Back From Vacation!

[Emme999]

Hello everybody!! What's up?

I missed the wisdom of this board (and you guys!) so much!!

And so here I am, back to beg for more of your infinite knowledge

The first time I was glutened was at the Cheesecake Factory in San Francisco. I talked to the manager for about 15 minutes. He supposedly checked all of the ingredients in the corn tortillas, sauces, etc. that I was getting in my corn tortilla, chicken & vegetable meal. But, about 30 minutes after we left the restaurant, I turned to my sweet boyfriend and said, "I need a bathroom! NOW!" Ack

Anyway, that was the first day

Then a few days later I was glutened off a FRUIT CUP in some cafe on the Pier. There was nothing in it but fruit I guess they must have used a glutened cutting board or something. Who knows.

Those were the only two times we ate out. Fortunately we had microwaves in the rooms & I'd brought a lot of those nifty little Thai Kitchen insta-meals, along with my ANDI gluten/dairy/egg free bars (which are yummy!!!), and some other stuff. Okay, okay - I mainly lived off of swedish fish. But anyway..

Anyway - I'm still having bathroom episodes! Am I still getting glutened or is it normal to have your body freak out for a long time after being glutened in a bad way - too many times in too short of a period?

The other day my boyfriend invited some friends over for a barbeque and I just freaked out. The previous day we'd had steak and vegetables & I'm pretty sure I was glutened then. I did *not* want to eat again - ever. I was ready to just give it up. I sat down and cried (big tears), "Everything I eat makes me sick " I was so scared that it was going to happen again.

Please let me know if it's normal to have this go on so long. I've been very, very, EXTREMELY careful about everything I'm putting in my body (and shampoos, lotions, etc.) but I still keep getting sick. Not violently ill like immediately after I've been glutened, but well, you know.

Nice to be back. You guys rule!

- Michelle

[rmmadden]

Michelle,

I too was glutened on my vacation (To Seattle) and it's no fun. I think as your body is purging itself of gluten you become more sensitive and thus the attacks last longer (at least they do for me, anyways).

I also checked with the kitchen before eating something that was supposed to be gluten-free but, alas I got sick. I was sick for 9-days after getting glutened this time. It's a bit depressing that you could ask all the questions and try and be diligent and yet still get sick. Hang in there & best of luck!

Cleveland Bob

[jenvan]

What do you think glutened you in the steak and veggie dinner? Utensils, spices, meat?

[Emme999]

I have *no* idea what happened with the steak & veggie dinner. We grilled the steaks (using gluten-free marinade: McCormick spices, San-J wheat-free soy sauce, and olive oil), then ate frozen vegetables & fresh yams. My boyfriends brother & his family had stayed at his house for a while when we were away, but my boyfriend swears that they didn't use the grill (and thus gluten it!).

I am sure that I was glutened then though - immediate, violently ill response.

The only thing that I'm wondering about now is that we bought the steaks at a Wal-mart supercenter and I noticed someone here mentioned that they do something funky with their meat. Would this be true with steaks?? Ugh. I really hate the thought of worrying about steaks too!

Thanks for the understanding Cleveland Bob!

- Michelle

[celiac3270]

Nice to see you!! We missed you, too! Yesterday I thought to myself, "Where's Michelle?" and I almost PM'd you, but decided it was really lame that I was thinking that after two weeks or so... so I didn't.

[Emme999]

Thanks celiac3270!!

- Michelle

[celiac3270]

Is that really good, though? To be glutened 3 times? Is that a sarcastic "only" or a real one since you thought it would be more often?

[KaitiUSA]

Is 3 times good? To be glutened at all is bad.

Glad to have you back here Michelle....I was wondering where you were too but thought you just had a busy schedule or something.

[Emme999]

Noooo... the "only" was sarcastic. I was hoping that I wouldn't be glutened at all! (Hence the big box of food we took!)

Thanks for the welcome back

I really *hate* the fact that I've been glutened multiple times. I think being glutened at all is terrible, but I fear that since it happened more than once - the damage might be more severe. I'm still feeling the effects of it

Fortunately, my reactions weren't emotional this time! It was wild, because that's what they usually are (paranoia, anger, extreme sadness) - and this time I just had intense bathroom episodes. I'm not sure if this is a sign that I'm healing (well, up to this point), or if it means that I would have been screwed if I hadn't been taking 200 mg of 5-HTP each night. (Oh, I should note - the *last* time I was glutened - after we got back - it was emotional, but the first THREE (yikes) times - it wasn't. And the emotional response was only 1/4 of what it used to be and only lasted a few hours.)

Have I ever mentioned that my boyfriend has a new nickname for me? "Pugg" (Psycho Unstable Gluten Girl!) - I'm very happy to report that while on vacation it wasn't so applicable

The only way is up!

- Michelle

[Carriefaith]

"Everything I eat makes me sick. I was so scared that it was going to happen again. Please let me know if it's normal to have this go on so long. I've been very, very, EXTREMELY careful about everything I'm putting in my body (and shampoos, lotions, etc.) but I still keep getting sick. Not violently ill like immediately after I've been glutened, but well, you know.

