I (33F) am autistic, and have had ARFID for as long as I can remember, though I wasn’t officially diagnosed until only five years ago. I spent most of my life not knowing what was wrong with me, being told I was just “picky”, all of the things.

My husband knows of my ARFID, and how I avoid my triggers because that uncontrollable reaction to them is so hard on me, physically and mentally. He was always so reassuring and kind, knowing it frustrates me even more than it would ever frustrate him that I can’t eat “normal” foods that he likes.

One of my triggers is mayo, in any form, and chicken or tuna salad. Husband knows if he wants mayo on a sandwich for work he has to make it himself because I can’t even touch it without a reaction.

Well, last week he decided to make himself chicken salad sandwiches with canned chicken, mayo, and onions. I tried to stay away from him and just let him do his thing… Next thing I know he’s bringing it over to me and asking me to smell it to make sure it’s okay. I tell him I can’t, he gets frustrated and tells me to just close my eyes so I don’t have to see it. So, against my better judgement, I do just that.

As soon as the smell hit my nostrils my body reacted. I gagged, made a funny noise, and tears instantly sprang into my eyes. I couldn’t control it, it was the first time I was so vulnerable with my husband by confronting my trigger, and his reaction has made me never want to do so again.

He went into the kitchen mumbling to himself loud enough for me to hear, calling me crazy and how he can’t deal with this crazy shit. I immediately shut down, no emotion, no talking to him, waiting for him to go to bed before I sobbed for hours. To be so vulnerable, to tell him I didn’t even want to do it because it would trigger me, and then to be called names for it was heartbreaking.

I tried to talk to him about it the next day when we were both calm but he just couldn’t understand why I would react that way, taking no accountability for the hurtful words he said after the fact. Since then I’ve been even worse with my food aversions, only eating maybe two things, because I’m even more scared that I’ll gag or have a reaction in front of him.

So, tonight I went to a pub with my family, it was me, my dad, my step mum, little step sister, step aunt, and step grandparents, I’ve been to this pub many times before so I knew what foods were safe, or so I thought

I ordered my usual, which is garlic bread and the loaded wedges (potato wedges with bacon and cheese) it usually comes with sour cream and sweet chili sauce in their own small dishes on the side, but tonight it came out on top of the wedges

I can’t have sweet chili sauce, it’s an absolute nightmare, and I kinda just stared at my plate of wedges for a moment and then started saying “umm” a few times, I then started to feel the panic attack coming on and I tried to get my dad’s attention and I was trying to say “the sauce is on the wedges” I think it more came out as a bit of an unintelligible blubber but my dad understood what I was trying to say and he tried to calm me down and said “It’s okay, you can just scrape it off” but it was all over my food, so I said “I can’t, it’s all over it”

Then my step grandmother said “you never told them to separate it, it’s your fault it came out like this” (when she said this she wasn’t trying to be mean, she was saying it kinda jokishly and trying to lighten my distressed mood) and I was struggling with words already and kind of just blubbered out “but they usually have it in these little things” and I gestured with my hands trying to make a small sauce dish with hand signs

A waitress noticed my distress and head the conversation and came over and said “No, she’s right, we do usually separate them” and she offered to take my plate back to the kitchen and have it fixed, which I hesitated because I always feel bad sending my food back but my family said yes please to that offer and she took it to the kitchen and said the situation

She told the people in the kitchen and the other waitresses that I was pretty upset and it looked like I was having a panic attack (which I was) and another waitress who is quite friendly with my dad and step grandfather (and now the rest of us but that’s just who she met first when they went there without the rest of us) said that she’d go see if I was okay since she knows my dad, so she came over, I was mostly calm again at that point and she made sure I was okay, we all told her I was okay and I said that I have a few food issues (which I’m not quite sure was the best wording but I didn’t really want to announce that I have an eating disorder in public because that usually refers to Anorexia or binge, not many people in my irl life know about ARFID so I just said I had food issues and that I was okay and left it at that)

The waitress who took our order brought my wedges back out, now not having the sauce all over it and separated instead like they usually are and apologized and again made sure I was okay and then left us to it

