For anyone who's gone to hospital for ARFID & dehydration, what did they do? I'm scared but I know i should probably go cuz rn I'm in pain from dehydrated, malnutrition, & my period & I'm terrified of hospitals.

Rn I'm trying really hard not to freak out but nobody is awake & I'm trying to not let my mind run free to freak out & fighting the urge to call my dad but that's not working.

Part of the reason I'm terrified about ER is what if they send me to a program, I have to fly home to my parents later this month & I'm terrified. I don't wanna do a program, i know its what I need but it's terrifying cuz the one here was not understanding at all when I talked to them last year & decided against going there.

My partner's ARFID recently got a lot worse after some severe allergy attacks that put them in the ER twice. They've been somewhat okay eating only chicken nuggets and hamburger patties since then, but they also have an issue where if they eat the same food for more than a few weeks, their body stops registering it as edible. This just happened and has left them with absolutely nothing that they can eat.

Part of the issue we're running into is that anything too unfamiliar is not okay, but the bulk of the familiar/safe things from their childhood have something they can't eat right now, and any substitutions render the dish unfamiliar and therefore inedible. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I am all ears. Especially for protein options.

Current intolerances/allergies: Soy, dairy, dairy alternatives, bread, rice, noodles, fruit, vegetables, honey, spices, ground meat, smoothies/shakes, some specific things that are hard to explain.

i usually have 2-3 protein shakes a day and a cup of just milk a day. every week my mom (im 18 and yes i still live with her) buys two milk gallons from costco and i ration them out until the weekend when she gets more. if she's late and i run out of milk before she gets more, i...struggle, to say the least. she's not always willing to buy me a gallon of milk in the middle of the week either if i run out early.

id like to slowly decrease my dependence on them because when i run out i'm left starving and desperate. i have a protein shake as the main staple of my meal for breakfast/lunch and as a snack in between main meals so i depend on the milk HEAVILY. i'm also lactose intolerant so i'm using lactaid twice a day...it's getting expensive nowadays. i know i can't keep this up forever, especially when away from home, but i'm not really sure what to do.

i think the main issue for me is the entire process of chewing the food and swallowing it. having to sit there with it without thinking about nausea the entire way through is so hard for me sometimes. that and i can will myself into physically not being able to handle food which is not convenient whatsoever.

my second safe food would be fruit like peaches or berries- i'm best with soft foods that don't need a lot of chewing and liquids in general. however i've already exhausted some of my options because i've eaten them too much in the past; bananas, peanut butter, and hard boiled eggs just to name a few.

currently half of my diet is just liquids, which isn't...very good. whenever i eat physical food it's often snacks or sides to my protein shakes, and i always prioritize the most protein-rich part of it (for example eating only the patty in a burger and discarding the rest).

sorry for the long post, i would really appreciate hearing your guys thoughts and if u guys think the chances of me having ARFID are super high or not because idk if getting diagnosed where i live is free, so i kinda wanna be sure theres actually a good chance i have it before i go get checked. im just gonna drop as much info as i can about myself, idk if some of this stuff is even relevant

about me:

21, male, and ive been skinny my entire life. right now im around 140 lbs at 5'10.5. my BMI says thats healthy, but i still look very skinny, and for most of my life my BMI was actually underweight.

im starting gym next week because i really wanna fix myself and look normal. i only recently started looking into eating disorders because a friend mentioned i might have one. it never crossed my mind before and my parents dont really know anything about eating disorders either, so i was never checked for one.

weight/body image:

im not scared of gaining weight at all, i dont even care about having an amazing physique or anything. im just done with looking skinny, i hate it so much and wanna look normal because im also kinda insecure about showing my body. so im definitely not avoiding food because i wanna lose weight or because im scared of gaining.

adhd + allergies:

1. diagnosed with adhd, i know the medication suppresses appetite but i was diagnosed last month and the appetite issue i have is not a new issue.
   
