Has anyone else stopped eating for a while?

[ashley26]

My emet is so bad that I've actually been hospitalized because I would not eat for months. I've been in and out of hospitals doing a bunch of tests to figure out what is wrong with my stomach and everything was fine. All it was was my phobia.
I did get better after i was put into an eating disorder hospital, where they basocally forced me to eat, which did make me feel better. so for the past 4 years ive been fine but I would still get scared and freak out if I or anyone around me felt sick or got sick but I was still able to have a pretty normal life and eat and go out.

But then a few months ago it started again with me not wanting to eat anything cause I'd always feel sick after but I know it's anxiety. I lost a lot of weight and had to move back home with my parents for a while. They put me back in the eating disorder program but it does help!! Especially when all the girls there talk about v* and how they did it last night or this morning and it freaks me out. I just don't know why it is so hard for me to eat. I'm just so scared to feel sick but by not eating I'm making myself feel worse.

I feel so hopeless right now. Like this is just never going to get better. This phobia and all this anxiety is really affecting my life in very bad ways. I feel like I'm losing everything. And I just hate seeing how disappointed and worried and scared my family is. I don't know what I can do to make this better. No one seems to understand even therapists and doctors. They say they do but they don't understand just how bad my fear is and how crazy it makes me feel every day. It's getting to the point where I can't leave the house.

I'm just wondering for the people that are suffering from this, have you ever stopped eating for a while? If so, how did you start again and how'd you feel? I would really appreciate any suggestions

[JessicaVictoria]

I haven't been eating properly for the last month for the same reasons I lost weight too which really scared me. My parents are getting really scared which i feel guilty about I'm exactly the same, every aspect of my life seems to be falling apart right now! I'm so sorry you feel this way but it will get better, this is one of the most common phobias in the world and so many people have overcome it, and you will be no different! As for the advise about starting to eat again, what i suggest is to start off small. Have bland food like potatoes or soup, as you start eating your appitite will come back to you

[Sam_]

When i was 15 i went three days without eating and i started to get weak and scared so i tried nibbling on bread and i lost a bunch of weight. i got to the point where i forced myself to eat but it was easiest (and still is) to eat very nutritious things like fruit but also just small stuff like strawberries for example. if i began to worry i would start chugging the medicine which usually helped my anxiety. i slowly got better, although to this day i still dont have a perfectly normal diet. i believe one of the first steps to being able to eat again is to learn to calm the anxiety so that you can make it through a meal, or at least a snack. I know exactly how it is, and its a nightmare. pm me if you ever want to talk about it, i hope this helps also remember to always try to stay positive!

[ashley26]

I'm sorry you are feeling this way as well. I know how horrible it is I just really hope that we can overcome this phobia and live our lives the way they should be!

I have another question...
Does anyone feel nauesous like ALL the time????
And does anybody like not know how to distinguish between if they are hungry or sick?
ANy little discomfort in my body or any little feeling in my stomach (being gassy, or my stomach making noises) I just think that I am sick so then I freak out or don't eat.

[JessicaVictoria]

Seriously those three questions just describe me

[ashley26]

Ahhh! This is such a terrible phobia! Thank you guys for responding! And i'm trying to eat little and little but it's just so hard when i feel so sick all the time But I know that not eating will just make me feel worse.
You'd think that because we hate v* and n* that we would try not to feel like that yet we feel like that like everyday..its just so exhausting

[andee]

I sooo know those feelings Ashley!! I was also hospitalized twice in my life because of anxiety and not eating....and each time it was for two months!!! It was awful both times. Once was when I was 10 and the second time I was 16, and that was on a psychiatric floor with eating disorders at a children's hospital. It took a looooong time to get better but I finally did. I am now 42, and still quite thin, and can lose weight in an instant. But as you age and mature, you get to know your body better and realize the difference (at least a little) between hunger, anxiety, nausea, etc. But I am still like you in that I am aware of every little twinge or feeling going on...and when I'm anxious I don't eat. I remember back then I had what were called "safe meals." They were foods that I felt safe eating...you could try to make a list of foods you like and feel safe about. I remember mine were breads, crackers, cheese, peanut butter, noodles, rice...I will still use some of these even now, and I add more to this list too. Most important, you need to eat. You are right that you will only feel worse and cause a lot of trouble if you give in to this anxiety. Small steps each day...take care and hug to you!!

