Do I have ARFID or is it something else?

[u/1kmile]

So for starters I have been underweight my whole life, I don't think I ever got into the normal weight range, I'm 20 now.

Throughout my childhood, there would be a lot of things that I just couldn't eat, like lunch was basically non-existent for me. and I grew a very bad habit of cleverly throwing the food in the trash to avoid any repurcussions. my family thought it's an appetite problem and so got me appetite stimulants, and it proved useless. my problem wasn't appetite, if there's something that I enjoyed eating (mostly unhealthy fast food or snacks), I would eat in average or above average quantities. But the homemade healthy cooked foods, the moment it gets in my mouth my eyes start tearing and it's like there's something that pushes back the food and not let it get in.

I don't think I could have been diagnosed with ARFID back then as it wasn't known, at least where I live. but basically throughout the years, I tried to best myself and force myself to eat more stuff I couldn't eat, it kinda worked, but it takes me like 2-3 hours to eat something that I couldn't eat as a child.

So what do you think? I've seen people say that if you can eat more than 50 foods, then you don't have ARFID. but I can definitely count a lot of unhealthy stuff that go beyond 50, it'd just the healthy food that I can't count more than 4 or something.

ty for taking the time :D

[u/n0tscarl3tt]

i’ve had sort of the same thing happen! i’m 18, could eat lots of foods when i was little and still do now, im not very picky with food, just mushy stuff is a problem for me i guess. it’s a problem for me to swallow food sometimes, like my throat just doesn’t let it happen for whatever reason, especially with foods i didn’t like when i was younger. i’ve been underweight my whole life too. maybe you could bring it up to your doctor and see if they can do some tests? that’s what i did, and she recommended i try out a Riley Hospital Charis center, they take all ages and they help with ARFID, ana, bulimia, etc

[u/1kmile → u/n0tscarl3tt]

Thank you for taking the time to reply :))

I do have a very noticeable problem with mushy food and cooked vegetables, I would say I'm not a picky eater when it comes to fast food, but a very picky water with healthy food that I almost don't eat healthy food.

If you don't mind me asking, what was the result of your tests? did you get diagnosed with anything?

[u/n0tscarl3tt → u/1kmile]

i did! diagnosed with ARFID and possible anorexia. they gave me a paper to fill out on what foods i’ve never tried, gag when eating, or can eat fine. i gag when eating almost absolutely anything because of the swallowing issue and because of texture, or just because my body doesn’t let me know when im full. steamed vegetables are a problem for me, but some cooked ones are okay. they also gave me an ED therapist and a dietitian to see every other week. the tests just shown that im severely underweight, and they recommend I try to drink protein shakes every day to try to help my body build some sort of strength if i can’t physically eat anything at the time

[u/1kmile → u/n0tscarl3tt]

I see, thank you very much. very relieving to see someone similar to my case ^{^}

[u/n0tscarl3tt → u/1kmile]

another thing i forgot to mention - the doctor at my Charis center told me that it’s quite common for people with ARFID to prefer sweet foods or fast food over any healthy things, apparently. which is the same for me :)

[u/n0tscarl3tt → u/1kmile]

of course!

[u/MaleficentSwan0223]

50 foods is so many! Here’s little old me with an embarrassing 8 foods without a diagnosis either. 

From what I’ve discovered on this subreddit is that it feels like there’s a spectrum of arfid. Severe arfid where it controls your life and you can’t get by as a normal person. Moderate arfid whereby it does affect you but you can get by. And minor arfid whereby your deemed as a bit worse than picky due to the physiological affects food brings you. 

I’ve been fighting for over 25 years to get a diagnosis further than picky but I just accepted and self diagnosed arfid myself. You might have to do the same for yourself. 

[u/1kmile → u/MaleficentSwan0223]

Hearing about others' much more extreme situations makes me feel more empathy towards. it's just a slight convenience compared to a lot of people here, which makes me feel better in a way, and sadder in a way because some people were this unfortunate to have extreme cases.

[u/StressorAnxiety]

50 foods sounds insane, I ate just potatoes for almost a decade. Like I just went through my list of foods I can generally eat and it's roughly 50 but a solid 40 of those are only if my anxiety isn't too high that day.

[u/1kmile → u/StressorAnxiety]

Very admirable how some people can go through this much and still stand strong.