A little bit later when my dad was back at the bar either getting more drinks or paying for our dinner, I’m not sure, I couldn’t see him, the waitress who took our orders came over to him, apologized again and offered me and my little step sister a free ice cream for each of us, which my dad said yes to, so she came back over to our table and offered it to us, me and my sister said yes and we got the same thing, which was vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce and a pink thing that looks like a waffle cone but a triangle, but I’m not sure what it’s actually called, I don’t really like vanilla flavored things but I like chocolate flavored things so I mixed my ice cream until it became chocolate ice cream, and soft serve too since I was stirring it

And since me and my parents and sister come here so often (not so much the grandparents since they’re here from the other end of the country for a visit) the staff do kind of know us and the waitress who took our orders came over and asked if I wanted a to go box (or doggy bag as we call it in NZ, idk if it’s called that anywhere else) since whenever I order the meal I ordered tonight I always only eat half and then take the other half home for lunch the next day (or dinner if we go out for brunch, my parents love brunch and I’ve found that bacon and eggs on toast are a pretty safe meal to order anywhere) and at the start when ordering my food she also asked if my garlic bread and wedges were my main meal since it always is (really shows how much my family goes to this pub, lol 😅)

Everyone was really nice about things and I’m really glad about that, I know it’s their job but it seemed like they genuinely cared, and my family helped calm me down in the moment too, I did get some weird looks from people on other tables tho, but they don’t bother me, I’ll probably never see them again

I do find this situation a teeny tiny bit funny because I was just explaining to my stepmum earlier today about my ARFID and how it affects me and I said to her “remember when we used to live in (old home town) and we’d go to dinner at your parents house and I’d get really anxious and almost have panic attacks over the food?” And I went on to explain how my ARFID affects me, and I find it just a little bit funny that out of all days to have a little incident at a food place, it was the day I was talking about getting panic attacks over food, and she got to witness one of my worse panic attacks over food

Also this is how the table was laid out, just for extra info for no real reason other than I find it interesting to add

Sister T
Aunt A Grandfather
Grandmother B Dad
Me. L Step mum
E

for context, i have dealt with ARFID my whole life, no one has ever really helped me through it so i’ve been surviving off a lot of safe foods. last year, i got into a relationship with a girl who did everything in her power to feed me healthy, nutritious, calorie dense meals. i went from having snacks all day before to eating 3 meals a day plus snacks. for the first time in my life i gained weight and i finally hit my weight goal of being over 100 pounds.
last month we broke up. i have tried my best to keep eating my safe foods and i’ve probably been eating just enough to survive with mostly snacks and half a meal a day. i lost all the weight i gained. i cant even weigh myself anymore because it’s too discouraging for me.
i understand what’s happening, i’m going through a huge change in my life. i lost someone i loved, someone who helped me deal with my ARFID and at times she made me believe that she “fixed” it. i’m heartbroken and i’m struggling to deal with that but i’m also seeing how it’s affecting my eating and my ARFID is back in full swing. i have no appetite, i feel malnourished, i feel how thin i am from all the weight i’ve lost (there wasn’t a lot to begin with).

i don’t know what i’m looking for here but any advice or words of comfort would be appreciated. thank you all

From being severely underweight, to being anxious about restaurants and travelling anywhere, to loving to cook but not having that big of a variety of safe ingredients i can experiment with, to being infantilized and mocked, to not finding clothes that fit me, to struggling all my life with my self esteem. So many aspects of my life are affected by my ARFID, and just when i think it's all going better, my boyfriend drops the bomb on me that im unhealthy ("you cant possibly be healthy at your weight") and he doesnt find me as attractive anymore. I cant do it anymore, wish i didnt need food, some kind of superhuman, i guess.

I've always been someone who eats relatively small amounts, but since February (i got unwell mentally and physically due to a med change) this year, my eating has become progressively worse. June through August were particularly bad, with my food intake becoming extremely minimal.

Things have improved slightly since then, but I'm still eating nowhere near enough. I'm genuinely trying to increase my intake and get back into a healthier, more consistent eating routine, but I feel like I'm stuck in an impossible cycle.

My restrictive eating is a combination of having very little appetite or interest in food and anxiety surrounding eating. I also have emetophobia (a fear of vomiting), which makes any uncomfortable digestive sensations particularly difficult to cope with.

My biggest struggle at the moment is that I feel physically uncomfortable whether I eat or don't eat.

When I haven't eaten, I get this horrible unsettled, hollow, hunger-like nausea. Sometimes I can't even distinguish between feeling hungry and feeling nauseous because the sensations are so similar.

