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5 Days In Rome

BabsV

By BabsV
in Traveling with Celiac Disease

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BabsV Enthusiast
BabsV
Posted

We spent last week in Rome and I am totally in love with the place. Eating gluten free was absolutely no problem whatsoever...I had my dining cards ready and didn't need them. All I had to say was "I have celiac disease" and the waiters all nodded and ran down what on the menu was ok and then mentioned they had pasta 'senza glutine' if I wanted it. One place even had gluten-free crackers that they brought me when they brought the bread basket so I didn't feel left out. The gelato shops had gluten-free cones (one place called them 'allergy cones' and said they were also dairy free!) that tasted just like regular cones or at least what I remember regular cones tasting like. I was going to keep a list of restaurants but since I didn't have a problem anywhere I didn't do that. Sorry.

We did stick to 'nicer' restaurants and the one lunch that my husband and daughter went the pizza bar route I ate food I'd brought with me. We had such success eating out (I didn't get sick once!) that we ate out for lunch and dinner and ignored the kitchen in the apartment we'd rented. It was a real holiday for me which was great.

The one place we had an issue was up near Villa Borghese -- the one sit-down restaurant in the park only served a buffet lunch set up at different tables and the chef said the only thing he'd recommend (due to CC issues I think) was the salads and I didn't want a salad for lunch. So we headed back through the city wall and found a place within 10 minutes.

One place I do want to recommend is La Taverna dei Fori Imperiali (Via della Madonna del Monti 9, Tel - 06.6798643). It is off Cavour in the neighborhood not that far from Trajan's Market. We did not have a reservation but were really early (19:00) so they squeezed us in as long as we promised to be out in 1.5 hours. Hey, we're American, we can do that! Anyway, the owner/chef has a friend who has Celiac Disease so he is very knowledgeable and he modified a dish (beef with mushrooms) that I wanted to try because it had a sauce that had flour in it. It was absolutely delicious as was the the flour-less chocolate torte that he recommended.

I had brought some gluten-free food with me so wasn't shopping for items other than some fruit and eggs for breakfast. I snacked on the Kind bars I'd brought and gelato. Lots of gelato. I even gained a little weight which is awesome since I'm still down from my normal weight (I had severe and drastic weight loss prior to diagnosis and was approaching skeletal at one point...)

All I know is I will go back to Italy in a heartbeat. If you have an opportunity to go to Italy TAKE IT!

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love2travel Mentor
love2travel
Posted

What a joy to hear this. So glad you fell in love with Rome, as have I. My husband and I have been there several times now but could never, ever get sick of it. Well, except for the traffic and trying to dodge vespas. :P

This is a great help for our next trip. Thanks lots!

Cathey Apprentice
Cathey
Posted

So nice to hear of your stay and I will be keeping your suggestions handy. Sounds like you had a safe and awesome time. We plan on a 2013, 2 week vacation. Our youngest is graduating after 5 years of college. We're planning on a week in Rome and a week on the Amalfi Coast. I told the boys they can join us when they choose.

I have looked into VRBO and Home Away, did you use either or did you find your apartment some other way.

Thanks gain for sharing.

Cathey

BabsV Enthusiast
BabsV
Posted
  • Author

I have looked into VRBO and Home Away, did you use either or did you find your apartment some other way.

You will have an amazing time! I found our apartment through a website called oh-rome. From what I can tell it is a Spanish (I think) company that acts as a type of broker for people who rent out flats in different cities in Europe. They had a big selection all over Rome. We went for location over size figuring we wouldn't be spending a lot of time in the place. You search and reserve the apartment on their website, then they contact the owner to make sure the apartment is really available for the dates you want, then they call you to confirm you still want the apartment (it was less than 24 hours between reserving the apartment and getting the confirmation phone call for us) and charge you a fraction of the full price (I think it was about a fifth of the total) with a credit card. You pay the remainder when you arrive. We had to pay in cash plus a security deposit of 150 euros which we got back in cash when we left. A bit unwieldy but the prices were good and our location was amazing...ten minutes walk to the Colosseum, less than that to the metro, Roman Forum and Trajan's Market, less than 5 minutes to a couple small markets...up the hill about 15 minutes walking was a supermarket. It was quiet and clean and having the kitchen meant we didn't have to fuss with 3 meals out a day -- breakfast was easy to do 'at home.'

Cathey Apprentice
Cathey
Posted

Thank you Babs, I googled it with no problem. Thanks again. It been 26 years since our last visit to Italy, I can't wait to show our boys around, sort of a graduation present to our youngest.