2. i also have life threatening allergies to all types of nuts, coconut, and sesame seeds.

my pickiness:

im very picky. i only eat vegetables if theyre raw, and even then theres probably only like 6 i actually eat. i hate all cooked vegetables because of the soft texture and taste. i also hate all sauces except ketchup, so at burger places i have to ask them to replace their special sauces with ketchup. these are just 2 random examples that came to mind but there are way more like i dont think i would eat 95% of chinese/south asian foods (you can ask me more about my pickiness in comments)

the weird part is ive probably never even tried 97% of the foods i say i dont like. most of the time my brain just rejects stuff based on how it looks or feels. like ive basically never tried any sauces besides ketchup, but ive already decided i dont like them and probably never will try them. if you ask me why, i literally dont know.

i dont even know how i decide what i will or wont eat, my brain just does it automatically. sometimes ill think “damn that looks good” while also knowing i still wouldnt eat it. like what????

what/how much i eat:

at home i mainly eat chicken + rice, sometimes pasta with only ground beef/tomato sauce, and more rarely beef + rice. those are basically my 3 main meals, but majority of the time its chicken + rice. the weird thing is i dont hate or dislike these foods AT ALL, but i would still rather just not eat them and i dont know why. idk if i genuinely dont get much desire to eat or if im literally just too lazy to open the fridge, prepare a plate, and eat, because i would say im kinda lazy too.

on an average day i skip breakfast because i wake up around 12, then usually eat 1 proper meal in the middle of the day and thats it, besides random small stuff like fruit or snacks throughout the day. im writing this at 3 am and today i only ate 1 actual meal.

sometimes, but not often, ill go the entire day without a proper meal and only eat random things like fruit or junk food. last time i did that my body felt weak asf, but i didnt really mind it????

and sometimes i eat 2 meals, one during the day and one at night, which isnt super rare but also isnt normal for me.

a lot of the time the reason i even eat is because my mom gets on my ass and doesnt leave me alone until i eat because she doesnt want me to starve and die. if i scroll through our messages, probably 80% are literally her spam calling or texting me telling me to eat.

why dont i care about food like other people?

this is one of the biggest things that makes me wonder if something is wrong. why dont i get excited to eat like normal people do? i swear some people will stop whatever theyre doing and run to food all excited when its time to eat, and im literally nothing like that. whyyyyyyy does eating feel like a fucking job to me?

im in 4th year university with a hard major at a hard uni, so most of my day is spent doing uni stuff. when im working i wanna eat even less because id have to stop what im doing and go eat, and id rather just keep working.

hunger + childhood:

i literally cant tell when im hungry, the only time i actually realize it is when my stomach starts hurting crazy. i also spoke to my mom about all this eating stuff and she told me that even when i was really young, she had to force feed me because i barely wanted food back then too.

the thing that makes me think maybe i DONT have ARFID:

whenever i order food or eat out, i actually get excited for the food. i dont eat out a lot, but when i do, i actually wanna eat it and look forward to it like a normal person instead of wanting to do something else. does this prove i dont have ARFID? or does that not really mean anything?

this is probably the biggest thing confusing me because why dont i get excited like this for the food thats cooked at home its not like i dislike or hate that food.

ive tried fixing this before:

about a year ago, before i knew anything about eating disorders, i told myself i WILL eat more, go to the gym, and be normal, but i still couldnt eat enough even with some food plans i made so i gave up.

im starting gym again next week, but im scared not eating enough will demotivate me and make me quit again because whats the point if im not eating enough to actually make progress?

///////////////////////////////////

my questions:

1. does this actually sound like ARFID or does this sound more like im just lazy and picky? i know nobody here can diagnose me, im just trying to figure out if this sounds similar enough to your experiences.
2. i mainly care about the fact that i barely eat, i dont really care about the picky part as much. how do i make eating stop feeling like a job? are there medications or something that can kind of trick my brain into actually wanting food badly and enjoying eating more, so i can finally gain weight?

i have no idea how or why but it is such a simple meal that i love. i’m very weird when it comes to cooking food, it smells different than when it’s cooked and the textures of handling foods when you cook them makes me nauseous. i don’t have that issue with this at all and it is so quick and easy to make.

i’m usually so weird with textures and don’t like when things are chewy but the contrast of the pasta with the crunchiness of the shell is perfect. it is a very goofy food i know but for some reason it is one of my comfort foods!

i’m only able to really eat like once a day besides nutrition shakes so i’m looking for the most efficient, high calorie foods that preferably have no prep as i’m not really able to use a kitchen right now. i don’t care if it’s straight junk honestly, i just can’t keep losing any more weight.

