Visit the Microscopic Colitis Foundation Website
Hi all,
It's hard to believe this happened with all the attention I got from the weight staff, but here's what happened when I took my sister to dinner for her birthday last night.
I ordered a salad with lots of delicious baby greens, minus the nuts(possible source of wheat flour), and minus the cheese. On it was a balsamic vinegar and olive oil combination dressing. (I've only had ONE reaction to a balsalmic vinegar EVER, although I generally avoid eating fermented condiments very often anyway). There were tomatoes, mushrooms, and maybe some other vegetables in the salad, but nothing I can't tolerate in terms of those.
If it wasn't the salad, then possibly it was the entre' of a bed of mixed grilled vegetables with four bacon wrapped large Gulf shrimp. A clue may have been that when we were about finished with our salads, the top dog came out and apologized for the delay, saying that when ours was all cooked, they realized that they'd thrown some butter on it like they do everything, so had to cook some more. Sooo, once the food came out, it didn't appear to have any butter on it, nor did it taste like it had butter in it.
Well, guess what -- shortly after we arrived home, I had a big reaction -- several times to the potty. Soooo...in the past, I would've had a reaction only to the lactose part of the dairy in something within a couple of hours of eating it, but 24 hours later, had another immune reaction to the casein protein in the dairy product.
In a couple of hours I'll know whether or not I'm going to have a casein reaction -- that would make it easy to KNOW I got dairy contamination. I would also know that the damage to the part of my gut where the enzymes to metabolize the sugar, lactose, is permanently damaged after all these years of no big immune reactions to perpetuate that damage.
I would still suspect the lactose, even if I don't have a full blown reaction from casein in a couple of hours (at 24 hours), due to the more immediate reaction after that dinner, particularly since my antibodies to casein have GOT to be low by now. (That's because it's very difficult to ingest dairy accidentally if one doesn't eat out much -- dairy doesn't fly through the air like flour does!)
I should know what's going to happen a day later in a couple of hours. I still feel like something's going on inside my gut.
I can't remember why I thought that one store-bought balsalmic vinegar
made me sick a few years ago. At that time, it had to be that because I was eating everything at home with the same safe products and no reactions. That balsalmic was the only new thing I ingested at that time that could've caused that reaction. Still, if it was the balsalmic, unless it was some of the
additives, like nitrites, for example, I can't think of why I would've reacted to the dinner that soon.
By the way, the waiter went back to ask the kitchen people whether or not there was anything added as a thickener to the balsalmic. Hmm, wonder if he knew something the cook didn't. Still, if it was flour, I shouldn't have reacted that soon???
I also wonder if perhaps some of that butter didn't get on the shrimp if it was already laid on top of those vegetables. Even if they'd tried to wash off any possible butter from the shrimp, it could've easily been down inside the shell, and not easily washed out. That's the main reason I suspect dairy.
It's funny, but I seldom eat out, but the cheaper places that have more healthy, simple foods seem to have the least problems getting things right, unless it's a steak or seafood place somewhere, but then, this WAS a place noted for it's seafood, sooo...
It's been a long time since I've had any upsets what-so-ever. Guess one needs one of these every now and then as a reminder. Ha!
Mary Beth, if you want to know which restaurant, I'll let you know since you sometimes eat in town.
Yours, Luce
REACTION at a restaurant!!
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Did they make the dressing? Do they use 100% olive oil?
When we went down to the gulf, we stopped in a fancy restaurant to see if I could eat there. We were talking directly to the chef and somehow found out that their olive oil was 60/40. I decided that most likely meant that soybean oil would probably be in the mix so we didn't eat there.
Ruby Tuesday uses oil with soybeans, My local one will make my chicken in the 100% olive oil they use on the salad bar, though.
When we went down to the gulf, we stopped in a fancy restaurant to see if I could eat there. We were talking directly to the chef and somehow found out that their olive oil was 60/40. I decided that most likely meant that soybean oil would probably be in the mix so we didn't eat there.
