Test myself for milk sensitivity

I’ve recently found a local source for raw goat milk. She (Vickie) lives in a town not far from me, but doesn’t have strong economic ties here. I guess there’s just not a giant demand for raw goat milk yet. It costs about $9 for a half-gallon, so I can see why most people would think of it as an unnecessary expense. Why spend $18 a gallon for milk when other milk is available for $3 a gallon? Obviously only physical or medical necessity could possibly drive such a choice.

I have phoned a woman (Marilyn) who runs a local CSA, that also sells in a local weekly farmer’s market. She has ties to Vickie, and if I’m lucky maybe I can get her to buy some of the goat milk so I can buy it from her.

It’s definitely an investment. But someone once said you’re going to spend the money one way or another… would you rather spend it on nutrition, or at the doctor? Your choice.

I have recently gotten hold of some locally grown raw milk and have tested that against my migraines. So far it is giving me no symptoms! I am hopeful that the live enzymes in the raw milk are helping me digest whatever the element is in national milk that are giving me problems.

Plus, of course, I’m just thrilled to be supporting a local farmer. Her name is Karen Olson, and she keeps three rescued Holstien cows that had been mistreated in the national dairy system. She nursed them back to health on her farm with good pasture and good care. Now they look like the picture of health! There is something truly special about meeting the source of your food, and knowing it is wholesome and cruelty-free.

It seems goat milk does not give me the same reaction that cow’s milk does. Day before yesterday I drank about a quart of goat’s milk, and waited for the results… and nothing! I feel fine.

Honestly I have a bit of headache this morning, but I think that is just normal morning grogginess and aches from sleeping on the couch. I’ve had the same feeling every morning for a month, even when I consume no dairy at all.

So now I know if I’m really jonesing for milk I can have goat milk. Which means I can probably also have goat cheese. And goat kefir!

It’s much more expensive than cow milk, though. The cost alone will keep me limited. But at least now I know I may someday have pizza again. :D

I realized recently that I don’t know yet whether I’m as sensitive to goat’s milk as I am to cow milk. I look forward to trying some soon! I hope I will have a good experience. It will be very comforting to have some kind of cheese I could put on a pizza or something, and maybe even milk to just drink again.

I don’t know if it will work. I did find a lead, though, on a source of local raw goat milk. I will keep my fingers crossed for good luck.

Probably it will be easier to test if I just buy some commercial goat milk or goat cheese from Fred Meyer. After that I can expand my testing to include the Hansville dairy. Buying from them would take extra work on my part, but would be worth it in general just to know I’m supporting my local farmer.

Other than that, I still need to look into almond or rice milk, to see if I like either one of those on my cereal.

I have already proved to myself that milk induces headaches. But that’s not enough. Oh, no. Because I still LOVE milk! I want it, even though it’s poisonous to me. It doesn’t give me headaches until the next day, and before then I tend to overindulge, because TODAY milk tastes so nice!

But today is yesterday’s tomorrow. And I have a headache. Ouch. I only had maybe 12 ounces of milk total, throughout the day. Other days I’ve indulged a bit and not ended up in pain. So now I know the upper limit is somewhere less than 12 oz.

Tylenol this morning barely touched my pain. I also took caffeine and that did nothing except make me stop yawning. Now I’m going to go try antihistimines and see if that helps. The pain is on the top of my scalp, not in my sinuses, so I wouldn’t think it would work, but who knows? Better to try than just to suffer and do nothing.

This milk sensitivity experiment seems to have shown some results. I’m not 100% convinced yet, but I’m more sure than not. It seems that milk does contribute to my headaches. Days I’ve gone without milk seem to be days I suffer much less headaches. Days when I indulge in milk much, I can almost guarantee a lot of pain.

It seems I can tolerate a certain amount of milk without pain. Not sure what the cutoff is. I can nibble a little cheese, or have some butter, or even eat ice cream. But if I drink a whole glass of milk I am risking pain. I can eat a slice of pizza. Maybe even two. But not lots of pizza AND milk AND ice cream. I have to stay moderate.

I’m not thrilled to give up milk. I’ve always loved the taste, and it does seem comforting. Soy milk is a good substitute for the creamy flavor, but it lacks something in the comfort. Also, I’ve heard a lot of warnings about the indigestibility of unfermented soy products. Soy milk doesn’t even culture when you add kefir grains to it, so that raises red flags for me too. Food OUGHT to be able to breed good bacteria, or else how can it be broken down and used in our systems?

More testing is called for.

I slipped slightly a few times, but only in so far as to indulge in maybe a pat of butter or something (I never remembered to buy margarine). But I didn’t even slip up that much most days, so I think I can call this milk fast successful.

I’m finding that my harsh craving for milk went away after a while. I got soy milk to substitute for my wish to drink something cold, sweet, and creamy. That did a good job of tiding me over. Plus I got a nasty cold which is an obvious disincentive to indulge in ANY dairy, because of the added congestion it would cause.

I’m to the point now where drinking glasses of water feels good. It made me whine before because I missed having flavor in my drinks, but now I’m able to drink quarts of it per day without feeling sad about it.

I forgot what I’m supposed to do now that my two weeks is up. I know I’m supposed to introduce milk products very slowly and tentatively, watching out for any reaction. I guess I’ll start that tomorrow.

Doing without dairy foods hasn’t been so hard this time.

Having soy milk available has made a big difference. I can resist other forms of dairy snacking pretty well. (most of the time)

I’ll confess I haven’t been 100% dairy-free though. Since last Sunday there have been two or three times when a little shredded cheese ended up in something I was eating before I realized it. I’m not sure if that invalidates my dairy fast or not. Technically I guess it did, but in reality I know I’m consuming a scant fraction of how much dairy I’d been having up until this week. So I think it still counts.

Not sure if this is an actual result of the dairy fast or not, but I have noticed that this week I haven’t suffered much from headaches. That’s not conclusive yet, since I have had plenty of weeks before with similarly light pain loads. But the coincidence is noted this week. We’ll see if that continues.

I am depressed. Literally. I am having a rough time thinking positive thoughts and feeling good about myself this week, or even moving sometimes. I don’t know if that’s connected in any way, because I’d been feeling lethargic and having trouble moving for the past month or more. Perhaps if dairy is an opiate, then withdrawal from that “support” may account for some of my depression. It’s always tricky to try to find a cause for depression, because some things may appear to be related just because you’re finally noticing they happen near each other. But they might not really be causal at all. Again, needs more observation and testing.

Except for margarine. Shucks.

But mostly I’m good now. I’ll start a new 14-day dairy fast tomorrow. Sunday is a good day for starting anything that will last a matter of weeks.

I was proud of how relatively strong I felt today. Maybe it was the dairy fast, finally kicking in? Dunno. Do know that I’m pleased as punch not to feel like glutinous slug gravy. I forgot what it was like to have energy to go shopping, and then STILL be able to put groceries away, and BONUS was even able to cook dinner with my son!

So that was all a very positive day.

I haven’t been able to make it to the store yet. I have to start eating cheese and milk again, because there’s nothing left in the house to eat that I can think of that’s non-dairy.

I didn’t really plan this well, and just jumped in.

I need to buy some soy milk, and some margarine, and many more fruits and vegetables and lots of other stuff. This is not easy for me, and I really do have to put some planning ahead to make it work.

FWIW, though, I did make it three days without dairy.

I’ll get back on the test after I stock up.