Juliebove

That sounds to me like GERD.  You might mention this to your gastroengerologist.  You might also have another problem like delayed digestion.  I have a dairy intolerance.  For me the first sign is big D.  If I ignore this and keep on eating it, I will eventually start going through Kleenex like mad and eventually get an ear or sinus infection.

Thank so much.That's a good idea.Do you call the restaurant and ask them if it's ok first?Have you ever had a restaurant not allow it?

You can not do that here in WA.  Not legally anyway. When my dad was on a special diet, my mom would bring in food and have them serve it and we never had a problem.  But they really are not supposed to do it.

I find that salads are usually the worst thing to order.  I can't tell you how many times  I have found a crouton in there.  If I were you, I would not eat there.  They already told you that the food was not safe.  Why would you take the chance?

What kind of place is this?  Chain?  Fancy place?  Family place?  I find that most places can at least make a hamburger patty for me but if this is a fancy place, those might not be on the menu.  Could be that the person you spoke to was clueless.  Did you ask to speak to the chef?

And what does usually okay with cross contamination mean, as long as you don't ingest it? 

I hear ya.  Although gluten isn't a problem for me, there are a lot of other foods that are.  I do eat some meat.  Not so much by choice but there are so few foods that I can eat and I also tend to go anemic if I don't.  I can not have eggs or dairy and this led me to raw vegan which ultimately didn't work for me because I have gastroparesis.  Sad because raw veggies are one of my favorite foods.  I also can not have some nuts.  And sadly my health food store closed.  They were able to get nuts that were safe from cc with other nuts.  I can find them online like this but they can be expensive.

I suppose you have likely tried eating things like chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp and  other seeds?  For a while I was buying raw, vegan pumpkin seed bars.  I loved them but eventually got burned out on them.

Right now the big staple in my diet is beans.  They do have protein in them and although they have fiber, they don't seem to upset my stomach.  But like you, I am starting to get sick of eating the same foods over and over.  I have tried experimenting with seasonings but I am intolerant to some of those so that can be a problem too.  I can also see how this could easily lead to an eating disorder.  There are plenty of times when I just don't want to eat.

I did have an eating disorder as a teen but not a typical one.  Came about from a bad stomach problem, the cause of which was never ferreted out.  I could not keep any food in me for two solid weeks and in the end, I just opted not to eat.  Which obviously does not make for being able to live!  Hehe.  I'd even had a problem with grape juice so I wouldn't have any juice either.  I did have occasional broth.  That didn't seem to bother me.  Plain coffee, plain tea, water or diet soda.  Was fearful to even drink anything with sugar or calories in it.  Yes, I know that broth has calories but not really enough to count.  I do not want to go that route again.  But there are days when I am sorely tempted.

One thing about food intolerances is that you can sometimes outgrow them.  I did and daughter did too.  But I was warned that at my age (I'm 53 now), I should not go back to eating those foods.  But I could see how daughter could do it and no problems.  So I did too, with dairy.  Problems!  And denial on my part until a new test confirmed it.  So now I live in fear of some foods.  I prefer to make the foods at home because cc lurks everywhere.

You can be allergic to dye.  But it is also possible that there was gluten in your mix.  I don't personally know of any that contain gluten that are on the market now, but some years back there  was a sugar free fruit drink that wasn't gluten free.  That drink is still on the market today but it is now gluten free.  I remember buying the gluteny ones for cheap.  Gluten isn't an issue for me.  What was the brand of the drink mix?  It is also possible that you have issues with whatever sweetener that is in the mix.