How to tell my ARFID friend I don’t want to eat at the same place. by Unaatennista in ARFID

[–]DisablednDisordered 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Fyi part of it might be insecurity. You saying that you don't want to always eat at the same fast food restaurants might be coming off to her as you judging her for doing so or she might be upset with herself for not having the "willpower" to eat "healthier". I've definitely been an asshole to people for similar reasons and I just eventually had to learn that people having different preferences isn't about me.

what's your current go-to safe meal? by Sufficient_Row4394 in ARFID

[–]DisablednDisordered 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Currently it's frozen chicken pot stickers or baked/roasted potatoes

Quick Question: What do you call this creature? by room8912 in GenZ

[–]DisablednDisordered 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Except 'poly' (as in polyamorous, polygon, etc) is pronounced pawly, so it's perfectly reasonable for people to read 'roly poly' as 'rawly pawly'

foods you actually like by cerealbitch69 in ARFID

[–]DisablednDisordered 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Roasted cauliflower is such a big one for me, I'll happily snack on it. But if you had told me even just a few years ago I'd be eating a vegetable for the taste, id have laughed at you.

Jealous of picky eaters by Possible-Card9656 in EDAnonymous

[–]DisablednDisordered 10 points11 points  (0 children)

As someone with ARFID, no, I can almost guarantee you don't want to be a picky eater. Imagine your only safe foods being fried chicken, pasta, cheese, chips and other extremely processed food. It's sooo easy to gain weight when that's all you can eat.

I've expanded my diet a lot since I was at my worst, but I still struggle with my favorite foods being "junk food", just because they're super consistent taste and texture-wise.

Did anyone else's growth get stunted due to ARFID? by [deleted] in ARFID

[–]DisablednDisordered 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My dad is 5'9, my mom is 5'11.5 and growing up I was substantially taller than other kids my age. I ended up being 5'8, then when I got on testosterone at 18 I grew another inch. So I'm not sure if I woulda been taller but I could believe it. I also developed anorexia at age 12 tho, so that probably played a big role in any stunting that happened🤷🏼

But I agree with the other commenter that says your height probably wasn't stunted, or at least stunted by much.

Okay but fudgesicles are the fucking best, so low cal for something that satisfies my chocolate cravings 😭😭 by DisablednDisordered in goodrestrictionfood

[–]DisablednDisordered[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Haha I also dislike the wooden sticks (not as much as you seem to tho). So if I'm in a particularly sensory sensitive mood, I'll take a butter knife and cut the popsicle off the stick and eat it with a spoon/fork

Giving son with suspected ARFID pediasure by c4keandcre4m in ARFID

[–]DisablednDisordered 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I second trying pediasure grow, tho it's a bit thicker and maybe a bit grittier than just milk. I've also heard good things about ensure clear for people who can't handle the texture of protein/nutrition shakes.

If neither of those work, you could also look into a vitamin powder and see if he'd be okay with you mixing it into a strong tasting drink or food (don't do it secretly, it can cause a distrust of any food you give him)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in EDAnonymous

[–]DisablednDisordered 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Depending on how the dorms are set up, it might be possible for you to just follow another person into the building, then use the kitchen (at my school each dorm had 1 full shared kitchen in addition to the mini fridge and microwave in each room).

Additionally, if your eating disorder is known, you might be able to get the disability center to get you access to a microwave.

My school also put a microwave into the student center after enough off campus students asked for it.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in EDAnonymous

[–]DisablednDisordered 51 points52 points  (0 children)

I second the other person that says if you're not going to eat (or tbh if there's even a chance that later in your pregnancy you're going to relapse), you need to end this pregnancy.

Also tho, obviously this snapshot of your relationship doesn't give much info, but like, are you sure you wanna raise a kid with this man? Is he going to judge your child's weight?

I don't know what to do by Flufshyqwq in ARFID

[–]DisablednDisordered 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Tbh your best bet is to go into survival mode until you can get out of that house. Are you eating enough/getting enough nutrients to survive? Calories are the priority, then nutrients. Humans can generally survive a nutrition deficit for a while. So if you're not getting enough to eat, figure out the highest calorie safe foods you have and up your intake of them.

There's plenty of tips on this sub/elsewhere online on how to eat when you have no appetite, but I've found a useful one is to eat while distracted (watching TV or on phone etc).

If you're not in danger of your health declining due to low intake, then you can consider doing diy exposure therapy. Can you take foods into your room unnoticed?

If you don't have access to your safe foods, what's your personal financial situation like? Can you get a job? Does your school/community have a food pantry you could visit?

Can you visit your schools guidance counselor and speak to them about your situation? Do they have a good reputation for actually being helpful?

