Food and Eating ISsues

[afraidnp]

I'm just wondering if anyone else has major eating issues due to the phobia... I've dropped down to 44 kilograms im not sure what that is in pounds but at the moment i'm 23 and fit children clothes...
I cant eat any meat or anything that has a risk of giving me food poisoning and i'm not comfortable until I know my stomach is empty....
I know it sounds ridiculous but I think if I have nothing to *v then nothing will come up and its making things really hard for me! does anyone have serious problems with their eating too? I hate this

[lizzim]

Hi
I am exactly the same, i will not eat until my tummy is hurting with hunger.
i wont go out until at least an hour after eating incase i need to *v, at least im at home.

i feel silly but its the way my life is!

Hope you get better soon xxx

[vixki]

hey... I'm the same... I went down to 40 kg a couple of years back, which is sad for my height how tall are you?
i eat better now because when I was really low weight, I had a big health scare and thought I could die.. made me realise I didn't actually want to die.
i hope that it never gets that bad for you! xx

[abbi]

Yep, I'm like this at the moment. Last week, I didn't eat for three days in a row. I'm so thin right now, my underwear is too big for me.

[TiredofFear]

Yes. You aren't alone. It's been an ongoing battle, and I've even been misdiagnosed with anorexia because of it. However, I don't have anorexia; I'm afraid of vomiting. It's hard to eat because I get frequent nausea, and I'm not sure if it is a virus or not. I'm always terrified of getting a virus. I definitely below my minimum ideal body weight.

[vixki]

^ thats the same with me, people misdiagnose me as anorexic, i'm not, but sometimes its easier to let them think that...

[afraidnp]

I'm the same, I dont eat for long periods of time because I constantly think I picked up a bug.... how do u get around this and get my confidence in eating back?

[mason14]

I'm the same way. It has everything to do with this phobia.

[lizzim]

Ive been to the doctors so many times about this but they just dongt help, they dont know enough about emetophobia

Hope you all get better soon xxx

[Mrs. Bloom]

I'm just wondering if anyone else has major eating issues due to the phobia... I've dropped down to 44 kilograms im not sure what that is in pounds but at the moment i'm 23 and fit children clothes...
I cant eat any meat or anything that has a risk of giving me food poisoning and i'm not comfortable until I know my stomach is empty....
I know it sounds ridiculous but I think if I have nothing to *v then nothing will come up and its making things really hard for me! does anyone have serious problems with their eating too? I hate this

I do this as well. If I am eating, the second I start to get scared, I immediately stop. I also reason that if whatever I have eaten is going to make me v, the less I eat of it the more mild it will be.

I'm way under my ideal weight because of my eating habits and very unhappy about it.

Hi
I am exactly the same, i will not eat until my tummy is hurting with hunger.
i wont go out until at least an hour after eating incase i need to *v, at least im at home.

i feel silly but its the way my life is!

Hope you get better soon xxx

I like to have some time after I eat before I do anything too. Usually I lay down and try to relax... doing anything else is too scary some days.

[andee]

Saaaame here! I am 5 foot 1 inch and about 95 lbs. I am naturally thin but in the past was hospitalized because I couldn't eat..."they" all thought anorexia...but no, it is pure anxiety. And I HATE when people comment on how thin, skinny, slim, twiggy, I am! It is so hard to gain weight, and we are in a huge minority so no one understands. THey think we're lucky...HA.

[x...RaChE...x]

I was like that my sister shouted at me when i dropped about a stone telling me im a anorexic... but of course I didnt know emetophobia was real at the time, i just thought i had a random appetite loss :L but then it really pissed me off when my mum used to complain that she couldnt stop eating but i found it a struggle to eat a meal because Id always think the 'full' feeling meant there was a good chance id vomit, id also cringe at the feeling of food going into my stomach :L but Im not really like that anymore, got used it i suppose... I feel bad for all you people who are finding it hard to eat because of emetophobia, it gets really worrying, though the 'chubbier' you are the more your appetite increases good luck to you all with food issues.

[Stover]

hey im new to this place how can I post a question. This site makes me feel so much better to know im not alone

[julespet]

I have the same problem, about a year and half ago I lost 50kg and I tried to get help from doctors and they would not listen and kept sending me for test after test. I then become pregnant and I hardly ate and I am lucky my baby was born healthy.

