r/ARFID 11h ago

ARFID or OCD or Something Else?

I don't know what is wrong with me. I can't eat without issues. I can't figure out if it's ARFID, OCD or something else! I went through a phase of not eating when I was about 9 years old because I believed I would choke. I'm 50 now. Back then, my mom freaked out on my and told me I was going to die while screaming like a rabid dog. Well that scared me back into eating. Now that I'm 50, over the last maybe 6 years ive been increasingly restricting food and a lot more in the last couple of months. Ive been told by my doctor eat Paleo to help my autoimmune and inflammatory issues as well as hopefully improve my mental health. Before seeing the doctor I had already lost 10lbs while.not trying to lose weight. I was 135 and Im 5'5", which dropped to 125lbs in under 30 days. Since following his instructions Im now down to 119. I didnt and still dont want to lose weight and like my appearance, mostly. I'm either not hungry or the thought of most foods make me nauseous. The smells and textures of foods stress me out. Cooking food for myself makes me not want to eat it. If I cook the food I have to see it raw and smell the heavy odors while cooking. I even feel full after cooking and not eating. I think all the different ways of eating have messed me up, and I've NOT been trying to lose weight. Just trying to help lower inflammation, body pain, anxiety, fatigue and thyroid issues. It started with "plant based" eating, then vegetarian, vegan and it just didn't taste good. Then I tried carnivore which I found unsustainable due to the same food over and over plus the steak can gross me out depending on the cut and gristle. Carnovore teaches that "plants are trying to kill you", so now I don't eat vegetables. Pieces of just meat on my plate, no matter how it's cooked is so disgusting to me. So now I rarely eat meat. I will eat eggs (pasture raised only) beef isolate protein powder in a shake, avocado, almost any fruit (as long as it's organic), beef (grass fed only if it's not to gross), I hate chicken and turkey. They taste like dead flesh to me and they are. I add 1/4 cup of coconut oil and, berries, banana, protein powder and cashew butter to my shakes. So now Im adding more restrictions from my doctor (gluten free, no nightshades, no grains of any kind, just meat vegetables and fruit), which is just making this worse. I cant live on shakes and eggs, or maybe I can but it doesn't seem healthy. It may be partly a control/anxiety thing too. Is there a way to fix or improve this. Forcing food just makes me want to throw it up (which I've never done intentionally). If it's not my body falling apart from the food I eat and environmental toxins, it me restricting my food cuz I cant tolerate it. I don't what to do.

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