Is this an unhealthy habit or eating disorder?

[pinkflower223]

I hope this doesn't cross the line nor is my intention.
I've been battling sever health anxiety and generalised anxiety with quite bad ocd for about 5 years, and food has always been an issue but I managed to get over that but it has now come back about, 4 months ago.
Around that time I was going through something a little traumatic and for some unconventional reason my brain started telling me your going to be allergic to food and your throat is going to close up, bare in mind I'm overall quite healthy and have no allergies, it's becoming a real issue now as I'm not getting enough nutrients and I'm loosing weight and feeling dizzy and feeling the cold more, I have had a vitamin deficiency before so I kind of just put it down to that, my mum said I look unhealthy yesterday and she was worried, my skin is awful and I just want some advice of getting over this I've done years of therapy and cbt for anxiety in general, just hoping this is going to go away☹️

Are you getting medical support for your anxiety? It sounds like a worsening of that which needs to be addressed

This sounds like it may be related to your health anxiety, OP and is generally referred to as "food phobia" - although the fear isnt the food, it's the potential for harm to yourself.

The best way to target it is to use your skills learned in CBT and work up from easier foods to try to harder foods to try. Whilst you work on getting well, make sure you take a good multivitamin and consider buying those nutrient shakes from a chemist (theyll help you have enough calories too).

@Vetyveriohohoh no Im currently not, I’m quite stubborn and find it really hard to reach out to anyone or doctors about this kind of thing as I had so many issues when I was younger, it’s just getting really difficult as I’m only eating my safe foods which is literally chocolate and the same type of crisps and maybe some toast but it’s not enough.

@TheDaydreamBelievers is this something I should speak to my gp about or self help? .

Absolutely @pinkflower223 - ideally, you could work on this with a Psychologist or therapist from the mental health teams. Your GP may want to weigh you or take your blood pressure as this will tell them how well you are physically. I know it can be so hard to ask for help but I think it would really benefit you.

You need to speak to your gp

@VetyveriohohohI I contacted the gp, and they just told/sent me some self help links it kind of discouraged me but they can’t really do more than that I suppose.

Go back again, insist you see them in person
. Don’t let them fob you off.

I’m sorry I really don’t have any advice but as a stop gap measure while you wait to see someone could you maybe research the food that are safest from an allergy perspective, do least likely cause allergies? Pick one protein from there if you can, and try to add that to your safe list? Also even one vegetable would help a lot - something like frozen peas? Broccoli would be even better. Yoghurt (maybe there’s a lactose free one you could have?).

If you can manage even to have one of each of those per day it would help your body to get some much needed nutrition. Also start taking a really good multi-vitamin supplement and something specific for your omega 3 & 6. Iron might be necessary too.

Foods*

I know it’s not ideal to be trying to work with your illness if you see what I mean, but as a measure in the meantime I think it’s important to identify some more foods that you can eat.

Also to answer the question in your title, I expect this would be diagnosed as related to your OCD. If you have any strategies that work fairly well to manage that you could probably employ them quite satisfactorily to manage this too.

This is typical of eating disorders, tbh. At her worst, when she was in hospital, DD1 thought that people were breaking into the hospital canteen to poison the food. It's just the brain's way of restricting food.

Do you know your height and weight? Do you know how much you're losing? If it's more than 500g per week, or you're eating under 1000 calories per day, you really do need to seek face to face advice.

When you did your CBT did you use a thought record? Useful to complete one when your brain tries to tell you that you are allergic to foods that you are not allergic to.

www.getselfhelp.co.uk/docs/ThoughtRecordSheet7.pdf

When your brain tries to tell you that your throat will close up, think about the last time you had an allergic reaction to that particular food; did you go to hospital? Did you get an epipen? What tests did the doctor run to confirm the allergy?

Or, actually, did nothing happen? An anxious brain is very good at telling lies. If you can (and I know it's not always possible) use logic, rational thinking and experience to guide you.

It very much sounds like intrusive thoughts which again could be a branch of your OCD. I hope you’re able to see someone soon!

@Sarahlou63 good practical advice there.

Talk to the doctor again. Don't downplay anything. You can straight up ask for a referral on to specialists who can help because a GP can't really help with this. Worst case scenario of letting it go on with no help would be you losing so much weight that your family call someone to assess you, and you end up admitted for your own safety. I'm not trying to scare you, I just want you to see where this could lead.

You are worth the help, you are worthy of recovery and living a better life. ❤