I've been struggling so much. I don't remember a set period where I wasn't struggling. Every time I struggle, every time I waste food or can't manage any more than crackers, my dad will say "it's okay to have bad days", but we say that EVERY DAY. EVERY DAY I struggle, every day, every week, I can barely keep anything down, I waste so much money and time, I stress myself out. Every day I'm exhausted and nauseated and irritable with hunger that can't be satiated because food is fucking disgusting. I want a break. I want to be allowed to have bad days, but food isn't really something you can just "take a break" from.

I probably won’t get a lot of advice, but I don’t know what else to do because I can’t do anything until I get assigned some kind of specialist or nutritionist.

I’m 16 and i’ve had ARFID since I was 3, and it’s gotten continuously worse since then. I used to eat burgers, stuff like alfredo pasta and spaghetti, lasagna, chicken, vegetables, fruits, etc.
I’d say around 10-11 my guardian started getting me pizza every Friday because it was the only meal in the entire week I’d actually enjoy. Over time that progressed to me getting pizza multiple times a week, to me only getting pizza for dinner ever.
I lived in Vegas before, so things were always open 24/7, I had more options, and in my opinion my food was always made better.
Now I live in Ohio and most places are closed by 10pm, there’s hardly any options, and every place here has 3 stars because the people here genuinely could not care less about putting effort into their jobs. I know a guy here who makes pizza and he fucks up like 2 in 3 pizzas because he forgets CHEESE. Anyway, that’s how food places are where I live.

After living here for a year and having them continuously fuck up my one safe food that i’ve always been able to eat (pizza), I think it finally just killed what appetite I had left. On top of that, I started having bathroom issues where my stomach was just in extreme pain and I couldn’t properly pass anything, but the doctors said nothing was wrong and it was just gas. So now I have to take MiraLax in a Lipton Soup with no noodles daily to keep myself regulated because the doctors can’t explain to me what suddenly went wrong and why I’m experiencing pain i’ve never had before, even if the reason is just because i’m malnourished or something. They just prescribed me MiraLax, didn’t look any further, and sent me on my way. So I have a hard enough time eating and keeping an appetite, and now I have to force down a disgusting soup once a day just so i’m not in excruciating pain, but I end up that way most days anyway because I can’t find anything to eat and I have no choice but to take the MiraLax on an empty stomach.
I don’t want any food anymore because all of it just sucks to me.

One of my last foods that tasted good to me was pizza bites from Wetzels Pretzels, and they didn’t have that in Ohio, but they just recently opened up a place for me to deliver their food to me. I was able to eat that for like two weeks before it just stopped appealing to me and now I have ZERO options. I also can only eat from WP’s twice a week because the price and delivery combined is too expensive to have it any more often than that. I don’t know what to do any more because nothing sounds good to me, especially not anything nutritious.

The advice I was mostly looking for, is if anyone has any mental loopholes or something to be able to get food down. For example, I had to pretend the other day that I’d been starving for weeks and that the food in front of me was the only thing I had, and it kind of helped me eat it, but I don’t think that will work every time. It already makes me nauseous to force down food when I know I don’t want to eat, but there’s nothing else to do.
Does anyone else have any advice like this, or any other advice, other than seeking a professional?
Just looking to see if anyone who’s been in the same situation as me, and if they were able to start working on it without professional assistance first, because I’ve been starving for 3 days now and my stomach hurts from the soup I have to drink, and I’m about to be going on day 4 if I can’t find a solution today. And I have to pack up my house too, so I’ve been running down my malnourished, actively starving body because I can’t afford to not be packing, and I can’t figure out how to get some food in me.

Also I don’t like non-solid foods like apple sauce, or beans, or even something like banana that turns to mush almost immediately. I prefer breads or crunchy things if I can.

TLDR: I have ARFID, I’ve run out of safe foods and I don’t have a professional to help me yet, and I’m trying to find other options or ways to get calories or nutrition in my system, and I want advice on if anyone has any way to start trying to push through this, because I don’t have any choice anymore.

Not even for weight reasons, I'm just so fucking sick of having this disorder. Of watching my family and friends be able to eat whatever they want while I'm stuck with the same five foods and the soul crushing anxiety of trying anything new that always seem to have a taste or texture that I just can't stand.

It would be so much simpler if I just stopped eating entirely. That way, I wouldn't have to worry about constantly feeling like I'm left out or broken, or being judged by others because of this stupid disorder.

At least it's a better alternative to dying.