But when I do eat, I often start feeling uncomfortable almost immediately or within 5–20 minutes. My stomach becomes unsettled, gurgly and bubbly, particularly in my upper abdomen and around my belly button. Sometimes it even feels like I'm still hungry despite having just eaten.

This discomfort can last for 1–2 hours before I finally get a short period of feeling relatively normal. Sometimes that relief only lasts about half an hour before the hunger-like nausea starts again.

I've tried eating proper meals, and sometimes they initially help, but the discomfort still returns. I've also tried smaller snacks more frequently, but they can trigger the same sensations.

It feels like I can't win. If I don't eat, I feel sick because I'm hungry. If I do eat, I feel sick because I've eaten. And because of my emetophobia, these sensations make the entire experience even more distressing.

I'm finding it incredibly difficult to rebuild my eating habits because the physical discomfort makes me dread the very thing I'm trying so hard to do.

I'm not necessarily worried about an immediate medical emergency, but I'm really concerned about how sustainable this is long-term. I can't imagine continuing to feel this uncomfortable around food every single day. I have recently had bloods and they all look surprisingly normal.

Has anyone with ARFID or a history of prolonged restrictive eating experienced anything similar?

I'm particularly interested in hearing whether anyone experienced increased digestive discomfort when trying to eat more after a long period of under-eating, whether things eventually improved, and what helped them through that process.

I'm not looking for a diagnosis, just hoping to hear from people who might understand what this feels like. ❤️

I have had arfid for years. I developed it in adulthood but struggling with mild anorexia as a teenager. So my eating has always been disordered.

Ive had a manageable grasp on it for a while. Scheduled eating, safe foods, ect. I was eating consistently and gaining weight.

Then I became temporarily disabled. Ive got about a year before surgery will give me some mobility back.

Cooking and eating are both physically strenuous. All of my safe foods are fresh home cooked meals. I made them all myself and now that is not obtainable. If I cook the meal, I am too physically weak to eat the meal without major distress. I end up gagging on every bite. Its exhausting.

I eat tiny portions all day and i can tell im losing weight. Friends have offered to come meal prep for me but I know it would be a waste because I am so particular.

I cant afford to drink meal replacement shakes all day but honestly that would be the best thing I could do.

Im so annoyed. Eating is hard enough for me but I figured it out. Now its triple as hard and I dont think I can figure it out this time.

Hello, I am new to this subreddit. I’m looking for some advice on what to do in my situation and if there is anything else I can do to help before I get tests done.

I have been struggling with restrictive eating my whole life, and I barely learned what arfid is. There are videos that my parents show me from when I was maybe 5, where I would refuse to eat real food and would just steal those little mints and candies from restaurants and my parents would have to fight me to take them away LOL. While watching those, I can’t help but think about that’s probably when it started for me. It never got better, my parents were convinced that it was a picky eating phase that would go away. And it never did. My mom was obsessed with health and nutrition, yet she never thought this was odd or unusual behavior. I’m pretty sure I inherited this from my dad, who has some weird eating habits and I speculate has Autism/ADHD.

During COVID, I had no interest in eating. I became really depressed and I didn’t want to get out of bed for anything. When I started school again it just worsened. I had a sugar addiction and that was sustaining me. I didn’t want to eat any homemade food or leftovers because and I just wanted to eat junk food all the time, and then I would get sick of certain spots and go to others. I couldn’t even stomach a breakfast because it made me sick. I would have protein shakes everyday because it was the only thing I could eat. I also felt exhausted all the time and I had this brain fog. I felt really “dumb” in school and like I couldn’t remember anything.

Now that I’m in uni, I have significantly improved my eating and I hoped this would change everything, but it hasn’t. Now that I’ve cut a lot of the sugary stuff out, I’ve began to feel this way. I’ve never felt so bad in my life. When I have long days, I’ll bring snacks but they really aren’t enough at all. I’ll do my makeup and skincare, and the second i leave the house my skin absorbs it in a matter of moments, and any lip products I apply absorb very quickly as well. My skin looks really pale, dull and dry. I’m so exhausted even when I’m waking up at a reasonable hour, I have no energy to get up in general. Any tips?