[vixki]

ugh. My little brother has just commented today on how I never eat. He's ten years old. HOW do you explain emetophobia to a ten year old?! I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm trying to lose weight, but I'm not, I just get scared. And I do eat, but maybe not with the family, I try to eat when I am hungry even if it's not at regular times, just so I DO eat something. I'm so ashamed that he's noticed. I don't want him to notice, he's ten, he doesn't NEED to notice... I don't want this to affect him growing up or anything.

[vixki]

hey im new to this place how can I post a question. This site makes me feel so much better to know im not alone

Hi Stover, if you click on one of the links that says 'post new topic' then you can create a new topic with a question in it

[catlobster]

I went through a period where I would eat nothing but shredded wheat, saltines and water. I lost a LOT of weight and become very withdrawn and depressed...I was feeling n* all the time and couldn't escape, so I simply wouldn't eat. I started passing out at work from dehydration/malnourishment, and they did tons of tests on me, with no anwsers. I was diagnosed with depression, but I think that came from fear. Anyway, they put me on SSRIs (a type of antidepressant), and it made me feel a lot better...I went from anorexic to overweight in a few short years. I still won't eat if I feel bad, but rather than lasting for months, it lasts hours. Its been 5 years since then, and I just got off the antidepressants. Luckily, I have not had a relapse, though I could certainly afford to lose a few pounds!
I would suggest to you to find your "safe" foods. Applesauce, shredded wheat, saltines, and occasionally dry cereal worked for me. Of course, anything with ginger. Various veggies too...they are completely "safe" if you wash them well then steam them lightly- you'll kill any potential bugs but still have some good nutrition in there. Oh, and rice...a great "safe" food, but to up your calorie intake, make it with coconut milk/cream rather than water...it's tasty and gives you the fat you need. Dried beans are good, you soak them and cook them yourself, so you control any contamination.
I understand how people won't eat due to fear...but a vegan diet cuts out almost all of the foods that usually has bugs in them (meat, dairy, eggs), and you will have enough variety and nutrition to maintain a healthy weight. Also, remember- if you have to v*, it's better to do it with food in your stomach (or so I hear...I don't speak from experience on that one!)

[becca16]

im the same i lost alot of weight because i fought if i didnt eat i wouldnt v* and i got really ill and ended up in hospital with a really bad health scare which scared me real bad! im alot better with eating now but people still say i look anorexic but i just let them think what they want now cause i no im not but it was really hard to get out of what little i was eating to eating more but i got there and i do still think ive eaten too much sometimes and get worried but i think i will always feel that way! x

[boriqua81]

Hi!! I am the same way..well kinda. I have my days where my anxiety and nausea is soo bad that i barely eat and then i have days where i can eat all day. Its such a battle because i am 5'7 and only 116lbs. People always say oh your soo thin to have two kids, your so lucky, etc. Uh NO!! I would love to gain some pounds but its almost impossible with this phobia. Just when i think i am okay, the nausea hits and the roller coaster starts all over again. Anyone else have this problem???

[Jill in Apartment 413]

Boriqua- I know how you feel. Some days I can eat and eat and eat and be fine, and some days food scares the crap out of me! When that happens I stick to my safe foods. For a while I was 165 pounds but went through a long period where I was sick (Due to switching meds) and dropped 23 pounds! I haven't gained it back, and probably won't only cause I am much more skittish about food now than I used to be on my old meds. Anyway I know exactly how you feel!

[julespet]

Hello Boriqua,

I usually do not eat after 2.00pm, I also have ibs and when I get pain and nausea I go into panic. I am started to lose weight again.

[Lexi]

I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only one with eating issues from this...I will go days without ingesting ANYTHING (water, food, anything!) when I'm near some one with a sv*, especially one of my kids. Then, when I try to eat or drink anything, it's like it gets stuck in my throat, like my throat has closed up from the anxiety. I'm back on meds now, so usually they help me relax enough to eat something, so we'll see. If it's not pure anxiety, it's the fear of food contamination...I can't get out of the spiral of this phobia. I used to get upset when people would assume I had "body image issues" or that I was anorexic...but as Vixki said, it's sometimes better to just let folks think that, rather than divulge the real truth (which I'd never do, anyway.)