I also have been struggling. To be honest, I've been getting glutened about every week or two weeks for the past month or so. I am also extremely careful, but yet I still manage to get contaminated. I think part of the problem is living with people that eat gluten. It doesn't matter how careful I am, I always manage to get some gluten. It is everywhere in my house. I would have to move out and live by myself to avoid it. If you ask anyone I know or has seen me or my mom cook, they would probably say that we are super paranoid and obessive about keeping my stuff gluten free, but somehow I still manage to get glutened. I was also glutened by gluten-free hotdogs that were contaminated and right now, I am feeling like I got glutened yet again so I understand how you are feeling right now.

Nice to have you back and sorry that you are going through this too. It isn't fun.

[misskris]

I think you're right about it having been the steak that made you sick - I had this same thing happen with beef from our grocery store. They inject it with flavor enhancers or something???

I dread vacations. The first thing I do is scope out all the health food stores, McDonalds and Chi-Fil-As!

Sorry to hear you had a rough time though. But welcome back!

[happygirl]

x

[jknnej]

Hi Michelle!

I, too was about to PM you to find out where you were! Your advice has helped me so much:)

Sorry about your being glutened. No fun. It will take a while for you to get back to normal after that.I don't think it's odd if you still feel badly so soon after, unfortunate as that is.

Effexor works pretty well for me; I'm still feeling a little odd but mostly a lot better:) How 's the HTP going?

[Emme999]

(Sorry it's taking me so long to reply lately! Just started a new semester!)

Carrie - I'm *so* sorry that you are having a rough time with your glutened environment! I know exactly what you mean. I told my mom the other day that I feel like I should be wearing a hazmat suit every time I walk into the kitchen! I am constantly amazed that it's possible for three people to generate such huge piles of bread/cake/cookie-crumbs and then just leave them there! Holy hell! I wish you the best!!

LauraJ - thanks for understanding. I think my body was pretty upset with me for a while. Fortunately, (starting *today*) I'm finally feeling better. It has been kinda cool to lose 6 pounds in one week though Damn! Geez, if I'd known that being gluten-free (and then eating a couple crumbs!) could cause such astounding weight loss, I probably would have done it years ago. Wow, is that sick or what?? (literally!) Reminds me of one of my favorite websites: Open Original Shared Link - Anyway, I hope that you are feeling better soon too!

Jen!

Thanks for the kind words I'm so glad that the Effexor is working out for you! It was great for me too, for a long time. The 5-HTP seems to be enough for right now. Thanks for your concern

I love you guys!!!

- Michelle

[Carriefaith]

Carrie-I can symphathize. As you know, we just moved, and I'm not sure if I'm not being careful enough, if my mind is cluttered by the job search, or what, but the past few weeks have been tough on me also. Hope that both you and Michelle are doing ok!

Thanks LauraJ I'm starting a new week and hopefully no contamination this week! I hope you are doing better.

I'm *so* sorry that you are having a rough time with your glutened environment! I know exactly what you mean. I told my mom the other day that I feel like I should be wearing a hazmat suit every time I walk into the kitchen! I am constantly amazed that it's possible for three people to generate such huge piles of bread/cake/cookie-crumbs and then just leave them there! Holy hell! I wish you the best!!

Thank you... I know what you mean about the crumbs, and some people in my family seem to love going into the cupboards that are FULL of gluten when I am in the middle of cooking

[fisharefriendsnotfood]

Hello everybody!!   What's up?

The first time I was glutened was at the Cheesecake Factory in San Francisco.  I talked to the manager for about 15 minutes.  He supposedly checked all of the ingredients in the corn tortillas, sauces, etc. that I was getting in my corn tortilla, chicken & vegetable meal.  But, about 30 minutes after we left the restaurant, I turned to my sweet boyfriend and said, "I need a bathroom!  NOW!"  Ack  

   

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have found that the Cheesecake Factory in very unreliable and unknowledgeable in the gluten area. My family loves that place though so whenever we go to the States we go there, and I just order a salad, and there it's basically a bunch of lettuce with tomatoes and parmesan cheese because they top all their normal "salads" with either crunchy noodles or some kind of funky chicken. There's NOTHING there I can have that's on the normal menu except for an omlette... ew. Omlettes make me feel sick for some reason.

Well, I'm sorry to hear of your glutenings! I hope you feel better!

[bluelotus]

The only thing that I'm wondering about now is that we bought the steaks at a Wal-mart supercenter and I noticed someone here mentioned that they do something funky with their meat. Would this be true with steaks?? Ugh. I really hate the thought of worrying about steaks too!

Hi,

I am the one who reacted to Walmart steaks. I bought a steak, ate it, and got sick within an hour, only to find out later that there were "natural flavors" added to it. When I wrote this though, someone wrote back saying natural flavors on meat can only be from certain sources, like pepper, garlic, etc. I don't know if this is the case or not, as I never looked into it further. Maybe it is not the additives, but the way or conditions in which they prepare their meats?? I talked to some butchers at Kroger about this and they had worked at that Walmart in the past. All they would say was that they weren't suprised to hear I had gotten sick, "because Walmart does some funky stuff to their meat" Not sure what that meant and didn't really want to know. Then again, they were ex-employees, so who knows what's true...... But, I would just say that it is possible that you got glutened by Walmart - I think it happened to me. I now buy steaks from Kroger and Publix, they don't add stuff to theirs. Good luck