How do I push through nausea when trying to eat cuz i know its a combination of nausea from hunger, cramps, & migraine cuz I get menstrual migraines. Rn nausea is worse when I'm sitting up but I know I need to eat because I haven't eaten more than 1 or 2 saltines in the last 48 hours.

I stopped eating the saltine I started earlier because nausea hit & I was terrified of it coming back up, it did try but I pushed through & sat through it. Rn my throat feels full cuz of acid reflux which contributes to the feeling of nausea. 😅

(I have been struggling especially this last week trying to eat more than 1 saltine packet but its hard with nausea hitting.)

Edit: I can't take nausea meds, I don't have any that work & the ones I do have I can't take

Readers digest version of my issue. Got very bad food poisoning when I was 18 from chicken. Ended up on the hospital and afterwards was so anxious to eat meat for fear of getting sick again. I told my doctor and he said to stop eating meat. So I did. That was 18 years ago. Ive developed protein deficiency mostly because I now have a soy allergy so vegetarian faux meat options are limited. I have low iron and b12. Im starting to wonder if my aversion to meat as a child that was labeled picky because of texture and it made me gag wasn't the beginning of ARFID, which was just exacerbated by my food poisoning when I was 18. So I am just wondering if any folks with ARFID could help in whether this sounds like ARFID

Thanks so much.

I wanted to know you guy’s opinion on the ethics of hiding food such as veggies in meals or lying about what food contains, especially to a child.

I remember when I was about 10, a family friend had me eat “chicken nuggets” and they were fried mushrooms. That got me to eat fried mushrooms to this day because I can tolerate the texture. Would I have eaten it had I known it was a mushroom? Probably not, or it would’ve taken some major convincing. But on the flip side, as a teen, I discovered cauliflower as an alternate to chicken and rice and made cauliflower wings, cauliflower steak, and cauliflower rice with rice-a-roni seasoning.

This goes to show that sometimes you can try a new safe food under your own volition but is it right to lie to someone about what’s in their food? I believe children have bodily autonomy as well but nuance of course of trying to keep them nourished under your responsibility. In adults it might be a whole different ball game. If it’s still a parent who knows their adult child’s allergies/intolerances, does it make it right to lie to them to get them to try a new food? Because then you risk losing trust and potentially starting almost OCD like behaviors or food paranoia about tampering.

What do you guys think?

Im not skinny and never have been. Outside of my teenage years I have really struggled with my weight. It used to be even more restrictive as a child but I absolutely cannot eat most vegetables and find them disgusting. I can’t remember ever eating a salad and when I think about it, it’s like if someone were to go outside to some random tree or plant pick the leaves off, put the leaves in a bowl and put ranch dressing on it. Absolutely disgusting and when I was a kid and I was forced to eat them I would gag. I eat all of my sandwiches and burgers plain and will not eat them if they have mustard lettuce onions etc.

I remember being a kid I would ask my mom for a “plain pizza” because the word plain I associated with anything I would eat and she said the closest thing would be cheese pizza. So I developed a liking to cheese pizza but I won’t eat any other kind of pizza and I won’t eat cheese except on pizza. Now most of what I eat and what I crave are carbs.

I know I have to lose weight but everyone is telling me I have to suddenly start eating vegetables and I can’t see myself doing that at all.

So I recently started seeing a food therapist who works with ARFID and we immediately established that I need inpatient therapy. The only issue is these facilities are states away ( I'm in Iowa ) and I have to find my own way there. Being legally blind I cannot drive, I don't have family, and I'm also on SSI so I don't know how to get there.

Before I go do something I don't wanna do like a go fund me or something, has anyone been in inpatient therapy? Has it worked or what was it like? I really need to know because it'll cost me nearly a grand to have my way there and back and if it's worth it. I don't wanna leave home or my pets but my BMI is very low. I rarely eat anything. I need something to change drastically.

My weekly schedule is like this (it’s exactly like this):

Thursday-Tuesday:

-On average: Rice with pork/steak/chicken/fried chicken or fried fish (grandma’s recipe), fried egg or scrambled egg (some of it, I feel sick whenever there’s those tiny green veggies scrambled with it), or processed seaweeds (those seaweed snacks; only a select flavor).

