Thanks for all the helpful links. I have a lot more reading to do as this word "glutamate" keeps popping in a lot of reading I've already done. It came up yesterday as I researching things that can affect tendons.

Based on some things I've read on the web, this Chinese restaurant I went to last night does not use MSG. If that's true, something else got me. How I felt before I ate and how I felt after was like night and day.

The products that the restaurant buys and uses, may have been pretreated with glutamate. So it may be "true" they didn't ADD any, but some may have already been there.

And another possibility is histamine. This is produced by certain organisms on stored food. Fish is a prime example. 2 summers ago my son and I were histamined by frozen perch. It didn't taste old or spoiled, but stored it would still grow some organisms.
By 3 pm both of us had burning feet. He had to take his socks and shoes off. This was new to him, but I just endured mine.
This attack responded to thiamine (which I had up there)... so if this happens again, try the B1...it might help (or not depending).
I suppose it could have been MSG too... a small local eatery in a small local rural setting.

Soy sauces are huge MSG containing products. I never use them, for that reason. If you order a soup of any kind, they usually are high MSG donators also.

People don't realize that bacteria continue to grow even when food is refrigerated or frozen. I am very leery now of ice cream following the long term Listeria contamination at Blue Bell in Tx.
Infecting people since 2013! We had a Listeria event in our state years ago--- a popular meat supplier. It was found that condensation from a pipe above a packing line, was dripping on the food! So I have no frozen ice cream or other treats here now...it is not unreasonable that we have probably been infected at least once. Listeria continues to grow in the freezer on whatever food it is resting upon.

Eating out is very hazardous. One restaurant upNorth, even has a disclaimer on its menu----"not responsible for food borne illnesses!"

That's exactly what I was wondering. I thought I remembered learning at one point that some of the sauces this restaurant uses are pre-made, so all bets are off as to what was in the sauce.

It wasn't the MSG. I'm having the same kind of flare-up tonight after dinner that I had last night. Ugh.

janieg, what did you eat? Anything the same both nights?

The only two things in common were chicken and spicy peppers. It was probably chili pepper in the sauce last night and jalapenos and habaneros tonight.

I guess I'll have to start paying attention to see if the peppers are involved. I'll be completely bummed if they are.

Maybe you should consider the night shades. I had to give them up too. That family includes potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, egg plant, paprika, pimento, and even tobacco.