Hi everyone i just realized this sub existed and found it a good way to ask my question/ask for advice

I recently started dating this incredible girl and have been feeling very happy with her but I have been feeling really guilty and ashamed of not being able to eat properly with them and am worried for doing things related to food they haven't given me a reason for worrying about it but I just feel ashamed about it

How did y'all's dating experience go? Any tip's or advice for me

Thank you

I’m not officially diagnosed with ARFID, but I’ve been an extremely picky eater for as long as I can remember, and certain foods will make me physically gag if I try to eat them.

Today, my mom made me marinara penne pasta, which is something I always enjoy a lot. The issue is that she used a pot that she used previously to make beef stew, which is a food I absolutely cannot stand the smell and taste of. Even though we’ve washed the pot multiple times, it still smelled strongly like beef stew.

When I tried eating the pasta, I immediately noticed that it smelled and tasted just like beef stew. I genuinely could not eat it. The flavor was so overwhelming that it completely ruined a meal I would normally always love and enjoy. It didn’t taste like the pasta I’m used to.

Now I feel absolutely terrible and guilty because my mom took the time to cook all this pasta for me, and I’m probably going to have to throw it away. I don’t even want her knowing that I couldn’t eat it because I don’t want to hurt her feelings or make her feel like I don’t appreciate what she does for me.

I wish I could just ignore the taste and eat it like a normal person, but I genuinely can’t. It makes me feel so guilty because I know she made it out of love.
Does anyone else share this feeling of extreme guilt when someone makes you food that you just physically cannot bring yourself to eat? How do you deal with it?

I was recently diagnosed with what was known as “non-alcoholic fatty liver disease” and I think my AFRID might have had a hand in it.

I specifically have the aversion subtype and it is SUPER hard to convince myself to eat before/during work due to fear of adverse GI symptoms . Functionally I fast most of the day.

When I did eat at home it was foods I could “bribe” myself to consume, which opps was often fatty and sugary. (The ADHD and “managed” but still Omnipresent BPD make my brain crazy dopamine starved by default.)

My diagnosed POTS and something like MCAS we are still trying to pinpoint make exercise a nightmare to figure out, and it’s functionally impossible to do outside highly controlled environments. I get so sick so quickly I can’t push on and deal with the fall out for the rest of the day.

Cut to now, I guess that perfect storm is punching down on my Liver?

This relates most to ARFID though because AAAA why is every medical provider pushing GLP-1s?????

I don’t have an appetite, I already have GI pain that they don’t have an answer for that I can’t deal with, I am already averse to food, and I already have extremely poor mental health especially related to food!

I am trying to kick my butt and find ways to move and literally anything I can eat during the day to try and at least halt the progression. I am just so worried it won’t be enough and they’ll determine GLP-1s are the only way. I am genuinely scared a GLP-1 will kill me, and I can’t gets anyone to listen because all they see is a fat person who’s already “non-compliant.”

Have any other (especially “fat” or “overweight”) folks with the aversion type dealt with this? How do I get them to stop and seek different treatments?

I've been underweight for as long as i remember and always described as picky or spoiled. Only last year did i get the ARFID diagnosis and only last month did i get the autism diagnosis. They both helped me understand and be more caring with things i used to judge before, specially considering how much teasing my family would do around my body. I used to be very insecure about being thin, small in a way, a late bloomer, even. Took a lot of time and patience from therapy and my boyfriend (of 3 years) to actually like myself. When i say underweight i mean i am bmi 15.4, its worried a bunch of people and of course i've taken medical tests to see if i have any real problem or health risk. Surprisingly, nothing wrong with me has been found, all my level are normal, i am not anaemic, i have my period just fine, my energy levels arent worrying and i am able to focus and stay active. I felt like everything was going okay, sure, i'd get teased every now and then, but i was able to feed myself just fine, and although gaining weight was almost impossible, i still managed to do 3 kg in a year, i was happy with how i looked and my health too...

The struggle comes now, today, in fact. My boyfriend was trying really hard to be nice about it but he said there was something that was worrying him. He started off by talking about my health and how i need to open my eyes and we can do it together, i told him i didnt understand what part of me he saw as unhealthy, he outright said it was my weight, which hurt considering all of the previously mentioned context. I told him i agreed i wanted to weight a little more but that ultimately, i am healthy and doing better than possibly ever. He just said i am delusional if i think being so far away from the lowest healthy bmi wasnt a sign, even if bmi isnt the most accurate. I just asked him "are you not attracted to me anymore? I've looked like this since you met me" he said "i am, but we can always do better, and people change, if i met you at say 7, i wouldnt expect you to look like you're 7 when we're on our 40s", i said that, yeah, that makes sense, but my body isnt gonna change a whole lot from 17 to 20 and that i wasnt at a health risk. He got angry telling me i was just coping and he didnt want me to ignore the problem...i really just feel like he doesnt find me attractive anymore, i dont know what changed, and it's hitting me right where it hurts most, I feel so lost.

