Pegleg84

Hi all

 

I'm headed to Chicago for Easter weekend. I've already done some research on gluten-free friendly (dairy and soy free too) restaurants and the findings have made me rather excited and also jealous that I don't live there. My man is vegetarian, so places that cater to both our needs seem to be in pretty good supply.

 

I'm sure there are previous Chicago gluten-free threads, but best to keep things up to date. Any suggestions? Places to avoid? We'll be there for 3 days. Of course, I'll be lugging plenty of emergency food to keep me going, but can hopefully get in a few good, reasonably safe meals.

 

Any suggestions welcome. Places with menus online preferred. (I'm planning to email all our potential eating spots to get more info)

 

Cheers

Peg

Hi guys

 

So, I either soyed and/or glutened myself the other day, while being daring and trying the new burrito place in my work-hood. Just opened last week, lovely menu, and very celiac friendly, actually. no gluten-free menu but they use mostly corn tortillas and have dedicates (so far) half the grill to corn only. Things aren't automatically smothered in cheese. Perfect! and man was it tasty.

 

On a hey, I'm still ok, high the next day, I also tried out the gluten-free dough at the new cafe that does made-to-order cookies. I'd been in a couple weeks ago to ask about other ingredients (no soy or dairy, according to the staff), and everything was very well separated, clean, etc, so I didn't see too much of a cc risk. Walnuts and raisins (didn't touch the chocolate chips due to soy), pretty tasty, approved.

 

Until I hit a wall that night, and the next morning could hardly get out of bed, then spent more than enough time on the can (constapated diherrea, my favourite), decided there was no way my brain was going to fuction that day, called in sick, slept most of the day. Today I made it to work but am still nauseous and tired.

I probably got soyed rather than glutened, which means that my soy intolerance is probably getting worse, and that I really should not be eating out anywhere ever, but that I already knew.

 

My question is how often you end up calling in sick to work, or cancelling plans with friends, etc? And how bad do you have to be before you will?

 

On average once a month I end up staying home with stomach issues. It's usually nothing too horrible, not even like a cold or flu, but I get so brainfoggy that working would be pointless (I'd just sit at my desk like a zombie anyway). Thankfully my boss is very understanding of my situation, and I just do my best to catch up the next day. Though I do wonder sometimes what my
coworkers think. I don't look sick. I don't have a cold. I'm not throwing up. "Stomach issues" just doesn't sound that bad. (*knock on wood* i've been lucky enough not to catch the evil plague flu going around our office this winter)

 

I also find myself cancelling plans, or just not making them, because either I feel like crap or am afraid of getting into something I shouldn't. I might not be "sick" but am still not in a state to do much. I worry that I could be alienating some of my friends, making them feel that I'm avoiding them, cancelling things at the last minute because I'm not feeling well, or becoming the girl who wont shut up about her food issues.

 

Anyway, I'm kind of starting to feel like I'm a wuss and should suck it up and get through the day, nausea and brainfog and all. thankfully, no one's told me this directly, but you get an attitude after a while of "oh, you're not actually sick, so this is just an excuse." which is isn't, right? (I also worry about that sometimes too...)

 

Ok, sorry. Bit of a vent, but I would like to get some perspective, other experiences, advice, etc.

 

Now back to my friday night on the couch with my stupid gut...

So, I'm chilly, and went to make a cup of some nice blackcurrant Stash tea I got a while ago, and took a glance at the ingredients, and low and behold! Contains: soy.
WHAAAT?? Why the hell is there soy in f*ing tea?!
Well, now that it's donated to the communal office tea, who else has noticed soy as an ingredient in teas (or other unusual things), and what brands/kinds should we soy-intolerants avoid?
I know barley can occasionally be an ingredient, but soy? really? it's probably in the flavouring.
No wonder I felt a bit iffy the first couple times I had some.
i guess I'll be staying away from Stash, and scrutinizing tea labels.

Damn you soy!! *shakes fist at evil nemesis*
Now i'm still cold... ergh

Venting
Peg

Hi All

Just wanted to check in with an "experiment" of mine. I wreacked havoc on my gut over the holidays (ccd, butter, horrible NYE sickness, ergh), and decided that in order to heal, I had to not take any risks.
So, I have cooked every last one of my meals at home for over 3 weeks, and only one meal out in the past 4 weeks at least (which my gut didn't like very much, but didn't seem to result in a glutening/soying, so that's good)

That means I know for (almost) certain that I haven't consumed any gluten, dairy, or soy in that time.
Verdict: Better. No horrid pains or bad brain fog after meals (still some mild sleepiness depending on how much I ate). I've had some constapation, but everything seems to be digesting.
I'm not 100% by any means (but it's the middle of the winter. Who isn't a little sluggish), and my stomach is still irritated by random things sometimes (bananas? whaa? and too much spice), and I've noticed that chocolate give me a bit of a headache (hopefully not a precursor to inheriting my dad's migraines), but mostly better.

So, what next?
I can't realistically never eat out again (I could. I know a lot of people here have to, but it's not worth it for me), but I can be extra careful of the places I choose and what I decide to have. Save it for date nights and travelling.

At this point, I don't think there's any other foods I need to cut out, though I aparently need to go easy on spice and acidic things, can't have more than a couple drinks at once, which tells me the gastritis that showed up on my endoscopy in the fall may not have completely healed? Since my first gastroentrolonogist visit was kind of a flop, should I try to see someone who will actually check things out again to see if it's healing or not?

Another question is now that I've gotten things straightened out again, would it be worth trying to reintroduce some things I've been avoiding, like quinoa (after last summer's horrific quinoa incident) and brown rice. I don't know if I'm intolerant to these, or just that my stomach wasn't in a state to handle them at the time?

Anyway, and advice or encouragement or whatever would be helpful.
If nothing else, I've saved lots of $ on food this month!

Thanks guys
Cheers
Peg

Hi all

I've been completely dairy free for over a year now (aside from the occasional "of course there's no butter in this" self-delusion to eat things like homemade gluten-free pie), and it's been helping a lot. However, cause I'm an idiot, I haven't been taking a calcium supplement. Cause i'm an idiot and aparently didn't let it sink in that Oh, Calcium is super important!

So, lately (like right now) I've been more achy than usual and it almost feels like my "vertigo" (lightheaded, brainfoggy, sinus pressure) symptoms are coming back. I've been really good with my diet lately, so I can't link it to anything I've eaten.

But the one take-home message I got from seeing the GI last week was: you don't eat dairy. You need calcium.

Right. I know. I really should do that.

So, I got to thinking, maybe I should see what the symptoms are for low calcium.

ding ding ding ding ding!

It doesn't account for the random gastro stuff (I don't think), but could very well be the reason for a lot of other things lately.

Anyway, I'm going straight out to get supplements after work, and get this thing turned around so I can look like a good girl when I see my doctor next, and also hopefully start feeling better.

My question here is: for anyone who has had low calcium (while gluten-free and DF), what were your symptoms, how long did it take you to get back to normal (I know, it's different for everyone), and any advice on things to eat/do aside from supplements that can help.

I also don't do soy (evil!).

I'll report back with findings.

The casein-intolerant idiot,
Peg