I've read intermittently about gluten-casein free diets lately, and after talking to another autistic online, became fairly sure that I'm among the casein-reactive population. According to the official research/theories out there, some autistics synthesize dairy products into opiates, with the resulting relaxed kind of "high" that would be expected and a strong tendency to crave milk products. Given I have both of those signs, I thought I'd perform a little experiment today.

I usually have a cup of milk or chai, and feel just a little better. However, that could be explained away easily as a psychological thing, as both drinks seem to qualify as "comfort" foods. So I decided to see what would happen if I drank powdered chai (which has concentrated milk in it) mixed with ice and heavy whipping cream -- an ultra-casein frappuccino!

Whooo! I think I've had a quarter-cup at most, but I'm *seriously* reacting to this stuff. I have the dazed feeling that one gets after being awake for a few days, and I'm so relaxed that I think I could fall asleep on the floor. I felt about the same when I was on three vicodin while recovering from surgery a couple of weeks ago -- conscious, but ready to go to sleep as soon as I get a chance. Yikes. The small amounts of this stuff that I normally have day-to-day are pleasantly relaxing, but having my brain shut off *this* much is very uncomfortable. It will be interesting to see how difficult it will be to interact if/when my mother comes in to talk to me...