Weird situation (TMI)

[anne1140]

Okay, this is kind of weird, and we can't figure it out, so I thought I'd ask if any of you have any ideas.

DH and I go over to MIL/FILs just about every Sunday after church for lunch. MIL doesn't make the same thing every time, but a few common items are potatoes, deviled eggs, biscuits, mushrooms, side veggie.

I'd say about 80% of the time we eat over there, DH and I both end up getting diarrhea. MIL and FIL (as far as I know) do not. This happened AGAIN today, and my stomach is still hurting. I've mentioned it once, and it seemed to hurt MIL's feelings, so I don't care to mention it again, but I can't willingly keep getting diarrhea, either! If it were just one person, it would be one thing, like a food intolerance, maybe, but it's both DH and I!

The only thing I can think of is that we are both vegetarians, and his parents are not. Could there be some sort of bacteria (?) on the eggs or something that their digestive system is fine with, but ours isn't?

Help solve this mystery, please!

[karika]

well this is rough for you.... it could be that their refrigerator is set too high and their food is not being kept cold enough. She could be old school with her food handling skills (thawing things on counter or using same cut board for veg as meat) or perhaps her dishwashing skills are lacking, or it could be that they do not rinse the soap off their dishes well enough I had a friend that barely rinsed her dishes so when I was there I would always prerinse anything i drank from or else i could taste the soap. I have the same problem, or did, back when I was in my home area. I get sick every time I eat at my mom's house and have for most of my life. she has fridge set too hot and has poor food handling skills. She never gets sick form it however. Also it may be the butter or something easy. What will not be easy is figuring out how to get out of the engagement without hurt. Did your dh get sick like this as a child living with them? if not, then things have changed since he left. you could just be honest and tell them you both got sick and do some investigating, like testing the fridge temp and asking if she cuts stuff in the same area she does meat. It was easy in my case since it was my own mother, I just told her I get sick every time for whatever reason and just never eat at her house (of course I now live 3000+ mi away, so not like I can visit anyway)when I was in town, I took over the master bedroom with attached bathroom and kept our dishes in there, using the tub as a place to wash them (which I cleaned the first day for this purpose) and cooked our own food (in our own pots), etc... I also turned her refrigerator to an acceptable level.

[babynatasha]

I was going to suggest the dishwashing stuff too. My Aunt never washes the soap off the dishes when she washes them. She has no problem, I do.

[anne1140]

That's interesting you mention that. I don't know what the fridge is set to, but I have noticed she leaves things out for a long time. I wouldn't be surprised if she used the same knife for things, either. And they do not have a dishwasher. (Not that that automatically means her dishes are dirty, but I thought I'd mention it.)

I don't believe that DH got sick growing up. I wonder, though, if any of those things are the case, why don't they get sick? Are their bodies conditioned to it or something?

[loveandkindness]

Does their water come from their own well? There may be bacteria in their water for which they have developed a tolerance, and you have not.

[CarrieMF]

When we go to other cities & drink the water it gives us the runs. At my sisters I can drink 1cup of water & it'll effect me within 30minutes. Even if I don't drink the water, if I eat anything that's been cooked in the water it'll do it.

[anne1140]

We live in the same town with the same city water, though. And this is only when we eat over there, not when we are just over and have a drink of water.

Come to think of it, if we eat packaged food, it doesn't seem to make a difference, either. Just when MIL cooks something.