Hi all im a late austic diagnosis and while i never really thought of myself as having an ED recently and looking on my past while seeing some content about arfid has made me reconsider. My anxiety has always been pretty prominent but either way id usually find some way to at least eat something. But in high anxiety times im lucky if i get a smoothie and part of a sandwhich down for the whole day. Fast forward a few years now im realizing a huge part of my appetite has always been based off of what im craving. Even if i have no means of getting this food i cant get myself to eat the food i DO HAVE. I’m not familar enough with arfid to really self diagnose and as there isnt alot of studies on arfid and many kinds im just not sure. All i know is that ive barely eaten for 3-5 days and if anything i maybe got down equivalent to a small sandwich of random stuff even while using medical mj. Im curious as to whether i should look into to this further as my worries dont reside with weight gain or loss at all and more so just this weird restriction that i dont understand.

Every time I walk to greet my mom she looks at me and makes a look of repulsion at my bony body telling me she won’t talk to me till I eat real food. It doesn’t work so she begrudgingly only speaks to me when she feels like it but ignores me whenever I try to talk back. When I express discomfort or feeling sick she and my dad tells me I deserve it and that it’s my choice to suffer. They call my problems a made up excuse or “it’s in my head”

No matter how I explain my fear of chocking and how I can’t help it. It’s like I’m talking to a wall. I try to explain Arfid and shame me for (talking to stranger online who want to take advantage of me.)

Even after explained to the my problem they ask me.

“Do I enjoy making them mad?”

Even when I try to eat solid food they make fun of me my attempts at chewing for extremely long with the tiny bites I take. I had a relapse last month which is why I only drink liquid when I freaked out choking in the bathroom as they ridiculed and tried locking me in my room coughing and gagging in my trash can.

I’m so tired and hopeless, why do I go on?

Has anyone who has been at a horribly low bmi experienced this when refeeding after basically taking in no food for quite some time?

Ahh. Came home from work to cook lovely butter noodles for dinner, for the 4th time this week. How lovely and I never get tired of it. anybody else love butter noodles plain?

I don’t know what “recovery” even is to someone who struggles with ARFID. I work with an ARFID-informed Eating Disorder specialist/dietician and have been for a year.

The main things have been trying to increase variety based off “safe foods” that I usually am able to eat and to be more consistent with timing of meals/snacks (such as setting reminders on my phone or having others remind me to eat). Distractions while eating, such as playing a game or watching a show/movie. And lastly, “mechanical eating” like forcing yourself to eat because you have to.

That is the most frustrating part though! Knowing that my body NEEDS the nutritional value from food to fuel my body, so I HAVE to do my best to eat, even when the WANT is not there (lack of interest, low appetite, anxiety around food).

There seriously has to be a better way than forcing yourself to feel physically uncomfortable, having to somehow deal with all the anxiety that can cause panic attacks at times, and force yourself to do something that feels like a mundane chore.

I want to give up on this whole “recovery” thing esp when expected to do things a certain way from my treatment team and family (as far as how many times a day I SHOULD be eating and having to do exposures with new foods).

Hi there, I'm curious if anyone has suggestions to make home made ground beef/taco meat that's the same super fine texture like taco bells? I'm not sure what tools or temperatures or additions of liquids or anything could get me in that direction. It's my favorite version of ground beef texture wise and burgers aside and I'd love to be able to do it at home next time I'm making beef for a sauce or tacos or anything. All suggestions welcomed!

I (16f) have been struggling with ibs and ARFID caused by my stomach issues for a better part of the year. I went to an ED outpatient treatment for a day before being moved to in-patient because of my suicidal thoughts and self harm. After a week, I returned to out-patient and for a while there, I was doing well.

I then got an ibs flare up and it has been wrecking my life. I am in a lot of pain, have weird symptoms from my ibs and I stopped eating three meals a day, I cut food out of my diet, and dropped 6 pounds. I am now about 100-98 pounds.

My treatment team then realized that they could not help me. They only seem to be able to help with sensory issues-related ARFID. WIth my ibs playing a factor, they encouraged me to leave the program and work with therapists outside of a treatment facility.