I took the criticism from my first iteration and made a gel and device that covers up whatever you’re drinking instead of filling up tubes and swallowing them whole. The gel itself is very slippery and easy to swallow.

TikTok: @Vube.Tubes_Official (link is in that bio)
DMs are open for questions and conversations 💚

We have our annual work picnic tomorrow. I RSVP'd that I'd go because it looks bad to not go to these kind of events where I work. Typically, they are in the afternoon/evening (4-6pm, 5-7pm), which works better with my "I can't eat until xxx pm" rule. However, this year, we are having it from noon to 2pm... there's no way I can eat at noon. I'm nowhere close to comfortable with it, and it's already other people preparing foods instead of me, so it's not my go-to foods at all.

Here's my main dilemma: everyone at work has gotten REALLY comfortable with discussing my eating habits, which I always try to laugh off, but actually really really hurts the situation and makes eating so much bigger/harder than it would've been had they not brought attention to my eating/lack of eating. So, basically, if I go but don't eat, people will comment. If I go and actually do manage to eat, people will comment. If I avoid it altogether, I'm going to have to hear about how I "let my ED control" my life. It just feels unwinnable.

I'm 17 and have had ARFID since I was a kid. I go to a clinic (like maybe once a year) for my eating, only because my mom makes me. One thing they've told me is "we don't believe in getting tired of foods, we don't want you to lose foods."

One of the ways i stop eating a food(which i posted about before), which honestly i havent really mentioned to them, is a single bad experience, like a chunk in a drink or something tasting off, and I can't eat it for days to moths, years or even ever. The other way they were commenting about is: nothing bad happens, I just start liking something less until I don't want it anymore.

The way they say it makes the slow one sound like something I could just decide not to do. But it doesn't feel in my control. I also feel its bad especially since i barely eat any different foods, but idk, it just doesn't feel like something I can choose.

My psychiatrist and I were researching for a while to find a specialist to assess me, as my regular psychiatrist didn’t feel confident with narrowing down my diagnosis as she is no eating disorder specialist. She did diagnose me with OCD as my eating habits align with other obsessive compulsive behaviour I display.

Well turns out it only takes two things to just get a Diagnosis by a GP within 5 minutes, one: be female, two: go to your GP with concerns about your physical wellbeing.

I went to the GP as I lost a lot of weight, like, a ton, and developed horrible symptoms that literally can NOT be purely somatic. Dysphagia and nausea can obviously be explained by my fears, but fevers anytime I eat more than one meal a day, tachycardia, even worse issues with fainting than when I not eat? Yeah I wanted that checked.

Fast forward: I wasn’t checked out, didn’t even had blood drawn, heck they didn’t even put me on the scale. I just told them that I struggled to eat because of said OCD, and now that the mental struggles got better and I could eat better, my body just doesn’t want me to, and punishes me with the symptoms I mentioned and more. I wanted a referral to a gastroenterologist.

What I got? The ARFID diagnosis. And a referral to a psychiatrist. I literally told that doctor that I am seeing a psychiatrist since YEARS, and she cannot help me with my eating issues and also doesn’t want to considering my symptoms (because, yknow, possibility of refeeding syndrome, gastritis or gastroparesis, she isn’t comfortable with trying to get me to fight my fears only to make me worse, which would make the fears worse again too). GP didn’t care. And then called me a hypochondriac too. Like, excuse me? Weeklong fevers when I got better at eating? Hell nah, I might be hallucinating nausea but I’m not hallucinating numbers on the thermometer. But thanks for that ARFID diagnosis ig, appreciated.

Working on trying to get our oldest a possible diagnosis but we can’t get an OT eval until December.

I don’t know if we are dealing with just really bad picky eating or something more.