[Sapphmonster]

I've never gone ages and ages without eating anything, but when I'm anxious, I find it very difficult to eat. Just remember that your body needs SOMETHING, some sort of nutrition, otherwise it feeds off itself and then you loose weight and get into all sorts of strife. As we speak, I am on day 3 of an anxiety attack and all I ate yesterday was 4 crackers. I am planning on forcing the issue today and having some toast later. It's important to keep hydrated, and things like cordial or juice (I dilute mine if I'm feeling *n or anxious) for some sugar or sports drinks to give your body some nutrients.Make some chicken soup and then just strain all the bits out. Remember too, that you can feel gross and get quite bad pains if you haven't eaten for awhile, sometimes eating will make you feel a little better. So much of the tummy issues are caused or worsened by anxiety. Good luck!

[Reebes]

I also have serious issues with eating. In the past four years I've lost about 40lbs, 10 of those just this year. I'm 5'6" and 120 lbs and getting way too thin. In the past few weeks I've managed to not lose any weight, by just making sure I eat as much as I can every day. At this point I don't worry too much how healthy it is - I just eat it if I want it. I still never finish a meal, but at least I haven't lost more. I try to see it as this: every time I eat it's a victory and I need to keep "winning." it helps.

[ashley26]

I used to LOVE eating and trying new things and now I can barely eat anything. I get so much anxiety while trying to eat, like i start feeling dizzy and n*
I'm just so sick of this and I know my boyfriend and family are too. I can't enjoy anything anymore, all day I just worry and think about not getting sick and do I feel sick or Am I gonna get sick today? This is just so messed up...I really need to get some help but everyone just assumes that I don't eat cause I don't want to get fat which is so not true! no one understands...

[Murder-my-soul]

Yes I have. On and off struggle with me. When I start eating normally I do feel loads better yet I am always scared to eat because I am scared a sv* will have kicked in and make me v* and embarrass myself. It's all irrational thinking.

I have never been hospitalized for it but I have been watching by doctors, counselors, etc.

Oh and to answer your three questions, all my answers would be yes. I am the same way. It's such a struggle.

[wanted]

I didn't eat for a while when i was 9. I was really underweight and at that time,i also had some kind of school phobia.
I remember eating only apple..and i was at mental hospital for 2 weeks where i had to eat,it was very hard. :/
And how ironic,i eat everything i see now.

[ashley26]

Thank you guys so much for responding. In a way it does make me feel better that I'm not alone but it's such a terrible thing to be afraid to eat, it really does ruin everything. I hope we can all overcome this phobia soon.

[Crazy-foreverxXx]

Yes I'm going through that right now Today I've literally eaten two slices of toast for breakfast, and all through college a packet of crisps and about twelve mints. I'm like addicted to polos because apparently mints help nausea. Mum and Dad have cottoned on that I don't eat much as I used to so I get proper meals when I'm at home which is fine because I'm not anxious then! At college, I get so anxious about being sick I can't eat anything at all -_-

[lauren37]

I've been exactly where you are and i can actually tell you that it does get better because it did for me. Try starting out with smaller meals and then increasing and that will build up your appitite. I also drank ensure which has a lot of calories and vitamens but its easy because its a drink and that helped me gain a lot of weight. please PM me if u need any advice we are all here for you xo

[summerdazies]

I have had these issues on and off but it's complicated by the fact that I also have eating-disordered tendencies (was actively anorexic for a number of years back in middle/high school), although the earliest time I can remember choosing not to eat (either a specific food or to eat at all) was when I was 5, after seeing another little girl v* at a birthday party.

When I am nervous about getting ill, I will especially not eat much or only "safe" foods. At summer camp once, when I was 10, another girl v* and it freaked me out so I refused to eat. They yelled at me and said if I didn't eat I'd be more at risk of getting sick.

Ensure is a good option for easy calories. They made me drink that so I would stop losing weight if I didn't want to get hospitalized.

I apologize if my language here isn't particularly soft-edged, as I am currently having some similar issues myself! But please know that you are DEFINITELY not the only emet who has issues with food in whatever respect.