Ruby Tuesday uses oil with soybeans, My local one will make my chicken in the 100% olive oil they use on the salad bar, though.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor and don't play one on TV.
LDN July 18, 2014
Joan
LDN July 18, 2014
Joan
Joan,
Could the 60/40 have referred to a 60/40 blend of extra virgin olive oil, and refined olive oil? (That would lower the cost, while retaining most of the flavor, if the refined oil is "light", or "lite", olive oil). I don't see how they could call it olive oil, if it were blended with vegetable oil. (Of course, that doesn't mean that they don't do it. LOL).
Tex
Could the 60/40 have referred to a 60/40 blend of extra virgin olive oil, and refined olive oil? (That would lower the cost, while retaining most of the flavor, if the refined oil is "light", or "lite", olive oil). I don't see how they could call it olive oil, if it were blended with vegetable oil. (Of course, that doesn't mean that they don't do it. LOL).
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Luce,
In December, I went to Jacksonville, Florida, to pick up a truck that I bought on eBay, from a truck broker in California. This was when you had the snow storm in Houston, and when we came back through Houston, the snow had already melted, but there was still a lot of it on the ground in parts of Louisiana, west of New Orleans.
I didn't take anything along to eat. On the way there, we stopped at a Wendys, and I ate their GF chili. No problems. Two days later, on the way back, we stopped at a truck stop parking lot, (so we would have room to do a little work on the truck), and low and behold, there was another Wendys, there. Since I had had good luck so far, I tried the chili again. I noticed when I was eating it, though, there was a piece of something in there that looked out of place - it was a little over half an inch square, and the color of pastry. Hmmmmm. Like a dumbass, I ate it anyway, and noticed that it didn't have the texture or taste of meat, (nor anything else that should have been in chili). Roughly six hours later, it cleaned me out.
I'm guessing that it must have been a piece of some type of pastry item that somehow accidentally found it's way in there. 
Yep, it's nice to have a reminder, now and then.
Wayne
In December, I went to Jacksonville, Florida, to pick up a truck that I bought on eBay, from a truck broker in California. This was when you had the snow storm in Houston, and when we came back through Houston, the snow had already melted, but there was still a lot of it on the ground in parts of Louisiana, west of New Orleans.
I didn't take anything along to eat. On the way there, we stopped at a Wendys, and I ate their GF chili. No problems. Two days later, on the way back, we stopped at a truck stop parking lot, (so we would have room to do a little work on the truck), and low and behold, there was another Wendys, there. Since I had had good luck so far, I tried the chili again. I noticed when I was eating it, though, there was a piece of something in there that looked out of place - it was a little over half an inch square, and the color of pastry. Hmmmmm. Like a dumbass, I ate it anyway, and noticed that it didn't have the texture or taste of meat, (nor anything else that should have been in chili). Roughly six hours later, it cleaned me out.
I'm guessing that it must have been a piece of some type of pastry item that somehow accidentally found it's way in there. Yep, it's nice to have a reminder, now and then.
Wayne
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
I guess I'm amazed that you can pinpoint exactly what is causing your reaction. When I have a reaction, I say "What now???" It's a guessing game for me. I don't see a connection between reaction times and foods, either. 
I guess once you're totally in remission, it's much easier to figure out.
Gloria
I guess once you're totally in remission, it's much easier to figure out.
Gloria
You never know what you can do until you have to do it.
Yes, I had to be pretty free of symptoms to be able to fine tune the reaction times like that when I was figuring what I could and couldn't eat -- it was like clock-work for so long that it became easy. I'm still thinking I had a lactose reaction, but I DID NOT have a dairy casein reaction 24 hours later. That is highly possible because the last time I ingested any dairy for certain, I didn't have a reaction 24 hours later, but then, that last time, I didn't have a casein reaction either. My sister said she had the rumbles that last time from the same source of dairy, but I didn't even notice it that time much.