I cannot gain weight because of my stomach issues and how i am afraid to worsen them by eating. I really don't want a feeding tube, and I don't want to be forced into it. It is dehumanizing.

Does anyone have any tips for eating? I am so scared.

anyone else have an irrational fear of finding mold in food? i will not eat bread past the sell by date even if it looks perfectly fine. cheese, fruit, spaghetti sauce and bread needs to be throughly inspected for mold.

and I actually like them! I’m not a fan of spicy or lime flavoured things usually but I have a sinus infection and I thought “spice might help” (and it did😅) probably won’t get them regularly or anything but they were a win!

I got diagnosed with ARFID this year. Since then I haven't been able to get stimulant medication for my ADHD. Also I got assessed for an intensive outpatient program for my bipolar but they wanted me to do the partial hospitalization program partly due to my comorbid eating disorder.

All my providers keep telling me to get a dietitian but a find those appointments so exhausting and take up more of my time on top of the therapy and psychiatry appointments.

I'm was so happy I was finally diagnosed with ARFID but it's come with so many downfalls in getting other care I need.

Plus it dampers my physical and mental health. I hate it here. I wish it would just go away.

i also hate pulpy lemonade. god. sometimes lemonade is all i can drink and then its pulpy and i can feel the fucking pulp in my mouth and its so horrible. i hate the fizzy feeling of soda and it hurts my entire mouth. im OK with frappes though.

I'm not really sure how to go about this, so I'm sorry about any mistakes.

I'm eighteen and autistic, a rather late diagnosis I only got within the past few years. Any problems I've had with food, I've attributed it to my autism—the issues with texture, the sensitivity to smell, I've always just chalked it up to being autistic, or being a picky eater. I have always been described as a picky eater, too, so I thought it was only that, and that I was normal.

But, recently, I began to look into the possibility of having ARFID thanks to my boyfriend's insistence; and many traits seem to align with how I feel, but, at the same time, many are at odds. I don't know how to—or if I should, honestly—approach my parents or a doctor about this, so I'm kinda looking here for some help and advice. Sorry.

I'm gonna try and talk about my relationship with food here, if anybody could help. For starters, I don't like that I have to eat to survive. It's annoying, and it takes so much effort that I don't have to give. I thought this was depression, but now I'm not so sure, knowing that a subtype of ARFID is a disinterest in food altogether. Lethargy and general tiredness, too, are things I thought were my depression alone. Furthermore, I'm very, very sensitive to the way food looks, smells, and feels: texture is a key determining factor in foods I will eat. Anything that is "goopy," I absolutely detest, and I refuse to eat—just the thought makes me queasy. And, also, temperature: oftentimes, I crave food that is cold. For example, I will only eat pizza if it is cold (but there is exactly ONE pizza place that I do enjoy hot, so that's something, I guess?). I chalked this up to a simple preference for cold foods. I have a loss of appetite almost perpetually, and I don't really notice that I'm hungry until I get stomach pains and uncontrollably shake.

However, there are also traits of ARFID that I do not have or completely contradict. For one, I'm not afraid of choking or being sick, or anything like that—my avoidance of food comes from not wanting to do the simple act of eating it. I''m not underweight: I'm 5'0, 115lbs. And I do eat—just not very many things. I have a very, very selective palate, which, again, I thought was just picky eating. I eat only the same handful of foods, and I know I'm not getting my proper nutrients. I think I'm overweight because even though I don't eat a lot necessarily, what I do eat is unhealthy or junk food, and I have begun to drink soda as an alternative to eating food. There have been many times where I will drink a Pepsi instead of eating a meal because the thought of eating makes me ill.

Most things people associate with ARFID, I've associated with my autism. Maybe there's an overlap, and they're interconnected. Maybe they're not. I don't know. I'm sorry that this turned into more of a ramble, I'm very confused right now. Thank you.

(English is not my first language so read gently)

As far as I remember I'm underweight, had iron issues and had to take vitamins. I don't remember being bullied about it, so it didn't worried. But now I'm 25 years old and people think I'm 15, and I feel like I'm not taken seriously as an adult at all.

I'm also small in high, but I'm convinced that if I gain some weight people would not be so confused about my age.

