I have been eight days vegan. And honestly, you would think I just stepped out of (or into) a mental hospital! I am lethargic, mood swingy worse than I was when they thought I had BP, and just so tense and edgy all the time I thought I was going crazy! I have found the answer to my question, and that is that I was having BAD dairy withdrawal.
I have an allergy to dairy which causes me to double over in pain and have gut issues if I ingest milk, cheese, or other dairy products. It never stopped me though, I ate tons. of. cheese. I am embarrassed a little bit to say how much cheese I ate. My sister is a picky eater (she is the more severely autistic of the two of us), and one of the things she eats en masse is cheese. And my mom does not grocery shop often so cheese was a way of life for me. When I was really chunky I used to eat 12-14 slices of cheese a day plus whatever was making its way into my food. I literally could not get enough of it! And my gut began flaring up so bad I was afraid I was going to destroy my GI tract if I continued. So, I gave it up completely cold turkey. :-)
For those of you who don't know about casein and casomorphins, here is a short explanation that is not overly scientific. Cows milk contains casein, a protein which breaks down in baby cow's tummy as casomorphins, which help create a bond between the mother and baby, as well as to calm baby cow down when she's looking for food. It breaks down to have a similar structure as an opioid, so it causes happiness, euphoria, and all that jazz in humans. So, naturally, when you withhold your supply, so to speak, it causes withdrawal symptoms in the same way that doing a detox would. I have gone vegan many times and had everything from severe headaches to gut issues to mind-numbing mood swings. But since I have mild hormonal issues as it stands, the mood swings usually are the stars of the show. :-/
I have read a few different blogs and they do seem to say the same thing about dairy withdrawal. And when you ate as much cheese as I did, it will be extreme to the max. One blog predicts that it will take 1-3 months before the symptoms completely subside. I have never been a vegan continuously for more than 2-3 weeks at a time, but the symptoms did tend to lighten up towards the end of it. :-) Maybe it doesn't do much for the glamorous side of veganism, but you'll be glad when you don't have all that junk in your body anymore!
One thing I've also noticed when my mom cooks bacon or chicken noodle soup... it smells super strong, like the air is saturated with it. I guess it's because I don't eat meat or dairy that everything just smells super intense, but it does! It smells like it should be bad for you, and most of the time it is! I can't imagine eating it, I bet it would be sensory overload. Plus, bacon by itself is nasty. It tastes like eating a greasy shoelace. :-D
Anyhoo, I just thought I would share with ya'll. I don't know which blog will ultimately be my home, but I kind of like this one. :-) We will see. Be blessed all, and enjoy the journey.
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