Anyone out there have food allergies? I never have until now. I've started developing what I believe to be an allergy to milk and/or dairy. I've been lactose intolerant for a number of years now, but through avoidance and minimizing the amount of dairy I eat/drink I've been able to live a completely normal life. But now it seems as though my body is moving beyond simple intolerance and I'm actually becoming allergic to milk/dairy.

Rewind to last summer. My daughter is 2 months old. I start getting a stomach ache every day after eating. At this point in my life cheese plays a large role in my diet. Come on, I live in Wisconsin! Not eating cheese here is a SIN. The stomach aches persist, and sometimes they're bad enough to make me throw up. I go to the doctor and he tells me to take Metamucil every day. I do that and eventually my stomach aches go away.

December: The stomach aches begin to return but they're not persistent.

January: One night I notice my mouth was very itchy. The next morning it was fine. Later that day though the itchiness returned. I didn't know what to do about it so I did nothing. That night though I woke up and my tongue was swollen with hives. I looked online how to cure hives and read that antihistamines are most commonly used to get rid of them. Thankfully I had some Zyrtec in the house because I have summer allergies from mowing the lawn. 30 minutes after taking the Zyrtec my tongue was fine and the itchiness went away.

I go to the doctor to talk about the tongue episode, and while I'm there my head is really red and itchy, but I had just gotten my hair done the night before. We both figured my head was red from the hair dye. We schedule an appointment with an allergist so I can get tested and finally know what I'm allergic to. Appointment isn't until March 9th.

February: The stomach aches are more persistent with vomiting almost once a week. At this point I'm taking Zyrtec every day to keep the hives away. Hives are almost constantly on the under side of my fore arms. If avoidance is key, I've had absolutely no idea what to avoid. I've been trying to think of everything under the sun I could be allergic to: Latex, lotion, soap, aloe, laundry detergent, new clothes. Because my symptoms manifest themselves on my skin, I was thinking in terms of things that contact my skin.

Last weekend: We were visiting my wife's sister's family. My sister-in-law is a cook and so we had a really awesome meal. About 30 minutes after eating, my head started itching. I pulled down the collar of my shirt and saw some hives forming. I took a Zyrtec right away. About 30 minutes later the hives were gone but I had a really bad stomach ache and had to throw up. I completely emptied the contents of my stomach and felt fine.

Tonight we had a breakthrough. My wife made Hamburger Helper. About 30 minutes after eating the same thing started happening. Hives followed by a bad stomach ache. I told my wife I thought I had it narrowed down to foods with milk/dairy, but hamburger helper doesn't have dairy. But wait, IT DOES! My wife told me the recipe calls for a cup of milk! AH HA! So I took a Zyrtec but then spent the next hour throwing up and having severe stomach pains. Now I can't take another pill because I might over dose, but the hives are horrible. This is most definitely the worst allergic reaction I've ever had in my life to anything. My head is on fire, my shoulders are itchy, and I've got red spots over most of my upper body. I took pictures if anyone wants to see :)

Sometimes great discoveries require great sacrifice. Tonight's episode may have been painful at times, and I might have hives for the rest of the night, or until I can take another Zyrtec in about an hour, but now my wife and I finally know what's been going on with me for the last 9 months. I never would have guessed my stomach aches from last summer would tie into hives forming on my tongue. But it's all so clear now, especially after doing some research. My name is Brian Kline, and I have milk allergies.