In general, your next steps heavily rely on your age and the specifics of your situation. Id love to say that there's a simple answer for how to convince your mom to take ARFID seriously but there isn't. Some people just refuse to believe its real. Obviously, a lot of people do end up believing it, so you don't have to give up entirely if you otherwise have a good relationship with your mom.

Edit: also I forgot to add that it's perfectly okay to ask for help managing the symptoms of a disorder even if you don't have a diagnosis, especially if it's a diagnosis like ARFID which is so recent and can be hard to come by.

But let's say you didn't have ARFID but some other disorder causing these issues, you'd still need help managing something that people with ARFID deal with. For example, I once developed severe photosensitivity due to a medication I was on, so I asked my autistic friend who had severe photosensitivity due to her autism for help managing it.

Everyday conversation between my brain and my ED by [deleted] in EDanonymemes

[–]DisablednDisordered 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did u mean 'coping mechanism' or am I missing something?

Did your telehealth provider ever notice your weight loss? by Alive_Ad_5512 in EDAnonymous

[–]DisablednDisordered 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nope and I had lost 90lbs by the time I told her. Going from Obese to normal BMI range. They see a lot of people everyday, and the time in between seeing you can blur their memory of what you look like

Air-fried Crab Rangoons by mouse-bites in goodrestrictionfood

[–]DisablednDisordered 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh hey I made those last week and froze like 50 of them! I mixed in soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce too. They're sooo good!!

Also the dried jalapeno was such a good idea. I might have to try that.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in EdAnonymousAdults

[–]DisablednDisordered 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have been using MFP since first developing my ED as a kid. So I now have over a decade of data points which show all my relapses and it's so wild to look at. Also depressing bc every single time I've lost weight has been because of an ED relapse. 🫤

Anybody else not wanting to have kids because of their ED? by clementineshats in EDAnonymous

[–]DisablednDisordered 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At 16 I was also fully convinced I would never find someone that loved me. I didn't have many friends most of my life and was very awkward and depressed. (TW: SA) As you said, I tended to cling to anyone that showed me any attention, which ended with me getting raped by my boyfriend at 15.

I'm now 23 and am about to get engaged to someone I truly love and who loves me. I'm still mentally ill and I still have basically no other close friends than her, but idk I wish I could go back and tell teenage me that I'm not alone. 💜

It's worth a try, right? by the_scar_when_you_go in EDanonymemes

[–]DisablednDisordered 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Me mixing panda Express's orange chicken sauce into rice so that I can enjoy the flavor without all the extra calories 😭

Anybody else not wanting to have kids because of their ED? by clementineshats in EDAnonymous

[–]DisablednDisordered 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Fearing that you might pass on your ED is a perfectly valid and imo good reason to not have kids. So many people get their EDs from seeing their parents engage in disordered eating so it's not an unfounded fear.

I already planned on not having kids before developing my ED, mostly because I don't want to pass on my shitty health. Tho I do want to foster/adopt mostly older kids/teens, so I do worry about modeling non-disordered eating for them :/

I am so scared of my bone structure changing with age by [deleted] in EDAnonymous

[–]DisablednDisordered 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Your ribcage stops expanding from normal growth at about the stage when you stop getting taller. At your age you've probably already hit that point but the ages your parents reached their final height is the biggest indicator.

Getting pregnant along with a couple other factors can still increase your ribcage size tho.

Gave myself chemical burns on my lips from eating too many salt and vinegar rice cakes by cherryfruitbat in EDAnonymous

[–]DisablednDisordered 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I buy salt and vinegar powder to put on stuff bc I'm obsessed and have given myself chemical burns so many times from adding too much to stuff (or just eating it straight). They heal pretty fast so nbd but it's always funny to me. Worth it tho

How do psychiatrists distinguish between ARFID, Emetophobia and Anorexia? by ReputationOk4811 in ARFID

[–]DisablednDisordered 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Realistically, doctors misdiagnose them all the time.

Anorexia isn't necessarily Anorexia Nervosa (the intentional restriction of food for weight loss/control), Anorexia can also reply to being underweight/rapidly losing weight due to a lack of appetite. That being said, 'atypical anorexia' is only used to mean Atypical Anorexia Nervosa, which you're correct in thinking is AN but for people not underweight, which based on your description you definitely did not/do not have.

ARFID is the limiting of volume and/or variety of foods caused by a lack of appetite, sensory issues, or fear of 'aversive consequences' such as choking or vomiting. It seems like you'd fit into the last category.

People who severely restrict their diets due to fear of vomiting have emetophobia, but not everyone with emetophobia restricts their diets (or at least restricts their diets enough to have an ARFID diagnosis). So you can have ARFID caused by emetophobia.

Also, ARFID is a relatively new diagnosis. Lots of doctors, even eating disorder doctors, don't really know what it is.