What to do about cravings when you can't?

[txtarheel]

So my nursling has a life-threatening dairy allergy and is also allergic to eggs and nuts. Those are out in my diet plan. Even if he were to wean (which I don't see happening) his allergist recommends continuing to avoid those common allergens while pregnant to hopefully prevent #2 from developing them.

But, OMFG, I WANT CHEESE!!!! I don't know how to deal with it. I dream about cheese. I actually have had nightmares the past several nights that I've snuck some cheese figuring no one would know and my son nearly died because of it. But still, I want some cheese so badly. Vegan cheese substitutes just don't cut it, the few that I can stomach don't help with the craving.

I find myself eating all the time and never satisfied because I can't have what I really want.

Anyone been there and come up with any ways to cope? Please?

[dis]

Could the cheese craving be your body trying to tell you you are deficient in something, maybe calcium?

My sympathies - pregnancy cravings are soooooooo intense, and so hard to resist.

[LeAnnie]

Oh-I'm so sorry. Dietary restrictions while nursing are really hard. My ds is 21 months and just got the go ahead from the allergist to try cow milk again (after having some serious reactions-hives, etc) I've thought many times how hard it would be to be pregnant and restricted from cow milk. I am consuming a bit of it this time-BUT both my children have life-threatening peanut and tree nut allergies so those are all out of the question for me. I'm used to that- it's been 4 years of pregnancy/nursing without nuts.
This is a long shot, but maybe you could eat some goat cheese? It is similar enough to cow milk that it can be associated with cross-reactivity, but maybe if you had it once in a while that wouldn't be terrible? Maybe you could ask the allergist about that.
Well, sorry again for you. Hang in there!

[txtarheel]

Thanks for the deficiency suggestion dis. I started taking a calcium/magnesium supplement when I went dairy free in April, but I'm sure my requirements are a bit higher now since I'm both pregnant and nursing. I think I'll look over my total intake again and see where I am. Of course, from what I understand about cravings and deficiencies, they don't always match up logically!

LeAnnie, I was OK with no dairy for a while. I missed cheese and thought butter would be really nice to have, but I was getting really good at vegan baking so life was happy again. Sadly, DS's dairy allergy is so severe he's had reactions from sitting in high chairs that weren't cleaned properly, crawling on the floor in the nursery at church, mild anaphylaxis from cross-contamination on well-washed grapes and a severe enough reaction to the skin test that the Drs. and nurses at Duke freaked out. So we're pretty much on a no cow, sheep, or goat milk protein diet.

Ahh, food allergies really suck for everyone involved in them!

[Shanana]

No advice. Just wanted to offer s.

[LeAnnie]

Wow-that is really severe. I'm so sorry. Food allergies do stink! Well, at least your doctor is at a center working on a cure.

BTW, do Tofutti pizzas satisfy at all? I can't really tell the difference between that and real pizza. They are yummy.

[tree_hugger]

What about soy cheese? They taste pretty good if you haven't had cow-milk-cheese for a while.