I know there are hypercaloric supplements, I've been watching some fitness content about bulking, but how come everything that has large amount of calories and is healthy and fast be sweet? I can't stand an hypercaloric drink with chocolate or straberry flavor, and seems like it's all that's available on the market.

I would like to know if someone has some advice, or if people wanna vent about it too, would be nice just to know I'm not alone.

Some personal info: I don't like almost nothing that's sweet, and when it's about salty I like almost everything, but I have long avoidance moments that make me skip meals and I don't feel like chewing nothing at all. I'm drinking sweet hypercaloric at this moments like is medicine, but I don't want to hate so much feeding myself anymore. I kinda needed some salt healthy hypercaloric that I don't have to chew, and that's don't require much meal previous prep cuz I have a very busy routine.

Anything that isn’t liquid or crunchy is physically have a hard time consuming. The texture in my mouth and sliding down my throat makes me nauseated. Im also struggling with getting my protein intake because meat is really not available crunchy.

Not sure whether to spoiler or tag NSFW?? But potential TWs for health anxiety and could potentially cause new worries. Please do not read if you think it could affect you!!

Okay on to the actual text, my safe food list is veeeeery small and the foods I actually eat from that list daily are smaller. I think like 90% of my diet day to day is literally just white bread, and this makes me so worried. I don't get much fruit or fiber regularly and definitely no dairy but I try to get some protein and veg. I get so upset that I can't eat healthy and I'm so worried about getting diabetes/heart disease/etc from the way I eat. But, we all know how difficult it is to even try one food let alone enough to full 180 my diet. I'm just wondering if anyone feels the same way? Or maybe if anybody has any advice or any health info that could be reassuring?

TLDR: For those with autism- and ARFID- influenced eating issues like those described below, has a dietician helped you? What advice did the dietician give, and did you find it useful? Was it a good experience overall? Would you say that visiting a dietician is likely to be worth my time?

Basically, I went to the doctor, because I had such bad food intake for a couple weeks that I needed a blood test, and they gave me a referral to a dietician. So now I’m wondering if consulting with the dietician is likely enough to be helpful that I should spend my limited mental energy jumping through the hoops required to set up an appointment.

As far as I can figure out, my eating issues are mostly due to the following:

-subclinical ARFID (subtypes: sensory sensitivity, lack of interest in eating)

-hyposensitivity to hunger (basically the autism goes “haha you don’t get to feel hunger like the average person, instead you will feel nothing until suddenly you are shaking and sweating and feel like you will need to be in the hospital if you don’t eat within a half hour”)

-adhd forgetfulness and time blindness that, combined with the above, makes me forget to eat

-executive dysfunction that makes it hard for me to go shopping or prepare food, even packaged food

-a tiny bit of wanting to be skinnier, but it’s not the major issue

If anyone has had some or all of the first four points, and seen a dietician, I would really appreciate if you would tell me whether it helped, what sort of things they might talk about with me, and any other things you think might be helpful. Thank you!

I got my dx a month ago. I also have a paralyzed stomach. I tried getting a dietitian but my insurance fucked me over, like they do everyone.

None of my (few) friends have ED's/ARFID. One of my siblings is a recovering anorexic (years in remission, very proud of them) but I don't think it's fair to talk to them because for all I know, all my current issues could be a trigger for them.

I lost my main safe meal (chicken nuggets) last week. I'm someone that will eat a food to death and then never want it again. And I did that with all my other safe foods (3 total).

I just feel so isolated. And like shit, physically speaking. I don't know how much worse I have to get for insurance to take me seriously and let me access treatment.

Idk. At this point the only peace I feel during the day is when I'm high. Sad place to be.

i made a post on here around this time last year asking for tips for surviving the holidays with arfid (thanks to everyone that replied!). i blinked and it was november again! since then ive made progress towards getting a car so i dont have to attend these holiday gatherings that fill me with such dread if i dont want to. so now, instead of getting jokes and rude comments about whats on my plate, ill get pestering questions about why im avoiding family. so.....yippee?

the holidays have always been a difficult time for me. for some reason, both disorders i have (social anxiety and arfid) are some of the most offensive things ever to some people, not talking to people and not eating the food they cook. i often think about if i had a disorder people knew more about, like anorexia, maybe id be left alone as to why i "dont eat".

i wish this time wasnt so food-centered. id love to join in on all this festive fun we're having but i physically cant.

