I get diarrhea and abdominal pain always after going out to eat, what can be causing this?

I am a 40 year old female and always after going out to eat i get severe abdominal pain and diarrhea, it gets so bad i can not control it and have been known to have accidents because of it. it does not happen at home when i cook, only after i go out to resteraunts and it does not matter what kind of resteraunt it is. I hate it when my family asks to go out to eat and i know what will happen to me. What can be causing this?
Thank you

The first thing I would try to find out is whether or not it is the food you are eating or not. To me, it sounds like it isn't since it happens at all restaurants and not just certain ones. My second thought would be that it may be something psychosomatic (in other words, something in your mind that is causing physical symptoms). It may quite possibly be something like stress or anxiety as this can definitely cause these symptoms. Try to determine if it only happens when you go out to eat with your family or does it also happen when you go out to eat with friends, co-workers, etc. A great way to take a look at what is going on is to write down every instance of abdominal pain or diarrhea that you experience after going out. Note the name of the restaurant, type of food eaten, meal (breakfast, lunch, or dinner) and who you ate with in the restaurant. You may also want to write down any other information that you may feel is pertinent, such as if you tried a new type of food or went to a new restaurant for the first time and it happened. Eventually, you will be able to determine a correlation of sorts. If things don't improve, consider seeing a doctor for further evaluation.

Possible phsycological "conditioning" There is some reason your system gets nervous because you go out to eat. ry to figure out why it is that you are not comfortable with this.

Could be MSG that comes in restaurant food, even though most claim to be MSG free. Could also be that your stomach just won't tolerate certain foods, I can't and don't eat any thing really rich or high in potassium like bananas, I get the same reaction to these foods as you're describing.

it could be an additive called msg (monosodium glutamate) that restaurants (especially Chinese restaurants) put into your food.
Or other preservatives, additives or chemicals

it really just may be that your body can't handle the cooking or oil they use. try to order something like a salad with chicken. something simple and with fiber. there isn't much else to do, but keep on trying to find a place that agrees with you.