Food anxiety

[Ahutton]

I am not sure if this is the place where I should post it.....

But I am afraid of eating...... I am afraid that I will get sick.....
I feel like eating is a chore.... I would much rather not..

Tonight, for example, I was afraid that I was going to get sick from eating chicken... at least if I cook it my self or if i go eat at a restaurant.... ( which is rare.) I only trust it if my husband cooks it.... Tonight I cooked the chicken my self. I was having a hard time getting the chicken to 165 degrees. I was afraid that I was going to get sick and and I would be in the ER with poising and that would have been a very expensive medical bill. I was afraid that my husband would get sick, and he can't get sick.... I would feel really bad....

I did eat the chicken.. which was good.... However, I was still unsure... I almost did not eat because of the fear.

I usally have my hubby taste it first.

 

[triceps]

I am not sure if this is the place where I should post it.....

But I am afraid of eating...... I am afraid that I will get sick.....
I feel like eating is a chore.... I would much rather not..

Tonight, for example, I was afraid that I was going to get sick from eating chicken... at least if I cook it my self or if i go eat at a restaurant.... ( which is rare.) I only trust it if my husband cooks it.... Tonight I cooked the chicken my self. I was having a hard time getting the chicken to 165 degrees. I was afraid that I was going to get sick and and I would be in the ER with poising and that would have been a very expensive medical bill. I was afraid that my husband would get sick, and he can't get sick.... I would feel really bad....

I did eat the chicken.. which was good.... However, I was still unsure... I almost did not eat because of the fear.

I usally have my hubby taste it first.

Well that's not a fun fear as you have to face it multiple times a day. My anxiety, when pretty high, makes me unable to eat but it's nausea related. I think that my attitude towards food is the opposite of your fear about it. I eat everything rare (but not chicken) and can't claim that the sanitary conditions of my kitchen wouldn't pass any inspections. I'm just a believer that food bourne illnesses are rare enough that I don't put too much effort into avoiding them. I also believe that food poisoning gets blamed often for conditions not related to it. I've never gotten food poisoning and frankly don't give much effort to prevent it.

I am so sorry that your food fears are so disruptive for you. Anxiety can mess with us in so many ways.

 

[Hurt&Hopeful]

This sounds really difficult - I'm so sorry. My grandmother experienced something similar - she rarely ate because she was afraid that most foods caused cancer. It was very debilitating for her. It sounds like you have a loving husband/support system...are you in any kind of treatment to help with the unwanted thoughts and fears?

Welcome to the forum - I hope you find some friendship and understanding here!

 

[Ahutton]

Thanks all. No I am not. I am not because my insurance does not pay for it..I have thought about that, but it has not been doable for me.

 

[triceps]

You might want to check what resources are available through your countys' dept. of social services.

 

[Hurt&Hopeful]

Yes! And there are lots of self-help resources like websites, books, etc. I've heard so many folks mention insurance issues with therapy - maybe we should start a thread to have people share their favorite (and most successful) self-help workbooks and things ..

 

[Rachel]

Hi! I also have anxiety around eating. Mine is centered around having a fatal allergic reaction. I struggle every time I eat. The only thing that helps me is remembering that anxiety creates negative, untrue thoughts and I have to separate my thoughts from reality. Realistically you will not get a disease from eating chicken that you make (but i understand the scare). I mean if you think about the worst thing that would probably happen, you may just get sick but I doubt it would be anything hospital worthy.

 

[krosee]

Hi! I also have anxiety around eating. Mine is centered around having a fatal allergic reaction. I struggle every time I eat. The only thing that helps me is remembering that anxiety creates negative, untrue thoughts and I have to separate my thoughts from reality. Realistically you will not get a disease from eating chicken that you make (but i understand the scare). I mean if you think about the worst thing that would probably happen, you may just get sick but I doubt it would be anything hospital worthy.

I have this EXACT fear. When my anxiety is at a high, it becomes more noticeable. It’s extremely disruptive to my relationship and my life in general. Having to remind yourself that it’s just food. Food you’ve eaten you’re entire life without some sort of really terrible consequence (personally, not sure about yourself) gets so tiring. It seems like such a random fear to have. Glad to know I’m not the only one out there.

 

[Rachel]

I have this EXACT fear. When my anxiety is at a high, it becomes more noticeable. It’s extremely disruptive to my relationship and my life in general. Having to remind yourself that it’s just food. Food you’ve eaten you’re entire life without some sort of really terrible consequence (personally, not sure about yourself) gets so tiring. It seems like such a random fear to have. Glad to know I’m not the only one out there.

Yeah it's so weird cause randomly one day I was eating and I was like "what if I'm allergic to this" and then after that its been CONSTANT for about 7 months. I have no idea where it came from because I have never been allergic to anything, which makes it even more weird. But let me tell ya, being scared of eating is not fun haha. It's nice to hear someone else is feeling the same way. If you ever want to talk to someone who understands, don't hesitate to message me!

 

[krosee]

It’s got to be the worst. I want to eat all the things and yet my mind is like, nah you can’t do that. What if this happens?! I have random allergies to things like blueberries and that’s the worst one I have so it’s kind of a pain in the ass. I stopped going out to restaurants because I couldn’t see their cooking area or what they were cooking with or had cooked prior and because people just think I’m a picky eater and I’d get teased. Not like you wanna pull that one out and tell them exactly why you’re having a hard time eating lol.

 

[krosee]

Yeah it's so weird cause randomly one day I was eating and I was like "what if I'm allergic to this" and then after that its been CONSTANT for about 7 months. I have no idea where it came from because I have never been allergic to anything, which makes it even more weird. But let me tell ya, being scared of eating is not fun haha. It's nice to hear someone else is feeling the same way. If you ever want to talk to someone who understands, don't hesitate to message me!

It’s got to be the worst. I want to eat all the things and yet my mind is like, nah you can’t do that. What if this happens?! I have random allergies to things like blueberries and that’s the worst one I have so it’s kind of a pain in the ass. I stopped going out to restaurants because I couldn’t see their cooking area or what they were cooking with or had cooked prior and because people just think I’m a picky eater and I’d get teased. Not like you wanna pull that one out and tell them exactly why you’re having a hard time eating lol.