I'm 16 and about 3 months ago a bunch of food begun to look unpleasant. I used to love fruits, chewy candy, toast, and other things. But now I can only eat like 12 foods, and some of them are still difficult for me to eat. Anytime I look at most food it makes me nauseous and I tried to force myself to eat something outside of my current 12 foods, but I spit it out and couldn't eat for a few days afterwards. This might be relevant but I'm recovered from bulimia. My pickiness hasn't been related to my body imagine though. I think it's a sensory thing with food or lack of interest but I might be dramatic. I also can't tell my parents because we can't afford medical bills or any treatment I might need without struggling financially.

Trigger Warning for numbers.

I’ve lost 25-30lbs in the last 6 months. I’m now clinically underweight (and at least 10-15lbs lower than my minimum ideal). I work with a dietitian & therapist weekly. I am actively working on increasing my intake to gain weight, but it’ll be a while before I even get it back up to a maintenance level, let alone a gaining level. I’ve never been at this low of weight before (as an adult) but the last time it was similar my DEXA scan was .1 point off from osteoporosis. I’m entering the age where my bones are finishing their calcification, so any density I lose now is gone forever, and will require HRT to counteract the effects. Why is it not an acceptable course of treatment to do outpatient tube feeding for ARFID? I’m actively working on improving my intake, but I want to avoid long term damage to my body and increasing orally will not happen fast enough to prevent that. Being able to run maintenance feeds overnight while working on increasing oral intake during the day would literally be a lifesaver (or bonesaver, if you will) but it’s not a thing? Like why the absolute hell not?

One day I like the food the next day eating it makes me wanna puke..

TW: I’ll be talking about vomit.

I (32F) often feel nauseous like once or twice a week. Can last a whole day or just few hours. I did noticed that this happens often when I eat more carbs than usual , I don’t know if there is a correlation there. Mostly sweet bakery like cake or croissant makes me wanna puke few minutes after. I almost never eat cake unless I bake it myself, so that I can make sure that there is LESS sugar than in a recipe, and that the consistency is dry enough (if it’s soft , I can’t eat it either, I would just spit it out). Also I stopped eating croissant because even though I do love it so much, I do feel sick after eating it. This also happens when I eat fries or any deep fried thing.

Lately I eat more bell peppers and carrots , only things I can tolerate right now. But only steam-cooked and a bit sauté. My husband made chili sin carne, I ate it, it was very delicious, and I did like it a lot. But right after eating I had to go to bed because I felt sick but didn’t wanted to offend him since he cooked for hours (of course I am exaggerating).

I do rarely eat meat and fish. I have a problem with the smell of it in my mouth AND since we adopted cats , it did make it worse for me because of cat food smell and aesthetics. I of course sometimes crave a steak but I wouldn’t get myself some because I know exactly that I would feel sick afterwards and that would be a waste of money and a beautiful steak.

I used to eat a lot of rice , I am half Asian , half African so it’s in our culture to eat rice at every meal. However since few weeks now , do not want to eat it anymore, I love the smell of it though , I would just cook some to smell it and maybe eat a spoonful of it with my steamed carrots. But compared to the amount of rice I used to eat, it’s kinda saddening me.

I am not pregnant if u ever wonder. And this happens to me often since I was young. I never made any allergy test, maybe I should.

If anyone has any advice or any tips for dealing with nausea after meal time. Please tell me

Is anyone else picky with water? i love water and drink probably more than the average human, but im extremely picky of where the water comes from.

i will not drink water from other peoples sinks, i will not drink specific brands of bottled water (because of taste and texture). i pretty much only drink filtered water that comes out of my fridge.

if someone has a filtered picture in their fridge im still pretty iffy of it depending on how wacky their fridge smells.

also i need that shit to be ICE cold. warm water or room temp water is disgusting and i will not drink it.

This is where the term “emotional water bottle” really is a true statement. because water from my fridge in my owala is the safest water for me.