Lisa Mentor
Lisa
Posted

Thanks Babs - I want to plan a trip to Rome sometime this summer or in the fall with some galpals. :)

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    • knitty kitty
      High DGP-A with normal IGA

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      @rei.b,  I understand how frustrating starting a new way of eating can be.  I tried all sorts of gluten-free processed foods and just kept feeling worse.  My health didn't improve until I started the low histamine AIP diet.  It makes a big difference.   Gluten fits into opioid receptors in our bodies.  So, removing gluten can cause withdrawal symptoms and reveals the underlying discomfort.  SIBO can cause digestive symptoms.  SIBO can prevent vitamins from being absorbed by the intestines.  Thiamine insufficiency causes Gastrointestinal Beriberi (bloating, abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea or constipation).  Thiamine is the B vitamin that runs out first because it can only be stored for two weeks.  We need more thiamine when we're sick or under emotional stress.  Gastric Beriberi is under recognised by doctors.  An Erythrocyte Transketolace Activity test is more accurate than a blood test for thiamine deficiency, but the best way to see if you're low in thiamine is to take it and look for health improvement.  Don't take Thiamine Mononitrate because the body can't utilize it well.  Try Benfotiamine.  Thiamine is water soluble, nontoxic and safe even at high doses.  I thought it was crazy, too, but simple vitamins and minerals are important.  The eight B vitamins work together, so a B Complex, Benfotiamine,  magnesium and Vitamin D really helped get my body to start healing, along with the AIP diet.  Once you heal, you add foods back in, so the AIP diet is worth doing for a few months. I do hope you'll consider the AIP diet and Benfotiamine.
    • captaincrab55
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    • rei.b
      High DGP-A with normal IGA

      By rei.b · Posted

      Okay well the info about TTG-A actually makes a lot of sense and I wish the PA had explained that to me. But yes, I would assume I would have intestinal damage from eating a lot of gluten for 32 years while having all these symptoms. As far as avoiding gluten foods - I was definitely not doing that. Bread, pasta, quesadillas (with flour tortillas) and crackers are my 4 favorite foods and I ate at least one of those things multiple times a day e.g. breakfast with eggs and toast, a cheese quesadilla for lunch, and pasta for dinner, and crackers and cheese as a before bed snack. I'm not even kidding.  I'm not really big on sugar, so I don't really do sweets. I don't have any of those conditions.  I am not sure if I have the genes or not. When the geneticist did my genetic testing for EDS this year, I didn't think to ask for him to request the celiac genes so they didn't test for them, unfortunately.  I guess another expectation I had is  that if gluten was the issue, the gluten-free diet would make me feel better, and I'm 3 months in and that hasn't been the case. I am being very careful and reading every label because I didn't want to screw this up and have to do gluten-free for longer than necessary if I end up not having celiac. I'm literally checking everything, even tea and anything else prepacked like caramel dip. Honestly its making me anxious 😅
    • knitty kitty
      High DGP-A with normal IGA

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      So you're saying that you think you should have severe intestinal damage since you've had the symptoms so long?   DGP IgG antibodies are produced in response to a partial gluten molecule.  This is different than what tissue transglutaminase antibodies are  produced in response to.   TTg IgA antibodies are produced in the intestines in response to gluten.  The tTg IgA antibodies attack our own cells because a structural component in our cell membranes resembles a part of gluten.  There's a correlation between the level of intestinal damage with the level of tTg antibodies produced.  You are not producing a high number of tTg IgA antibodies, so your level of tissue damage in your intestines is not very bad.  Be thankful.   There may be reasons why you are not producing a high quantity of tTg IgA antibodies.  Consuming ten grams or more of gluten a day for two weeks to two months before blood tests are done is required to get sufficient antibody production and damage to the intestines.  Some undiagnosed people tend to subconsciously avoid lots of gluten.  Cookies and cakes do not contain as much gluten as artisan breads and thick chewy pizza crust.  Anemia, diabetes and thiamine deficiency can affect IgA antibody production as well.   Do you carry genes for Celiac?  They frequently go along with EDS.
    • rei.b
      High DGP-A with normal IGA

      By rei.b · Posted

      I was tested for celiac at the same time, so I wasn't taking naltrexone yet. I say that, because I don't. The endoscopy showed some mild inflammation but was inconclusive as to celiac disease. They took several biopsies and that's all that was shown. I was not given a Marsh score.
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