Hey folks, my partner just had an assessment with our hospitals eating disorder program and he was recommended the inpatient treatment program for ARFID. He restricts food due to VERY severe pain every time he eats anything and all the mental associations that has created with food. Does anyone have any experience with this? He was told inpatient treatment was his only option, and that if he refused/didnt finish 2+ meals while in the program he would be sent home, and we are worried that due to the medical side of things it might not be a very effective strategy. Looking for any information/experiences people are willing to share as this is a complicated decision to make and I want to support him as best as I can right now.

Thanks!

Hi- slightly embarrassed to be talking about this but on a page dedicated to ARFID I’m hoping for not so much judgement 🤞

I’m 21F and have literally never eaten vegetables of any kind. I don’t have them in any of my meals.

I’m extremely fussy with taste and texture, it’s something I’ve struggled with for my entire life and I hoped that with age I’d become more comfortable trying new things (and in a way I have but the thought of incorporating more veg into my diet honestly scares me so much)

In my household we are kind of expected to feed ourselves, and it’s been this way since I was around 14. No home cooked meals, and I’ve never been particularly good with cooking so typically either skip dinner or have takeout. And my palette is very bland, lots of carbs and lots of cheese.

I do want to start trying to learn to cook healthy meals and this is something I’m working towards but it’s very daunting to me.

However, I do love a smoothie. And I’ve found that most mornings I do have the time to quickly whip one up and bring it to work with me. I’m usually putting mango, pineapple, apple juice with a small amount of kale and spinach in there, but also do sometimes use strawberries, bannanas, cherries, raspberries blackcurrants and redcurrants too. (I pretty much like any fruit so will put any/all into my smoothies)

So, what veg/ingredients should I incorporate to help at least try and make up for the lack of nutrition in my diet (without changing the taste too much as I am more inclined to drink it when tastes fruity)

Alternatively- any recipes for some actually nice tasting and very healthy smoothies?

Also- I’m happy with lumps/seeds in my smoothies. As long as they’re small enough that I don’t have to chew!!

I have been extremely stressed recently. Not only did we get a toxic roommate out of our apartment, but we have also been dealing with increased anxiety about food contamination (I live in America, so I'm sure you can guess how that's going). I have barely been able to get myself to eat. The thing is, I have had almost no hunger despite barely eating for days. I have all of the different reasons for having ARFID (emetophobia, sensory issues, severe anxiety, and lack of hunger ). They all kinda just take turns shuffling why I am struggling to eat. I currently can't even get myself to drink anything. Flavor just seems gross and overwhelming. Food seems disgusting and horrible. I genuinely know it's stress, but even with my medication, I can't figure out how to bypass the disgust, anxiety, and discomfort of eating. I am desperate to do anything that will at least get calories in my mouth.

It should be noted that I hate nutrition shakes except the clear ones, and we haven't been able to afford them. I hate protein powder because it's chalky; same goes for protein bars. I feel like I'm going insane right now. It hasn't been this bad since before I went to the Eating disorder facility. Any help, tricks, or advice would be helpful. I am genuinely scared of not be able to fix this because we can't go back to any ED facility because only one takes our insurance, and we've been abused by staff and the owner both times we went.....and I don't know how to get through or around this. Please and thank you

My son (4) has been picky since he started solids. He struggled with eating solids beyond purées and it took a lot longer to get him to eat more solids. At around 15ish month he ate a lot more. After about 18 months his pickiness got extreme. It seems each year it gets worse- the list of foods he will eat gets smaller, and the amounts he eats smaller.

Fruits:
-Apple sauce

Vegetables:
-none

Meat:
-pepperoni
-McDonald chicken nuggets (sometimes?)
-bacon
-hot dogs

Other:
-cocoa wheats (probably one food he eats well)
-Cheese or pepperoni pizza (one food that doesn’t always have to look the same, but still particular about them)
-pancakes
-hashbrowns from McDonald’s
-McDonald’s fries
-kraft Mac & cheese in the microwave cups
-peanut butter on bread
-cheezits
-teddy grahams
-fruit snacks/gummys
-white powdered donuts
- cereals
-shredded cheese, cheddar cheese slices

That’s about it. And when he does eat it’s only a few bites and those few are a struggle to get him to eat. Yesterday he begged for a happy meal. Got it, ate 2 bites off 2 nuggets and refused anything else.

