly digest the lactose in milk. This causes stomach aches and most often gas. Being allergic means your body doesn't like the specific proteins in dairy, and reacts to them. This means that lactaid and lactose free milk is no use for those allergic.

Dairy allergy is most common in younger children, and they usually grow out of it. But that's not true for everyone. I actually grew into it--around high school. I didn't know what it was because my headaches tend to feed into other things. I'll get a sinus headache that will make my shoulders and jaw tense up, and then it's a sinus and tension headache--but I only thought it was a tension headache so I never thought there was anything wrong with my sinuses.

Now how to test if you are allergic to dairy. You must first cleanse your body of all dairy, then have a lot in one sitting (ie a milkshake!) and see what happens. To cleanse your body of the dairy you simply do not have dairy for 2 weeks straight. I say simply but most do not realize what that entails. You cannot have milk, cheese, ice cream (or cream of any kind), most cakes, most chocolates, or anything containing any kind of dairy. You will need to read the labels on all the foods you eat avoiding anything that has whey, or cream, etc.
Then if after eating your massive milkshake you develop a headache, or stuffy nose, etc. you will know you are allergic to dairy. If you wish to avoid that headache, etc you will need to be careful what you eat from then on in.

I have gotten to the point that I can have small amounts of dairy--like chocolate chip cookies--on rare occasions, but I'll pay the price if I overdo it, so I've learned to be careful.

I hope you do not have a dairy allergy, as it is very annoying in a culture revolving around milk--but if you do, just know it is managable.