u/Francl27

I found one a couple of weeks ago that I'm allergic to milk (mildly) but I tend to have gastro issues so I'm going dairy-free.

Problem is... I have back issues that make it hard to cook most days. I'm diabetic (well controlled at least), and too much fiber makes me sick (I'm not celiac but I get bloated from oatmeal), and with menopause meat just turns me off (except chicken nuggets, burgers, and chicken breast as long as it's not too dry). Also I get bad heartburn when I eat tomato sauce/soup.

So yeah - I was eating quite a bit of dairy products (breakfast was usually a frozen breakfast sandwich, I had some yogurt or cheese as snack, and a sandwich with cheese at lunch, sour cream or butter on potatoes, for example, or just pasta with cheese/butter when we had some.

This just sucks 😞

When I try to filter for dairy free items, it shows all the cheese sizzli and American cheeses...

I was trying to figure out what I can order without milk and... all the cheeses showed up.

Somehow I don't think it's working.

I had a blood test for allergies two weeks ago and it showed a mild milk allergy (<0.10 is no allergy, I got 0.20. In comparison, my dog allergy is 1.0 and cat is 3.0).

My symptoms are basically just diarrhea (started a few years ago) and it's not consistent (I often have cheese and no diarrhea for 3 days etc). No rash, no tongue tingling etc. I do have chronic post nasal drip, but it's probably from the dog allergy (I have two). I do also have inflammation everywhere with a history of osteoarthritis.

So, in your experience, how seriously should I treat this? I'm still in the denial phase as I love dairy products (mostly cheese snd yogurt), so saying that it's a bummer is an understatement. Egg whites showed at 0.11 so hopefully that means nothing, otherwise I might just cry. I'm not against dairy replacements for some things but I have yet to find a cheese I like, and dairy free stuff is just so much more expensive...

I would really love to hear about everyone's opinion.

I have edema, cysts, and cartilage loss, can't go down the stairs normally or it's like I'm getting stabbed in the knee, but it's "not bad enough for a replacement." For what it's worth, it was my second opinion.

Did PT, shots, gel, did nothing.

Getting an arthroscopy, and the surgeon is considering MACI again... I'm not. It sucked, I'm not going through this again (6 weeks non weight bearing, for only partial relief, as I still get moderate pain at times using stairs/sitting down with my other knee).

I just hate it here.