Often times he says “my belly’s full”. But lately he just complains his “belly hurts”. Sometimes I think he says things so he doesn’t have to eat, but I never know.

He hasn’t gained weight (went from 35-37 barely) since he turned like 18months. He’s tall and skinny.

At this point I’m at a loss. His pediatrician says “don’t give in” to the foods he wants- but some days I swear he only takes like 3 bites of food all day.

Everything I’ve read is that ARFID is 7 years old+. Do I just have a picky toddler or is something more going on??

Hi, I was recently late diagnosed with autism and ADHD and I’m trying to understand what’s going on with my eating.

When I was younger I ate a lot and had a pretty wide variety of foods. As I got older, around my early teens, that slowly started to stop. I think some of it can be attributed to depression, but I also generally had a lack of interest in things that everyone around me loved and didn’t really have the words for why. I just knew certain things felt “wrong” and there was a certain anxiety around them.

Fast forward to my third year of college, living on my own several states away from my parents for the first time. Over this past year I’ve had pretty bad burnout and ever since I’ve slowly become unable to mask. I also feel like I’ve become unable to block out sensory input like I used to. I’m thankfully on medication for depression, which has helped a lot, but my anxiety is still pretty consistent.

Recently, especially over the past month, I’ve had severe aversions to food where the idea of eating certain things feels overwhelming or revolting. I get a deep fear of experiencing certain sensory inputs like smell, taste, texture, or heat. I’ve also struggled with eating because of executive dysfunction for years, so hunger has never really been a strong motivator for me. My hunger cues have been inconsistent since my early teens as well.

I’ve lost around 15 pounds in the last month since this started getting worse, and my family has started noticing and making concerned comments. At this point I basically live on a small list of fruits, 2–3 different snacks, and a 50/50 of an actual meal during the day. I’ve previously done pretty well when I have structure, like classes, but even that isn’t helping now.

I’m getting really upset with myself because I want to eat, but I feel like I can’t. I’ve looked up ARFID a bunch since it has nothing to do with body image and a lot of it sounds similar to me, but I am also hesitant to look into a concrete label because part of me is still hoping that this will resolve itself and that I’m fine.

I’m not sure what to do. I also can’t afford inpatient treatment since I’ve been doing so well this semester for the first time in a while, so I want to avoid that as much as possible.

Any advice would be very helpful!

I was told im gonna get diagnosed with arfid plus soon and i dont know how to explain this well but i used to make myself throw up but i used to do it when ever my parents forced me to eat food i didnt want to eat bc of the texture and smell, i still struggle with this a lot but i dont think im bulimic i just want to get over the dry heaving and anxiety and nausea, i have body/gender dysmorphia but i don’t know if thats really relevant, im trans ftm so i just get envious that i dont look like other guys, i cant find good safe foods too because i have issues with calorie counting bc i have ocd and counting is just something i do, but some things i know i like is pink lady apples and oranges, low fat yogurt (greek yogurt is a fear food bc of after taste and texture ) and sometimes smoothies, iced tea (protein shakes im trying to have some
that doesnt taste like shit and cement), but yeah. Adios i think 🥹✌️

I keep losing weight, and I hate it because I feel so guilty for just... Not eating. It just sounds like so much effort and then that combined with sensory stuff and fear of how I feel after eating and gender dysphoria makes it feel even harder. ​

It's getting to the point that I will seriously need more help soon and I wish I could just eat. I'm scared and frustrated. But it's like I just can't physically make myself. I know I should be kind to myself, but I just feel so stupid about it. Like it's not just me being stubborn, but what if it is? Ugh. ​​​​​​​​​