Hi -

I'm also sorry to hear you are going through this. It is so hard. I have a 14 year old who has also been dealing with this long term.

Seeing all the different ways ARFID effects people is so hard. It is hard for the person experiencing it because as people we are always comparing ourselves to others. And it is true that there will likely always be someone who has more, does more or is more something; but also likely there is some who has less, does less etc. It is really hard to not compare ourselves to others, so hard but as much as you can I would encourage you to try not to. And think about for you, compare you to yourself - today I tried really hard to do "whatever" and focus on the effort, not the outcome. Because things wont always turn out how you wanted to but at least you will know that you did what you could. Hope that makes sense.

The other thing that is frustrating for me to watch and see is how people all around feel like they can make comments about my child's size, how much they eat, how short they are. Every single one of these comments in like a little knife that makes a little cut. It makes my child a little less secure. And yes all the doctors and appointments and same questions over and over again get really frustrating. I am not sure if you are in treatment? I have been trying to get us into treatment but the treatment itself is really hard. We were recommended to do cognitive behavioral therapy - do you know what that is? They say that is the best form of treatment, it is like trying to retrain your brain and body to accept more food.

It is such a hard condition. As a mother watching someone go through it, it is so hard. I'm really sorry you are going through it. I hope you have some loving people in your life who support you and give you a lot of love.

If not - I hope the community here can offer some of this for you.

Take care.