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New To Celiac And Might Be Doing Something Wrong...

pestew

By pestew
in Gluten-Free Restaurants

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pestew Newbie
pestew
Posted

I was diagnosed with Celiac two weeks ago and have been following the diet without a problem.

Last night I went out with a small group for a friend's birthday and ordered what I thought was a perfectly gluten-free meal, but after eating it was like I had the flu and was sicker than I had ever been before going gluten-free...

 

Here's what I ate:

Salad (romaine lettuce and dressing*)

Steak (no seasoning, in a tomato sauce*  with provolone cheese)

Vegetables (steamed and served in butter with no seasoning)

 

* = the chef said these were gluten-free items

 

Before ordering I spoke with the waiter/manager about my condition and they seemed very knowledgeable about celiac and my needs. The restaurant was empty (I hear that's the best time for a celiac to eat out).  My food was prepared separately and in a clean area with new utensils (I do not know this for sure, but that's what I was told)....

 

Am I missing something?

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GF Lover Rising Star
GF Lover
Posted

It might have been the Cesar Dressing.  It is not always gluten free.  Some Restaurants make their own and others use a Brand.  Also, Usually Cesar salad is prepared before hand and a lot of different servers are dipping In and most of those salads will have croutons added.  It may have been contaminated.

 

Colleen

Salax Contributor
Salax
Posted

It might have been the Cesar Dressing.  It is not always gluten free.  Some Restaurants make their own and others use a Brand.  Also, Usually Cesar salad is prepared before hand and a lot of different servers are dipping In and most of those salads will have croutons added.  It may have been contaminated.

 

Colleen

I don't see a mention of Cesar Dressing?  Unless my eyes are deceiving me, which can happen.  :rolleyes:  But the first two items that are *'d the chef said they were gluten free. The last one isn't *'d, maybe that one might be the culprit? Where’d that butter come from is my question, was it a brand new butter, one on the table with the bread (if that happened?), possible cc'd butter, how were the veggies steamed? I have heard about veggies steamed in pasta water before (not sure if that has any truth or bearing but…) These are so hard to figure out sometimes.

 

I do hope you feel better though.

GF Lover Rising Star
GF Lover
Posted

Salax,  Your right.  I saw romaine lettuce and thought cesar. Thanks for the correction.

 

Colleen

bartfull Rising Star
bartfull
Posted

Have you eaten the lettuce at home without problems? I ask because I could not tolerate lettuce (of all things!) while I was healing. I couldn't tolerate a LOT of things that were without a doubt gluten-free at first. When we are healing just about anything can set us off for no good reason.

 

I would avoid restaurants for the first few months, stick to whole foods only (organic if possible), and give myself time to heal.

 

If you want salad, buy the fixin's and make it at home. Vinegar and oil or homemade dressing. Yeah, it might be boring for a while, but you'll heal quicker and feel better.

eers03 Explorer
eers03
Posted

I was diagnosed with Celiac two weeks ago and have been following the diet without a problem.

Last night I went out with a small group for a friend's birthday and ordered what I thought was a perfectly gluten-free meal, but after eating it was like I had the flu and was sicker than I had ever been before going gluten-free...

 

Here's what I ate:

Salad (romaine lettuce and dressing*)

Steak (no seasoning, in a tomato sauce*  with provolone cheese)

Vegetables (steamed and served in butter with no seasoning)

 

* = the chef said these were gluten-free items

 

Before ordering I spoke with the waiter/manager about my condition and they seemed very knowledgeable about celiac and my needs. The restaurant was empty (I hear that's the best time for a celiac to eat out).  My food was prepared separately and in a clean area with new utensils (I do not know this for sure, but that's what I was told)....

 

Am I missing something?

 

 

Welcome to the board!  I hope you like this place as much as I do.  The folks on here are a great resource for me.  First of all, you're on the right track, so congratulations.  I would want to know the ingredients in the dressing.  Also, some people react to dairy early on in the healing process.  I don't know what you had to drink but if it was a cocktail, you need to make sure you know what is in that as well.

notme Experienced
notme
Posted

cheese !  is my guess, too - if you have alot of damage to your intestines, your villi are also damaged and the tips of the villi is where your body makes the stuff that breaks down dairy, so if villi are damaged enough, you're body isn't making any or enough to digest dairy.    you might want to skip the dairy - i think i did it for 6 months - and then re-introduce it after you have a chance to heal some :)  keep a food journal - easier to figure stuff out.   welcome to the board, where there's no such thing as tmi  :ph34r:

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Juliebove Rising Star
Juliebove
Posted

Cross contamination is the most likely cause.  I have found salad to be a big culprit.  They'll put croutons on, then pick them off.  Not saying that this happened here but it has happened to me.  Or a crouton could have fallen into the bowl that they used at some point.  Someone may have used a knife in the butter and spread it on some bread, cross contaminating that.  Or the water used for steaming could even be pasta water that had wheat containing pasta cooked in it.  Again, not saying that happened here but I have heard of it.  Could even be that the server touched some bread or something and then touched your plate.

notme Experienced
notme
Posted

yes, eating out is sketchy - you can ask as many questions as you want - ask them if they know what gluten is.  most times they come up with some wierd answer........  and people confuse it with glucose, i have found.  it took me awhile to heal enough to know when i had a TRUE gluten reaction and not a reaction to something else that was irritating my guts.  when i kept the food journal in the beginning, i found that i had a secondary sensitivity to soy - it gives me a headache and messes up my digesgtion, but it doesn't last 2 weeks like a glutening does.  i only figured that out when i cut out dairy and my intestines were not constantly irritated. 

 

edited to add:  have you read the newbie 101 thread in the coping section?   lots of good, helpful info there :)

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