I am always so careful when it comes to eating out at restaurants. I live by the phrase "If I don't know what's in it, I don't eat it." Well, just the other day I ate some french fries at a roadside diner. I questioned the fries. I questioned the phrase I live by. I chose to eat the fries.

There have been a few times in the past where I have "been glutened." (I heard that term once and I thought it was so fitting... an accidental gluten ingestion). When I was "glutened" in the past, it was when I was first diagnosed. I guess you can say I was still learning, although I was very knowledgable about the disease from having taken care of my father. I can have potatoes, so I have have those potato skins at happy hour, right? Wrong. I can eat meat, so those meatballs are ok, right? Wrong. This particular occasion-- I can eat all french fries, right? Wrong. These fries were cooked in the same oil as battered onion rings, I came to find out.

I'm pretty sensitive. Within the hour I can tell that something is wrong. I usually have stomach pains-sometimes pretty severe- and it lasts for an hour or two. The last instance of the french fries was the worst. It felt like someone was stabbing me repeatedly with a knife in my stomach. There really isn't anything I could do, although I did not try any type of medicine this time. I wait for the pain to subside and I just "sleep on it." I'm usually better the next day. Without getting too graphic, there is a bathroom trip involved.

You can't be perfect everyday, although I'd say out of the last year, I can count on one hand the amount of times I was "glutened," and I might have a finger to spare. It's difficult. It takes a lot of time, thought and energy.

P.S. The potato skins ended up being fried first too. The meatballs were made with breadcrumbs. *sigh* Live and learn.

It really depends on how much of it I eat, but usually within an hour or two. I have a couple of stories with gluten.

The first time I experienced a major gluten reaction was when I still didn't know what illness I had. I had a chronic cough, heartburn, etc. But those were comparatively "mild" compared to this one time. I was going to meet my girlfriend's friends for one of the girls' birthdays. We were at BJ's, which is a large chain pizza/burger restaurant located at Southcenter Mall in Seattle, WA. I ordered a beer (pear flavored, I believe). Of course, most beer is happily full of gluten. I never really drank enough beer to have noticed a direct connection to my stomach problems. At BJ's, I took a few sips to ease my nervousness, the usual social lubricant. About 15 minutes later, I started coughing mildly. I also noticed that my breath was becoming shorter. I had an inhaler in the car and excused myself to go grab it from the mall parking lot.

As I was walking in the parking lot, it became increasingly difficult for me to breathe. Halfway to my car, I was actually fighting to keep my throat open so I could breathe. Then suddenly, my throat had closed to the point where I wasn't getting enough oxygen into my lungs. I fell to the pavement and began army crawling in the direction of my car. But because I could barely think, I didn't really know where my car was. I looked around the parking lot for another person, but nobody was around. It was just my luck, a completely packed parking lot with no cars driving or people walking. I scrambled for my phone, feeling pretty certain that I was going to black out pretty soon. I was actually blacking in and out; it felt like a scary movie. Imagine the Blair Witch Project but in broad daylight. I called my girlfriend and was barely able to force out a panicked sentence, "Help me, I can't breathe".

She was able to get out there and shoulder my dead weight to my car. I got some benadryl and my inhaler. After about 2 hours, I felt good enough to drive. I probably should have gone to the hospital that day.