Maybe it was some source of gluten, and for some reason, my body was just ready for a fight last night. I am most sensitive to gluten of all my sensitivities.
My gut didn't feel right for a long time after that meal for some reason.
Still haven't ruled out that salad dressing being the culprit.
I have a little of the entre' vegetables I brought home in the frig. I could prove it was the salad by eating the rest of the entre' if I don't have any problem following these vegetables, since it was the grilled vegetables that would've had accidental butter on them, and not the salad. It's taking a chance, but since the quantity is less, I'm going to try that to figure this thing out. Will let you know.
Yours, Luce
Maybe it was some source of gluten, and for some reason, my body was just ready for a fight last night. I am most sensitive to gluten of all my sensitivities.
My gut didn't feel right for a long time after that meal for some reason.
Still haven't ruled out that salad dressing being the culprit.
I have a little of the entre' vegetables I brought home in the frig. I could prove it was the salad by eating the rest of the entre' if I don't have any problem following these vegetables, since it was the grilled vegetables that would've had accidental butter on them, and not the salad. It's taking a chance, but since the quantity is less, I'm going to try that to figure this thing out. Will let you know.
Yours, Luce
No, AL gulf coast.
I did get butter on my broccoli at Ruby Tuesdays one time but other than that everything has been fine. Our last waiter said the chefs knew me. I can't wait to be able to eat their salad bar.
BTW, they have something you can join online and get a coupon for buy one get one free every once in a while. One day our newspaper had 2 coupons in the same paper. One was in the body and another in an insert.
I did get butter on my broccoli at Ruby Tuesdays one time but other than that everything has been fine. Our last waiter said the chefs knew me. I can't wait to be able to eat their salad bar.
BTW, they have something you can join online and get a coupon for buy one get one free every once in a while. One day our newspaper had 2 coupons in the same paper. One was in the body and another in an insert.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor and don't play one on TV.
LDN July 18, 2014
Joan
LDN July 18, 2014
Joan
Gloria,
You're right, it's much easier to tell what's going on, after attaining remission. Have you ever seen the old movie, "Catch 22"? It's a story about a World War II U. S. military base on a desert island, where life was so miserable, that everyone was always trying to find a way to be transferred to another base. There was only one condition for which a transfer would be granted, though, and that was insanity. Whenever someone tried to use that reason as a justification for a transfer, though, the request was always denied, because there was a "catch" in the regulations - Catch 22. Catch 22 stated that if anyone wanted off the island, they obviously were not insane.
Achieving remission is kind of like that, too. In order to achieve remission, one has to determine, and avoid, all food intolerances. The catch is, it's just about impossible to determine what foods one is reacting to, unless one is in remission. If that's not a "Catch 22" situation, I don't know what is.
I kept a detailed diary for about 2 and a half years, starting about a month before I began following the GF diet. In the month before I started the diet, I was never able to detect gluten reactions, (though I was sick most of the time), nor was I able to draw any conclusions about how gluten affected me, from the data that I recorded. Eventually, though, after studying the diary for a year and a half or so, I was able to figure out that dairy typically affected me the following day, and corn affected me two days or more, after I ate it. Avoiding gluten only, a year and a half into the diet, I was still not in remission, even though I tried also cutting out dairy, corn, soy, etc., for a week or so at a time, several times. I finally got tired of being sick, and cut out everything that was the least bit suspicious, and within a week or so, I was in remission. Then I continued that diet long enough to allow my gut to heal, (almost 3 years).
By contrast, when I did the oat challenge, (after I had been in remission for roughly 5 years), it was obvious that once I was producing enough antibodies to exceed my threshold for a reaction, the D would arrive without fail, from 3 to 6 hours after I ingested oats, so obviously, that is my avenin reaction time, (and probably my gluten reaction time, as well).
It takes faith, perseverance, and luck, to achieve remission, and the whole time, we are wondering if we are on the right track, and if we will ever "succeed". Once we are in remission, however, everything begins to make sense, and it's much, much easier to understand our intolerances, and how they affect us.
