Casein Withdrawal Sucks

Wow, I haven't been here in over a year.

Here I sit, on my couch, laptop on lap, FAT. WAY too fat. It sucks.

Yet, this last year has been hard. A year ago I had no idea what was in store. Well, I had an inkling, but I was hoping for the best. Things haven't gone as planned, and I ended up relying on chocolate and milk products to help manage my stress level. My post pardem depression was pretty bad, and I'm not about to mess with that -- I made a choice to get fat rather than be completely off the wall and an unreliable/depressed parent. While I feel bad about myself due to my weight, better that than feel bad about myself for making my kid feel bad about herself.

Anywho, I'm back now, coming out of the dark (so to speak). Life is still uber-stressful, with several major unresolved issues that I can't do much about except wait, and wait, and pray. So, in the meantime, I'm quitting dairy.

You're what? Where did that come from? It turns out that my now 21-month old baby girl is casein-intolerant. Well, I'm assuming it's casein and not just lactose, because the level of mucus in her system has greatly decreased. In the last 3 weeks off dairy, her colic has gone away and she's more vibrant and smart and active than she's been in months! She had been slowly regressing for a few months, and it'd been so slow I'd rationalized it away, but her turnaround was so fast there's no denying it. My girl can't have milk protein.

....Out of all the diets and ways of eating I've pursued, giving up casein is the one thing I've never done. And they've all *mostly* worked, but eventually I end up back where I am now - fat, confused, and unhappy. Could casein be the key? God, I've said that So many times before! I've been gluten-free for Years now! And yet, I still ended up here.

Casein: There's Something To It
Five days in and there's little doubt in my mind that I am indeed milk-protein intolerant. The intolerance may have helped trigger celiac disease, I don't know. But either I'm going through some kind of withdrawal, or I've got mono. I really doubt it's the latter!

My primary symptom is SLEEPINESS. Like an addict in rehad, all I want to do it sleep All Day Long. It's making this week long and hard because of it. When I do sleep, I am out cold, having crazy (fun!) dreams! Vivid! Adventurous! Almost hallucinagenic! Hallucina-what? That's GOT to be withdrawal.

I've had some headaches and have been slightly itchier than normal. A friend swears the itches are coming (she experienced them when "coming off" casein). But it's been 4, 5 days now. How long is milk withdrawal supposed to last? Just one or two days, I thought. I haven't found much reliable info about it at all, however -- well, not for the health-conscientious adult. I'm not interested in scouring sites for parents of kids on the autism spectrum for information about myself. I'm too dang sleepy, and that's a pain in the butt.

Off to get more sleep....