Lactose Intolerant

CHEESE! Everything tastes better with cheese, doesn't matter what it is. Any and every type of cheese. Gouda? You got it! Pepper jack? Count me in! While we're at it, throw some cheese in with the ramen noodles. Who doesn't love getting cheese dip from a Mexican restaurant? Or adding sour cream to their tacos?

The best breakfast? Cereal! So many flavors to choose from, how could it ever get old? Or how about cookies and milk, who doesn't love the classic combination? Let's not forget dessert: ice cream! Whether you prefer simple vanilla, are a chocolate lover, or like to class it up with one of the 32 flavors from Baskin Robbins, ice cream is a given especially on a hot summer day.

I love anything and everything dairy you can think of, but I always end up regretting it afterwards. Whether I eat my weight in cheese (not literally) or just have a small sip of milk, I find myself running for the bathroom within the hour. It never fails, my stomach gets the rumbles and what goes in must always come out. I have tried the Lactaid pills, they taste like chalk and don't do much good unless you remember to take them BEFORE consuming dairy products. If you wait until after (like I always do because I love dairy so much that the side effects are a mere after thought) the pills are practically useless. Don't even get me started on almond milk. Yuck!

But WHY? Why does something I love so much do such bad things to my health? Maybe dairy products are my addiction*. Maybe it's a curse. I can never truly appreciate any of the best parts of cheese or ice cream or milk, because that pure bliss is always followed by such a overwhelmingly dramatic and negative feeling. A feeling that afterwards I never want to experience again, until the next time when I forget that I'm not supposed to have dairy and it happens all over again. The never ending cycle repeats itself.

What is it like to go out for an ice cream cone and be able to go on about your day uninterrupted? To not throw up almost daily because so many things we eat have dairy hidden in them somewhere? To be able to have milk or cream in your morning coffee and not worry about getting sick from it? I would love to know these feelings.

But I will continue to suffer. My love for all things dairy is so great that it far outweighs the annoying side effects that come with this asinine struggle. Perhaps I will never know the true joy that comes from many satisfying dairy products, but what little satisfaction I do get will have to suffice.

My symptoms from this disorder are minimal. For those who suffer more severely from lactose intolerance, I feel your pain. I know there are some who have to take medication daily, and others who have to be so careful to not eat any dairy at all, not even a little, not even accidentally. I hope it gets better for you. And for those who do not suffer from a milk intolerance? Have an ice cream cone for me!