Afraid of Eating

[mvillarreal]

Hi, everyone. I have this weird thing where, after I eat, I get really anxious and feel nauseated. It's at the point now where I'm scared to eat because I associated food with anxiety and am afraid that eating will trigger a panic attack. Any advice you have for me to get over my fear of meals? Also, is the issue of feeling anxious after eating possibly a symptom of reactive hypoglycemia?

[Agora1]

Dearest mvillarreal....after reading your post and more importantly your profile, ittends to point more to an emotional issue that never was addressed. You stated this

started for you at age 7. I am not a doctor but I do feel that the issue you had at that

time might still be an active memory.

These thoughts need to be addressed by a professional who can help you with

these powerful negative thoughts and associations. xx

[mvillarreal in reply to Agora1]

Perhaps you are confusing me with someone else? For me, this actually started more as a teenager, but I find it interesting that someone else has a similar problem.

[Agora1 in reply to mvillarreal]

Hi mvillarreal...Having reread your profile, you do state that your fear of vomitinghappened at the age of 7 in karate class. Anxiety can play a big part of that issue when

it's not medically induced. Psychologically you may have been triggered where you

associate food with panic attacks.

It really needs to be addressed by a professional. Once that "block" is removed,

so may your anxiety on this issue.

I'm not qualified to go more into it but I do wish you well in going forward. xx

[garlicbread123]

just curious. if you feel anxiety about food, is it because it makes you gain weight or something like that? a woman who had eating disorder was introduced on Japanese TV show before. she was afraid of taking calories and gaining weight but she became a bodybuilder later. What changed her was Japanese food like tofu or sashimi (raw fish) and so on. they are very low in calorie but has nutrition and taste good. btw I'm Japanese and i love japanese food haha. Eventually, she started working out and got so muscular. I dont know what caused in your case. you can start with very healthy food. also Getting the right knowledge about nutrition helps too.

[garlicbread123 in reply to garlicbread123]

sorry forgot read that it could be from hypoglycemia. i dont know about this thing so it might not be a suitable advice

[mvillarreal in reply to garlicbread123]

No, it's not a fear of gaining weight. It's just the fear of getting the panic attack I usually get after I eat. It's like a weird physiological reaction, and it actually runs in the family.

[CL3V3R-G1RL]

I deal with this. Mine started back in elementary school. I would get anxious and I would get overwhelmed at lunch time by sounds and smells of food and eventually I would puke. I then developed a fear of eating around people cause I didn't want to have a panic attack and puke everywhere.

It took me sometime but I had to condition myself into accepting the feelings and remind myself that there is nothing wrong. Just nervous arousal. Not to obsessed over that feeling. Just let that feeling pass on it's own. It took me sometime and yeah for added security I actually bought some air sickness bags in case while I worked on that. Sometimes you have to give time- time.

I wish you the best of luck 😃🤞🏽

[Midori]

I'm thinking that it sounds rather like the beginnings of anorexia or bulimia, and I would suggest you ask your doctor about it. If it is, it can be serious.

Cheers, Midori

[mvillarreal in reply to Midori]

No, I'm not afraid of becoming overweight. It's more a fear of having a panic attack after I eat, which is a weird physiological reaction I get to food.

[Midori in reply to mvillarreal]

Anorexia and bulimia don't have to be about weight. They can be a mechanism you can control If you are feeling as if things are getting out of hand.

I still think you should see your doctor.

Cheers, Midori

[ZOO7]

I have slightly different symptoms. Sometime I fear what I’m eating is making me feel like crap and other times I watch the clock thinking I should eat it’s 2pm maybe I’m starting to feel anxious because my blood sugar is dropping. Help. Not sure if you feel any of these too?