When it comes to in-laws, most people don’t expect to become best friends. A polite and respectful relationship is usually enough. But sometimes, family tensions run deeper, and small disagreements can turn into years of conflict. One woman recently shared her story in an advice column, where she suspected her mother-in-law was intentionally making her sick with food at family dinners.

According to the woman, her relationship with her husband’s mother was rocky from the beginning. While she tried to remain respectful and make an effort, her mother-in-law seemed unwilling to give her a fair chance. Instead, every visit turned into a subtle battle of control, especially when it came to food.

The daughter-in-law explained that every time she ate her mother-in-law’s cooking, she would end up with severe stomach issues—particularly diarrhea—while everyone else at the table seemed perfectly fine. At first, she thought it might be coincidence, or that she simply had a sensitive stomach. But over time, the pattern became too clear to ignore.

Frustrated and eager to know if she was imagining things, the woman decided to conduct a simple test. During a recent dinner, she quietly swapped her plate with her husband’s before the meal began. Her thought process was simple: if she got sick again, then it must just be her body reacting badly. But if her husband ended up sick instead, then it would prove something much more troubling—that her mother-in-law was doing something specific to her plate.

Later that night, her suspicions were confirmed. For the first time, she didn’t experience any stomach issues. Her husband, however, spent the night in the bathroom with painful diarrhea—the exact symptoms she had been dealing with for months.

This revelation left the woman shaken. Was her mother-in-law deliberately trying to harm her? Or was there another explanation, such as cross-contamination or some ingredient his mother knew she couldn’t tolerate? In her letter to the advice column, she admitted she wasn’t sure how to confront the situation. On one hand, accusing a family member of poisoning her would cause an enormous rift. On the other, she couldn’t keep putting herself at risk every time she attended a family dinner.

Readers of the column were quick to respond, with many expressing outrage on her behalf. Several pointed out that if her mother-in-law truly was targeting her, it was both malicious and dangerous. One commenter suggested she stop eating anything prepared by her mother-in-law until she could be absolutely certain it was safe. Others advised her to sit down with her husband and share the results of her “plate switch” experiment so he could fully understand what she had been going through.

Some readers speculated that the mother-in-law may be slipping in an ingredient she knew the daughter-in-law couldn’t tolerate, either out of spite or a misguided attempt to exclude her. “This sounds intentional,” one person wrote. “Nobody gets that sick from one person’s cooking unless something’s being done on purpose.”

A few, however, encouraged caution before jumping to conclusions. Food intolerances, they noted, can sometimes affect one person in a household while leaving everyone else fine. Still, even those who doubted foul play agreed that the daughter-in-law was justified in protecting herself and avoiding meals prepared by someone she didn’t trust.

The story also sparked a broader discussion about toxic family dynamics. For many, it highlighted the delicate balance of trying to maintain peace while protecting one’s own well-being. Several commenters pointed out that spouses often play a key role in addressing these conflicts. If her husband fully understood what was happening, they argued, he should take a stand and speak directly to his mother to prevent further harm.

In the end, the daughter-in-law’s story struck a nerve because it touched on more than just food—it raised questions about trust, respect, and the boundaries we set within families. Whether her mother-in-law’s actions were deliberate or not, the woman’s health and safety had to come first.

For now, she is left with the difficult decision of whether to confront her mother-in-law directly, stop eating her meals entirely, or work with her husband to address the problem together. What’s clear is that no one should have to risk their health to keep the peace at a family dinner.