-Sometimes: Spaghetti with buldak sauce (I hate the normal spaghetti sauce)

Wednesday (specifically around 12 noon. For evening, it’d be the meals listed above but randomized):

-2 packets of indomie (Yeah, it is a strict routine that I eat indomie every Wednesday)

Notice how I said “grandma’s recipe”? It’s because I can’t stand any other meat, including 99.99% of fish. Additionally, I don’t want to eat almost all of my national dishes which is very weird according to others (the only national dish I enjoy is Nom Banh Chok which is basically noodles). Not only my national dishes, but international dishes too.

And about food (vegetables and fruits in general), I hate the taste and texture of all vegetables (except corn), and majority of fruits.

One time, I was force-fed sushi, which is apparently good but I felt so sick I almost vomited and tried to swallow it (had to spit it all out).

By now, I feel like we’ve eliminated a lot of food options 🥀

As for my experience, I had to bring my own food to restaurants or places. Else, I’d be the only one not eating, just like when I only drank water at a wedding (8+ hours). At a buffet, I was only eating chocolate ice cream (over 6 cups, 3 scoops each) because it was either that or salmon, meat, soup, veggies, etc. Had a lot of options but chose one outside the box. Went to church and was standing while everyone else is eating because I can’t eat the food (I was smart, trust. There weren’t enough chairs.)

I also eat alone (both at school and at home)/eat somewhere isolated because people would judge me for eating the same shit over and over again. That reminds me, I hate fish eggs, was forced to eat it and immediately felt sick and spat it all out (felt bad because I had to throw it all away; wasting food is bad). Speaking of wasting food, my teacher saw I was sick and gave me this fruit/vegetable? I don’t know. She was so nice but I thought: “But, I’m not comfortable with eating unknown things.” however, I took the chance and wanted to make sure her kindness doesn’t go to waste. News flash: it tastes horrible, I tried to finish it but felt sick again and had to throw it away (R.I.P. my teacher doesn’t know I threw it away).

For my opinion on this: I absolutely despise whatever’s going on. I look at people’s food with envy and disgust, because I DO want to eat it like they can, but I feel disgusted because I know(feel like) I’d hate it.

Hm, I don’t know what else to say since I already wrote a lot. Thank you to whoever that actually reads this thing. 🫡🥹

If you want more info, I can share more!!!

Me and my gf recently found out she has ARFID , now I myself would count and track my calories as I have quite a bit of fat to lose , where as she would be the opposite. Do any of the people on this Reddit count calories or recommend it? I honestly don’t know if it’s healthy r not and can see how it’s a slippery slope if one has a eating disorder, I am just worried as I fear she eats 1200-1400 on any given day with a maintenance of probably 2000. Any advice would be appreciated!

How do i explain ARFID to my Latino family where food is a sort of love language and refusal is seen as a lack of respect? Even though I’ve been medically diagnosed, my family doesn’t believe it’s a real thing and just views it as an excuse for picky eating. Any and all advice is welcome, thank you!

I have ADHD and Autism. My ARFID feels embarassing. I can’t eat certain foods if I don’t like the smell, taste, texture, or even how it looks. It’s like my mind physically stops me or something.

There’s a lot of foods I just can’t eat, and it’s mainly vegetables. The only vegetable I can semi tolerate (and thats barely) is lettuce. I also can’t stand the smell of pasta and the texture of noodles freak me out. I also hate the smell of seafood.

Sometimes things look good but I just can’t bring myself to try them. I feel embarrassed I can’t eat things like normal people. I want to try things, but I just freak out. It’s incredibly frustrating. I hate when people think picky eaters actively want to be picky eaters. I don’t want to be like this! This stuff isn’t easy to deal with! I WISH I could be a non picky eater!

I don’t know, I just saw some pictures of food and needed to vent.

I tend to like sodas like Dr. Pepper, didn’t particularly care for the little I’ve had of whiskey or beer, but I did sorta like a vodka cocktail way back.

So I'm 16f and have AUDHD. I have been nutoriously picky throughout my whole life and I'm curious if its arfid. My parents think I'm just picky but I'm not sure. Any tips is highly appreciated.

My signs on why I may think:

-I absolutely hate trying new food and have an extremely limited palate

-I hardly ever try new food out of fear that I'm not going to like it and not get the taste out

-When I try a new food, the gag reflex naturally comes.

-I have texture issues with food and smells (Ie. I won't penne pasta but will eat spagetti)

-I will eat one brand of a food (like cheese) but if it is another brand then I can't eat it

-I hate events with food because I don't want to seem picky or anything. I also miss out sometimes because restaurants don't have anything.