I have a friend and she told me that she has ARFID Plus, and I just want to know if there are any guidelines on off-limits things to mention? I know that each person's experience is different, but just to be safe. So far, she said that I was doing fine and wasn't weird about it, but I couldn't feel at ease without double checking with a third party first.

Another thing, she has repeatedly mentioned that managing foods that she can vs can't handle well for herself makes her feel like she's in a hospital, or that she's being treated like a hospital patient. She really seems to dislike it, saying it makes her feel like she isn't safe. Has anyone else felt similarly and are there workarounds to this?

Hi everyone! Really happy i found this sub. It’s been amazing to finally have a word for the thing i’ve spent so much of my life agonizing about. So for those of you who date or are in relationships, how early into dating do you disclose your ARFID, if you do at all? What are some of your favorite things to suggest for dates that don’t involve food? Have you felt limited in dating because of your ARFID or do you feel like the right person will understand? Honestly just looking for any comment on experiences with romance and ARFID

For context I’m 29NB i’ve been single for a few years and recently overcome a severe alcohol addiction (that i ironically developed in order to help my appetite but wow how silly was that obviously backfired). I bring that up because as well as food dates i tend to also stay away from bars and clubs or other places where drinking is the main activity/draw. I don’t need a place to be dry but I don’t love spending tons of time around drunk strangers anymore.
I’ve never told anyone i’ve had romantic feelings for about this part of myself I’m still trying to navigate the shame around it but i think going forward if i disclose it at some point maybe that deep sense of shame will start to get smaller? idk Thanks in advance!!

Hello all! Looking for recommendations for spicy simmer sauces that are vegetarian to put on some veggies/noodles to get more veggies in my diet. I find spicy sauces makes it way easier to consume more veggies otherwise I can’t do it.

My go to safe-food simmer sauce was tragically discontinued. I really enjoyed the Saffron Road Thai Red Curry sauce because it wasn’t chunky and didn’t have added veggie chunks in it.

I can’t eat anything with fish/meat or oyster sauce as I am allergic.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!! :)

The safe food list of stuff I consider "meals" (Yes it is mostly junk):

1. Burger King Chicken Fries w/ Honey
2. Chicken Tenders (has to have certain meat-to-breading ratio)
3. Deep Fried Mini Corn Dogs 
4. Pizza Sticks/Cheese Sticks/Mozzarella Sticks (ONLY THE ROUND ONES)
5. Casey's Cheese Pizza or most Plain Pepperoni Pizzas
6. Homemade Chili (no veggies)
7. Homemade Chili Dogs (w/ regular hot dogs)
8. Taco Bell’s Soft Tacos/Homemade Tacos (w/ or w/o the green lettuce parts -NO WHITE PARTS-)
9. French Toast/Waffles/Buttermilk Pancakes
10. Smoked Kentucky GrillMaster All-Beef Hot Dogs
11. Marketside Turkey Subs w/ Mayonnaise and/or lays potato chips (the thin ones, no wavy or waffle stuff)
12. Super Donuts
13. PB&J/PB&Honey/PB&Chocolate/Uncrustables 
14. Butchers Bacon

The announcement (RANT/VENT about treatment/diagnosis):>! I have trying to tell my mom since I was 10 that I have an eating disorder (ARFID), for 7 years she ignored me. FINALLY 7 years later my new therapist tells me I have an eating disorder and I need to be hospitalized for malnutrition. My moms words to my therapist when she received this call?: "Oh, I would have never guessed, that explains so much." like I haven't been telling her this for 7 years. I had to drop out of college so I could get treatment only to later find out my insurance wants to "make sure I NEED hospitalization" like the fact that I haven't eaten a fruit (save for tomato), veggie or multivitamin since I was 6 and am in chronic pain and chronically fatigued isn't good enough.!<

Side question: Does anyone else's tics get worse after being very full or very hungry? They get so much worse when that happens (louder/more frequent/more painful)

(bananas.)

As long as I can remember, I've found some foods completely repulsive. I literally can't bring myself to eat them. It always really confused me when someone would say they don't like a certain food but still eat it. Not only that, but I would also be really confused when I ate something and didn't like it but was reduced to gagging whenever it came near my mouth. But I've just realised that's what not disliking food it for most people and, when I not able to eat something it's probably ARFID.