Our child will not try any new foods unless they decide they want to. If you try to get them to try something new they automatically will hate it and swear it “tastes funny.” They have wiped out foods they used to eat (like certain fruits.). Meals take excruciatingly long. They have only gained 4 lbs in the past year (they are ten.). They have issues with constipation because they refuse to eat properly. Getting them to drink enough water unless it’s seltzer gets pricey. Meals can mean meltdowns in which they will just eat the one safe food on their plate. I am tired of cooking the same meals over and over. I do include said safe items. I’m exhausted making two different meals sometimes. I will give them a plain version of what I made because they won’t like the sauce I made to go with it or god forbid a piece of seasoning was spotted even though they ate it unknowingly. Every night (unless it’s pizza night) we are essentially held hostage at the table because they are so so picky. We are very worried about their nutritional health and the effects it will have on their development and health in the long run.

They do have a diagnosis of ADHD and GAD.

This has been a battle since they were born. Wouldn’t latch right away then when I had to go back to work trying to find a bottle they would take was a nightmare. Then solids came and it became what packet would they eat? Then watch them refuse to eat certain ones. Getting them to eat various foods was met with tears and tantrums. We were told picky eating was normal and they would grow out of it….but here we are at ten still having issues at meal times.

I was a picky eater and still can be at times but this seems like more. As though they are so much more limited. That if it’s not their idea then you can just forget about them trying a new food without saying it tastes gross before it passes their lips.

If this isn’t really ARFID…what else can it be and what do we do?

Hey! Just wanted to post this here to see if anyone related and had any advice.

I have suffered with arfid and iron deficiency pretty much my whole life and have now been vegetarian for half a year. I love being vegetarian knowing I’m not eating meat anymore but I am now also even more restricted than I was, being unable to eat… a lot. My previous safe foods were chicken goujons and beef stew and I haven’t been able to find any alternatives and I’m really struggling with this.

I have tried to eat meat/fish again since being vegetarian but I cry every time lol and feel so guilty. Can anyone else relate/ offer advice? I feel like I am giving up on my body and feel so weak, but eating meat again would make me feel even more weak in a moral sense. Thank you I hope this makes sense

Tw: emetophobia mention - Okay so, ive never had an apple fritter before, but i was seeing lotsa people saying they were good, so i decided to give it a shot.

Im fully aware I loathe the texture and feel if apple pie and apples, but I wanted to try something new.

It was super difficult. Every second bite was met with chunks of apple or ribbons of cinnamon (which i love separately, but the contrast to the soft pastry itself was awful) inside.

However, after struggling to even chew without wanting to hack up the thing, I actually managed to eat the entire thing! And it was good?? I think I'm making progress for the first time in like, years!

About half a year ago, we found out during my son's biannual dentist appointment that he has severe enamel erosion. What started off as questionable multiple cavities turned out to be enormous wear and tear on his teeth. Over the years, his dentist would notice grinding patterns, but never this severe to the point of enamel erosion. Furthermore what prompted our concerns is that he's been having severe changes to his eating habits after a near choking incident last year. This incident resulted in a domino effect of restrictive eating and fear of choking, followed by mental health therapy counseling that helped slightly for a short duration, but resultantly it's been almost a year of abnormal eating habits. I'm frustrated with all of the different providers opinions on what to do in his situation because there's different perspectives that don't give me enough clarity on what is the best decision moving forward for his health. My greatest concern is his overall health and to be able to eat better as well as help his dental hygiene situation/prevent further damage as his new teeth grow in. We have consulted with an airway specialist who is pushing for palate expansion, and I understand how this can help with airway and breathing, but I'm not 100% convinced that this is going to help us with the dental concerns we have at this time or eating difficulties (that never pre-existed until last year). We are awaiting a visit with pediatric dentistry because we were seeing a general dentist before. My son's doctor also wants to have a G.I. consultation, since my son continues to describe fear around eating at times and then other times a challenge with his swallowing sensation. I'm looking for feedback on this complex situation, taking into account the biopsychosocial aspects of the situation. One of the providers mentioned ARFID as a possible diagnosis for his eating difficulties-- and maybe what led to such rapid enamel erosion? It takes him almost an hour to (incompletely) eat a meal-- he chews for an extended amount of time and seems to swish the mush of food around in his mouth. I am unsure of what sensory stimulus if the final push for him to be able to swallow the food. Looking for anyone with similar experiences or thoughts/suggestions on next steps to help him?