[catlobster]

I feel for you guys...I had a period of about 8 months like that, it was awful. I went on celexa and for some reason it "fixed" the not eating thing... plus I work in an enviornment where everyone is in your business. My doctor threatened to assign someone to me to watch me eat, to make sure I actually did eat...it was tough love, but it helped. Not eating was a difficult period, I loved food so much prior to it all happening...I would eat, then instantly feel horribly nauseas. Then the feeling sick would lead me to hole up in my apartment and become anti social. Which led to extreme depression. What an awful cycle!
Unfortunately, I ended up gaining alll my weight back...and then some...but I've come to the conclusion that I'd rather be "fat and happy" than anorexic and miserable. I hope you all can find something that will help you...its a really steep climb out of that place, but it IS possible.

[jennjohnson18]

I do the same things.. but what helps me is to ask myself if It does come back up is it going to be any better if its this color ? or that much? NOOOO its going to horifing no matter what so I just eat..

[Jill in Apartment 413]

Jenn- LoL that's a good way to look at it

[patchie]

Hello,

I remember being like this whenever i knew that anyone was ever s*, i used to live on dinner rolls, and not eat anything else and i would have very little to eat because i thought it was better not having anything in my stomach.

I went and saw a cllinical pshycologist, that helped me a lot, with the above and what you guys are experiencing, it took me a lot to say it out loud to the guy that i saw, and when i did that was when he told me it had a name emetophobia, and when i discovered this website.

He really helped me with the anxiety relating to the what happens he explained the way things worked, how to deal with different things, aviodance etc..... i am not totally cured, but i am in a far better place than i ever was before, i eat normally and i trust my husband to cook for me. i recognise the signs of when i am going down hill, and beore i get too bad i book in for an appt with the same guy again and tell him what is going on.

The key to this is finding someone who is aware of this so you might take a few different poeple to find the person you feel comfortable with.

I really feel for all of you, because i have been were you all are, and it is a hard place to be, i hope my post has helped.

I think that i was very lucky to find the person that i did, we have a website here in australia that lists what sort of pshycologist a person is and what they specialist in so i choose my CP (clinical Pshycologist) based on what he treats, i am in australia, so i am not sure if they have the same thing where you are.

I hope this helped.

patchie
xoxoxox

[Jill in Apartment 413]

I am in a way better place too now, sometimes I don't even feel like an emet! Then other days I fast and cannot eat at all. Those days are few and far between now but it happens and I just can't function. Yesterday at work I got n* and had to sit up in the dressing room for an hour curled up and shaking. It was not fun.

(I'm an exotic dancer if you were wondering why there's a dressing room at work LoL but I have a legit job lined up just have to pass the test this week)

[Leigh6870]

I do this as well. If I am eating, the second I start to get scared, I immediately stop. I also reason that if whatever I have eaten is going to make me v, the less I eat of it the more mild it will be.
.

I do this exact same thing!!! I figure if I eat half of a hamburger or just a couple pieces of sushi that I won't be sick for as long if/when it happens. Ugh, this is the most frustrating phobia!

[Leigh6870]

I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only one with eating issues from this...I will go days without ingesting ANYTHING (water, food, anything!) when I'm near some one with a sv*, especially one of my kids. Then, when I try to eat or drink anything, it's like it gets stuck in my throat, like my throat has closed up from the anxiety. I'm back on meds now, so usually they help me relax enough to eat something, so we'll see. If it's not pure anxiety, it's the fear of food contamination...I can't get out of the spiral of this phobia. I used to get upset when people would assume I had "body image issues" or that I was anorexic...but as Vixki said, it's sometimes better to just let folks think that, rather than divulge the real truth (which I'd never do, anyway.)

Am I weird? I am proud of the fact that I'm an emet. I find it to be a completely normal fear and at least this way they know why I'm so skinny and don't eat. I mean, this phobia isn't "normal" but you know what I mean? I'd rather them know the truth. Most people are very understanding once they find out.

[Mrs. Bloom]

I do this exact same thing!!! I figure if I eat half of a hamburger or just a couple pieces of sushi that I won't be sick for as long if/when it happens. Ugh, this is the most frustrating phobia!

I am glad I am not the only one who does this! And yes, it sucks. Every time someone tells me "eat more!" or "you don't eat enough!" it's just a reminder of my problem and I don't know how to explain -__-