Saturday 14 September 2013

Stealth Cheese Attack

I have a food intolerance.  It isn't an allergy, but I get violent stabbing stomach pains and throw up.  I would rather have an intolerance than an allergy.

Last summer I found that every time I ate cheese I threw up.  It wasn't fun until I worked it out.  Now I avoid cheese.   I have been looking at bear's pizza for his packed lunches with some longing.  I haven't risked it.  However there is some ingredient that I refer to as 'stealth cheese' that gives me exactly the same symptoms, but I don't know what it is.  It is in Haigh's farm pies.  I suspect traces in Asda Diet Cola.  And there seems to be a shedload in Tesco Value Pot Noodles.  I had one for the first time yesterday.

It wasn't the best of timing.  I had deliveries coming out of my ears, there was packing materials and random cauliflowers everywhere, and bear got sent home from school with a wasp sting.  Poor lamb got stung on the forehead and was very unhappy, but very brave.  At one point he was there with an ice pop clasped to his forehead while he sucked on a second one.  It's disappeared by now, of course, but he found it very hard at the time, when he remembered it.  I did my best on the cuddle front, but some of his friends got a bit scared when I caught them pointing a bow and arrow at other kids and got very cross.

So as I was desperately hanging on until DH got home, bear was alternately wailing for sympathy and playing out on the street.  I kept going until five minutes before DH got home and then it hit.  Eventually I managed to sit with bear for the bedtime routine and then crawled into bed and slept from 8pm to 11am.

DH has done loads of clearing up for me, and I am hugely grateful.  bear has been very good.  I am going to take it extremely steady now.  Also get rid of all the Tesco Value Pot Noodles which unfortunately came in a bucket load yesterday via Approved Foods.

4 comments:

Angela said...

I have ALWAYS had the cheese thing, The slightest bit of it in food makes me queasy and has done since I was a small child. A dinner lady made me eat a cheese'n'potato pie once, despite my protestations and I threw up on her foot! Another well meaning friend [intending to prove it was all in my mind] fed me a spiced dish in which she had hidden cheese- and I threw up then.
My Mum got migraines if she ate cheese too. So you are not alone. I am ok with small amounts of cottage cheese, Dairylea, and ricotta. But too much dairy gives me headaches. It is a bit frustrating though [worse when 2 daughters lived at home and were vegetarians - I hate cooking with cheese in case I inadvertently taste it]

sorry to hear you share this one - but hey, it could be worse. What if it were chocolate?! xx

Wannabe Sybil said...

My biggest fears are if the mystery additive that sets me off is either chocolate or gluten - I love my bread! Low fat horlicks gets me as well, and that is a really strong reaction. DH doesn't do cheese well either, so watching bear carefully. DF loves cheese. And the 'it's all in your mind' is sooo irritating. DH got sick on vegan cheese once. May try cottage cheese, though perhaps not today! WS xxx

Morgan said...

It is pure pork with DD14, although she can eat sausages, bacon and pork pies. She cannot stomach a pork chop or roast pork....and weirdly, apple juice comes right back up too, so we don't have that. Seems strange that the two things which affect her are traditionally paired together - pork and apple sauce are a staple roast dinner, aren't they?! DD17 doesn't have these strange afflictions, thank goodness, so it is just me with my wheat and dairy intolerances and DD14 with hers.

Sorry to hear that you are being affected like this - the sooner you can discover the common thread in those foodstuffs, the better, obviously, but it can be very tricky to isolate the exact thing. Good luck xxx

Wannabe Sybil said...

Thank you - it is so strange. But then, no two people are alike. My mother was lactose intolerant, right across the range, some things worse than others. DF seems fine with anything. Uncle is bad with oranges since he had malaria. Commiserations to all sharing this, it makes cooking a dinner 'interesting'. Can't wait until I can comfort eat. WS xxx