Also, obviously, the simpler the menu, the easier it is to pinpoint a problem. You eat a very complex diet, for someone with MC, who is still trying to track down intolerances. That makes the project much more challenging.
Tex
You're right, it's much easier to tell what's going on, after attaining remission. Have you ever seen the old movie, "Catch 22"? It's a story about a World War II U. S. military base on a desert island, where life was so miserable, that everyone was always trying to find a way to be transferred to another base. There was only one condition for which a transfer would be granted, though, and that was insanity. Whenever someone tried to use that reason as a justification for a transfer, though, the request was always denied, because there was a "catch" in the regulations - Catch 22. Catch 22 stated that if anyone wanted off the island, they obviously were not insane.
Achieving remission is kind of like that, too. In order to achieve remission, one has to determine, and avoid, all food intolerances. The catch is, it's just about impossible to determine what foods one is reacting to, unless one is in remission. If that's not a "Catch 22" situation, I don't know what is.
I kept a detailed diary for about 2 and a half years, starting about a month before I began following the GF diet. In the month before I started the diet, I was never able to detect gluten reactions, (though I was sick most of the time), nor was I able to draw any conclusions about how gluten affected me, from the data that I recorded. Eventually, though, after studying the diary for a year and a half or so, I was able to figure out that dairy typically affected me the following day, and corn affected me two days or more, after I ate it. Avoiding gluten only, a year and a half into the diet, I was still not in remission, even though I tried also cutting out dairy, corn, soy, etc., for a week or so at a time, several times. I finally got tired of being sick, and cut out everything that was the least bit suspicious, and within a week or so, I was in remission. Then I continued that diet long enough to allow my gut to heal, (almost 3 years).
By contrast, when I did the oat challenge, (after I had been in remission for roughly 5 years), it was obvious that once I was producing enough antibodies to exceed my threshold for a reaction, the D would arrive without fail, from 3 to 6 hours after I ingested oats, so obviously, that is my avenin reaction time, (and probably my gluten reaction time, as well).
It takes faith, perseverance, and luck, to achieve remission, and the whole time, we are wondering if we are on the right track, and if we will ever "succeed". Once we are in remission, however, everything begins to make sense, and it's much, much easier to understand our intolerances, and how they affect us.
Also, obviously, the simpler the menu, the easier it is to pinpoint a problem. You eat a very complex diet, for someone with MC, who is still trying to track down intolerances. That makes the project much more challenging.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Tex wrote:
I'm not complaining, but I do think I need to set the record straight if the implication is that I haven't tried hard enough nor sacrificed enough to achieve remission by diet. There are others who are in the same situation that I'm in and I would never imply that they aren't working hard enough to achieve remission.
Of course, I don't feel like I eat a complex diet at all. I've eliminated so many foods, it feels like I have nothing left to choose from. It occurred to me on my trip that I have just two foods to snack on: chocolate and potato chips. I've given up all fruits, except strawberries and occasionally, canned pineapple. I've stopped eating blueberries after this trip, which I was testing, because I think they're a problem. I no longer eat nuts, salads, onions, green & red peppers, carrots, green beans - the list goes on. If I were to list the foods that I've given up in my Avitar, it would take up the entire page. The only grain I eat is rice. I'm down to just four vegetables and I'm thinking about eliminating one of them.Also, obviously, the simpler the menu, the easier it is to pinpoint a problem. You eat a very complex diet, for someone with MC, who is still trying to track down intolerances. That makes the project much more challenging.
I'm not complaining, but I do think I need to set the record straight if the implication is that I haven't tried hard enough nor sacrificed enough to achieve remission by diet. There are others who are in the same situation that I'm in and I would never imply that they aren't working hard enough to achieve remission.
You never know what you can do until you have to do it.