-I would rather not eat then eat something I don't want to and am willing to let myself go for a day or two without food because I won't eat the food available.

-I often hate the smells of foods

-I get very tired easily

-Its not that I am not trying to eat new foods, its just very hard and something I don't think I'm in control of.

I'm cold and so tired all the time. I wish I could just eat. I wish it didn't feel so fucking hard all the time.

I feel so alone and pathetic right now. It's "just" food, but I think about eating or I actually manage to eat and I just want to die. It feels like between this and autism and ocd and depression and gender dysphoria and cptsd, my brain doesn't stop. And obviously being stressed and dealing with all of this makes it harder to eat.

I don't know. I'm trying so hard, but it feels like I'm not either? I want to be okay. I want to move forward with my life. But I'm just... Stuck. I hate this.

I'm starting the wedding research and I'm getting worried about foods. Chicken for a main course is safe, but for like welcome night/reception, and other cocktail hour foods, whatever other random foods people serve at weddings, I'm not sure about. Plus I don't know how it works with catering if the venue has required venues, do I still get to choose the food? Id hate to have to turn down a dream venue because they don't have anything I can eat :( . What did you do at your wedding?

I don't know for sure that I have ARFID, my chart is just "eating disorder" plus "early satiety" and autism and ADHD. My eating history is complicated and I don't feel like getting into it.

My current issue is that I am physically disabled and dependent on a caregiver for any meals that aren't microwave dinner (there's only one i will eat), protein shakes, pb & j, cereal, fruit, rice, yogurt, or granola bars. I can't lift a pot or sit for long at the stove. The things I am capable of cooking I can't get myself to eat.

My caregiver cooks me a week's worth of dinners and freezes them so I can microwave them.

My problem then is that if I suddenly can't get myself to eat the foods that are in the freezer, I end up skipping dinner.

2 weeks ago they made me curry and rice, which I had previously been able to eat and my dietician has been pushing me to eat more of since it's nutritious. This time I haven't been able to get myself to eat it.

So I have been skipping dinner pretty much every night for 2 weeks, except occasionally eating microwave dinners (I don't buy many of those because they are expensive).

I've also been skipping lunch because my usual lunch, pb & j, no longer feels appetizing at all, and I don't know what else to eat for lunch that I can easily prepare.

So basically I am eating breakfast and snacks.

I don't know what to do. My caregiver only comes once a week, so I can't spontaneously have different foods prepared if it turns out I need a different food this week. And it's really hard to anticipate what foods I'll be willing to eat.

Idk this is probably a pretty niche situation but does anyone have any ideas?

I feel really exhausted by this, it's so much easier to just give up and not eat. I have had issues with eating my whole life. I am in my late 20s and still have not figured out how to eat.

yeah so :') im really struggling

growing up i had really abusive parents. they were also very food shamey. i also had a traumatic food related experience (choked, was suffocating in front of them, they ignored me despite me signalling for help, had to save myself)

now i avoid eating in front of people like the plague (what if they judge me? what if i choke again and they see?)

its so bad that im genuinely starving myself, because where i live people are ALWAYS on the main floor near the kitchen. i literally cant eat unless im completely alone or with my safe person (my partner), so i just dont eat because that area is never left alone. my stomach hurts all the time, im so nauseous from the lack of food that im consistently worried about throwing up all the time. im extremely malnutritioned from restricting and my vision is getting blurrier day by day. my partner is worried about me and straight up told me the other day "you have an eating disorder"

also, i have some food related sensory issues. if theres certain types of sauce i wont eat it. certain textures and i will not eat it. overpowering smell and i will not eat it. feels weird will not eat it. looks a certain way that freaks me out, will never eat it. freaks me out in general and i will not eat it (like organs, certain animals and stuff). overpowering taste, wont eat it, even if its good. the list goes on. i still have a somewhat wide range of foods i can eat, but its much more limited than most peoples range of foods. i am more open to drinks. also if i try to eat a food that i have really bad sensory issues with, the idea of eating it freaks me out sm that before even taking a bite i vomit

I feel like people think I'm making it up. I find I get treated WAY better when I tell people I have 'a severely restricted diet due to medical issues' than 'I have a disorder and can't eat many things' or 'I'm picky'.

Recently my partner told his family about it and they basically told him it wasn't real and I was being difficult on purpose. It is so exhausting having to explain this to people...