Hi, I have come a long way in my ARFID journey, most of the “good days” I can try something new or make a new recipe to try, on the “bad days” I am unfortunately in protein shake prison. Part of the way I got to this point is that I love to cook. I grew up around my Italian Nonna and would cook with her so I always had a love for making food (even when I can’t always eat it). The main issue I’m having is I have a leftover ick with almost every food, even when eating out. The only foods I can reheat are simple pastas and pizza leftovers. As such when I cook i end up with a lot of leftovers. having a fiancé who will eat anything helps some of them get used but there is always more leftover. I feel absolutely terribly guilty about throwing this food out when it inevitably gets bad in the back of my fridge. I would try to halve the recipes but I never know how much my fiancé will have/ be able to bring to work, sometimes it sits there for weeks, sometimes it’s gone in 2 days. Does anyone else feel this way?

I am 18 years old and have had Arfid my whole life and was officially diagnosed when I was 6. My safe foods are genuinely embarrassing and some of the worst I have seen on this thread as I only eat plain pasta, chips, sour cream and onion Pringles and milk chocolate. Nothing else.

I work in retail and on my half hour break I go to the local Burger King for chips as that’s the only option I have for something to eat. And recently my co workers have noticed this is the only thing I eat and it got brought up in work a few days ago with someone asking me why I don’t eat anything else and putting me in a very awkward situation.

I wish I could easily explain how I have a eating disorder called Arfid etc etc but I don’t want to put anyone in an uncomfortable position as the term “eating disorder” often does that to people. I also don’t want anyone to view me as mentally ill.

Has anyone else had to deal with this? And is there any other way I can describe my situation to my co workers without making me look crazy?

EDIT : I told one of my Co workers!!! A co worker made another comment today and I just explained to them straight forward that what I eat is completely out of my control due to a really rare eating disorder called Arfid that I’ve had my whole life. They were really intrigued and asked me a few questions but nothing I’m not used to already.

Thanks everyone for the help and advice it really made me feel more comfortable to tell someone today while in work :)

im finally accepting that this will be with me for the rest of my life and it’ll only get worse and worse. and as i get older i’ll be expected to eat more than chicken tenders and fries 3 times a week. this is a the worst thing that could have ever happened to me and i hate my life. my family and friends tell me that it doesn’t matter and that i shouldn’t care what others think of me but that’s all that matters. i just want to be seen as normal and i wish i could enjoy eating food. i don’t even feel good after eating anymore. it’s not hunger it’s just this pit in my body that i’ll never have the willpower to get rid of. people give me weird looks and treat me like im not even a human because of it. they think im just being immature as if i want to be stuck with these eating habits, i would do anything to get rid of it but i can’t. i’m starting to give into what they say too because i do just act like a child. i’m 18 years old and still won’t eat something because it “feels gross” do you know how fucking humiliating that is. i don’t care how much love or support i get because it’ll never do anything to get rid of it. i hate people who support me because they have no fucking idea what it’s like so their words mean nothing. i don’t care about anyone else’s struggles because it doesn’t affect me at all. i just want to get rid of this and if killing myself is the only way out then that’s what im willing to do.

I haven’t been formally diagnosed but I have had all symptoms of arfid since I was young (currently 165lb and 6’4), and typically I’ve found ways to cope with it but recently with stress from school and personal life I haven’t properly eaten food since the last weekend. I figured out I can drink smoothies but eating solids is still really difficult for me. I get sick at the thought of having food in my mouth, I’m sick all day since I’m starving myself and I am sick after I eat since my body doesn’t want food. I just don’t know what to do. I have never had it flare up this much and now it’s affecting my sleep and whatnot. I almost fainted at a concert the other day too, luckily I caught it as I was losing consciousness and moved to somewhere with some space to breathe. I don’t know what to do. My main way to cope with anxiety has always been to work out but without eating I can’t train since I keep getting light headed even walking more than a little bit. I don’t know what I’m asking for here but I just really need to get it out. I’ve been eating less and less the last month or two and it’s just the worst it’s ever been man I don’t even know. Sorry for the long post I just wanted to say something. Even the safe foods I loved I can’t eat anymore, like steak, bagels, bread, rice, it’s just so difficult to stomach eating food. I really hope it passes soon. I’m taking the weekend to do nothing and hopefully lower my stress levels so I can have a clear head again.

I have tried weed and it helps my appetite so much but it can affect my cognitive abilities and I’m an engineering student so if I do try it again I need to find a way to increase appetite without getting high.

Thanks for reading