Just now reporting back on my experiment of eating the leftover vegetables of the entre'. I didn't have a reaction at all, and didn't notice any rumbles, so that makes me VERY sure it was the balsalmic salad dressing. Perhaps it was the salad dressing that had lactose in it?? As I may have mentioned earlier in the thread, I tend to react to lactose in a couple of hours.
This place is not likely to give me the full ingredients of that house dressing, so I'm going to have to double check with the kitchen supervisor or a chef to see if they are sure it didn't have any dairy in it.
There's one other possibility, and that's related to the fact that I ate a great quantity of vegetables with that meal, but then, I never have had as much difficulty with vegetables as others on this and the former board, so that just doesn't seem like it would be possible this far out into remission. About the only time I had difficulty was with shreaded lettuce at one restaurant and shreaded cabbage at another, so I tended to think that there was something on those that shouldn't have been -- possibly a preservative, but that early on, it could've been just the way those were shreaded that was irritating to my then still healing gut.
Of course, I had already eaten all of those big shrimp at the restaurant, so yesterday, I just finished off the vegetables. I really doubt it was the shrimp, particularly since the reaction occurred in a couple of hours after eating it there.
I can't quite decide if I felt that sicky feeling I used to feel with the diarrhea that I had always associated with the sensitivities rather than just the additives or lactose that I can't handle. I seriously doubt that this restaurant would have any sulfites on their salads as it's always fresh, and they have a reputation to uphold.
I keep thinking that last Christmas I was able to tolerate that dressing with no problem, but perhaps this year they've added something different to "improve" the taste.
I suppose it's always possible that my reaction time could've changed, particularly to one of my lesser allergens. This is such a puzzle as it came out of nowhere, and before and ever since, I've gone back to normal!!
Mary Beth, I will send you a private message to let you know. I would basically just watch the balsamic vinegar ingredients, although some are fine. I think that there's just a problem with how some are produced, and I can't handle certain of the common additives, usually because they will trigger migraines if in sufficient quantities -- like lots of leftovers over several days, for instance.
Thanks for everyone's input. Just shows how it's difficult to eat out, and how we learn with each new experience with wait staff and kitchen sups.
Yours, Luce
This place is not likely to give me the full ingredients of that house dressing, so I'm going to have to double check with the kitchen supervisor or a chef to see if they are sure it didn't have any dairy in it.
There's one other possibility, and that's related to the fact that I ate a great quantity of vegetables with that meal, but then, I never have had as much difficulty with vegetables as others on this and the former board, so that just doesn't seem like it would be possible this far out into remission. About the only time I had difficulty was with shreaded lettuce at one restaurant and shreaded cabbage at another, so I tended to think that there was something on those that shouldn't have been -- possibly a preservative, but that early on, it could've been just the way those were shreaded that was irritating to my then still healing gut.
Of course, I had already eaten all of those big shrimp at the restaurant, so yesterday, I just finished off the vegetables. I really doubt it was the shrimp, particularly since the reaction occurred in a couple of hours after eating it there.
I can't quite decide if I felt that sicky feeling I used to feel with the diarrhea that I had always associated with the sensitivities rather than just the additives or lactose that I can't handle. I seriously doubt that this restaurant would have any sulfites on their salads as it's always fresh, and they have a reputation to uphold.
I keep thinking that last Christmas I was able to tolerate that dressing with no problem, but perhaps this year they've added something different to "improve" the taste.
I suppose it's always possible that my reaction time could've changed, particularly to one of my lesser allergens. This is such a puzzle as it came out of nowhere, and before and ever since, I've gone back to normal!!
Mary Beth, I will send you a private message to let you know. I would basically just watch the balsamic vinegar ingredients, although some are fine. I think that there's just a problem with how some are produced, and I can't handle certain of the common additives, usually because they will trigger migraines if in sufficient quantities -- like lots of leftovers over several days, for instance.
Thanks for everyone's input. Just shows how it's difficult to eat out, and how we learn with each new experience with wait staff and kitchen sups.
Yours, Luce