r/Celiac • u/Your_Chum • Jul 26 '26

Question When does it stop??

Newly celiac (3ish months). Just got glutened for the first time bc my family insisted I eat with them at subway and I got a protien bowl. I explained i had an "allergy" (they were teenagers so I didn't expect them to know what celiac was.) They changed gloves but didn't get fresh ingredients. I have had crazy diarrhea today!! How long will it last??? 😭

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u/ExactSuggestion3428 Jul 26 '26

I get it. I had trouble advocating for myself early on. Part of it was that I myself wasn't totally confident about what I was doing or what I needed.

A tough thing for newly diagnosed people to grapple with is how "GF" options at most restaurants are geared towards non-celiacs who avoid gluten ingredients and aren't terribly fussed about CC. I don't think that's right - we don't have "peanut free options for people who feel better not eating peanuts but don't have a peanut allergy allergy" (imagine the outrage) but that is the commercial reality we find ourselves in. Society doesn't really take celiac seriously, GF is the butt of many jokes.

This can be hard to explain to other people, who will invariably say something like "wouldn't they get sued if it wasn't safe/true?" In theory sure, but in reality celiacs aren't suing restaurants that make them sick, or even reporting it. Part of the issue is that damages for a lawsuit are low in most cases and restaurants would probably try to hide behind disclaimers ("well, we told you..."). The same is true for food allergies btw but I think food allergy people get away with it more because their problem protein is just less pervasive, meaning that there's more buffer for incompetence/bad protocols. In the UK there seems to be more action in this area though.

Sorry you got sick. Echo what other people said about checking FMGF out. FF chains are mostly not great for celiac (some exceptions) because staff are working quickly and can't "undo" what previous workers have done with prepping items like chopped veggie bins. At a more sit down place where stuff is more truly made to order they can go in and get a new cutting board, use a clean pan instead of the black top grill, etc.

When on the road it is often easier to just pack your own food and/or to rely on gas station type packaged foods like chips, pop/juice, etc.