Thanks Canaan. This is more an anxiety around food. I think I've always had it and it's just become part of my generalized weirdness. Would like to work on it though.

My food anxiety is a bit different then yours. my fear is swallowing and choking which sends me into a whirligig of panic. ..... I've yet to find a solution, but just wanted to let you know that there are other people who understand what you're going through

Hi meandmydog, my food anxiety is the same as yours. I suffer with the 'lump in the throat' syndrome, i have built up phobias now around eating, i have 'safe foods' and unsafe foods ( thing i can and cant eat)


ive got better with it over the past few years, but some things STILL are off limits

Mine is like meandmydog's and jordanross's. It is called dysphagia and have anxiety over choking and not being able to swallow. Sometimes I can't even swallow my own saliva. So I take pills that create saliva (Pilocarpine) and valium if the panic gets too bad. I go for weeks at a time, and when that happens, my doc has me take a valium before every meal or I will lose too much weight.

It is associated with an autoimmune disease I have (Mixed Connective tissue Disease).

lately yes :( I haven't been able to eat anything really.

Thanks everyone. This helps a lot. I am trying to develop some sort of something I can do to make food safe - washing or cooking everything, etc. For now, I took a food safety class that helped me understand what makes people sick or not. I wasn't sure if it would help or make me even more averse to food but it did help. I appreciate everyone's comments.

i'm like this on a daily basis its hurrendous, the amount of foods ive wasted because there is always something or another 'wrong' with it. i have not yet found a solution but im hoping to start CBT soon.

Mine is like meandmydog too and it's getting so bad that last week they found anemia and is only because I am not eating right , I am afraid to go out and eat, we even have a house on the beach on a small town that I used to enigma lot but I don't go cause the town is little with not a hospital just a little one and I am afraid to go , eat and chocked and no help

Reed31, my food anxiety is very similar to yours. I have always thought it has to do with my OCD contamination fears. I go through different "obsessions" of worrying about getting sick from food, and I have, in the past, convinced myself I was allergic to various foods or that certain foods led to bad reactions (i.e. upset stomach).

I haven't found any solutions to this, but it helps me to try to think of things in a more logical manner. If I am afraid of getting food poisoning from a restaurant or something, I just think to myself, "What are the chances of this really happening?" (And don't let over sensationalized news stories scare you...I tend to fall into that trap a lot).

Thinking of the worst-case scenario can help as well. So let's say you DO end up with food poisoning...what's the worst that could happen? Most likely, you'll make a full recovery and be A-OK.

Also, just remember that there's only so much you can do. Be smart when preparing food (that's good you took a food safety course), but don't let yourself get obsessive. As long as you take normal precautions (wash hands, don't chop raw veggies on the same cutting board as raw meat, etc), you will be just fine. Worrying certainly doesn't protect you from getting ill.

Sorry I don't have better advice to give you, but I hope it helps knowing you're not alone! Take care.

Yes!! I had it so bad I didn't want to eat anything. I was either afraid that I would become allergic to something or that I would get food poisoning. Learn how to handle and store food safely, but make sure you don't become too obsessed with that. I was always afraid of being allergic to something or a particular food making my anxiety worse. I started getting past this by eating small portions of the food I was afraid of until I was no longer afraid to eat them regularly.

When I get REALLY paranoid and psychotic I have delusions of people poisoning me and food tastes bad.
My friend has a fear of eating in front of people.
I also can't swallow pills, which isn't food but I get a gag reflex. It is like I forget how to swallow.
I hope you guys do better.

Worldofblah4:

I hate taking pills and I have to take a lot because of some health conditions. It is like I forget how to swallow. I still get nervous eating in front of people (like your friend) and going to restaurants. I rarely eat alone, meaning that my husband has to be home. I am surrounded by people at work, so I manage lunch in my own office.

I have had every test in the book done at George Washington University Hospital. Nothing physically is wrong with me except extreme heartburn (Gerd), which, of course, I have to take medication for.

I wouldn't wish this swallowing anxiety on anyone. I've been struggling with it for years. Sometimes it's difficult to swallow water or even saliva. My throat won't cooperate with what it is suppose to do. :-)

If I have to drive I may take a 1/2 of Xanax so I can swallow. But it doesn't help with food. :-( Like I meantioned before; I wouldn't wish this on anyone but it does feel a little better knowing that my friend and I (who I met on DS with the same problem) are not the only ones as we thought that for years.

The doctors I've spoken with don't have a clue. Has anyone ever tried a hypnotherapist?

I wish everyone a quick solution to the problem as it can really be depressing and not at all good for your health. Dinners out are a thing of the past and holiday dinners are dreaded.

Best of luck to everyone!

I have had the same feeling wiht OCD and panic with choking on food. If I felt like eating a piece of lettuce didn't go down right, or if the skin of a potatoe didn't go down righ, I would obsess about it for the next 10 minutes after I took that bite and then have to force myself to throw up to make sure it wasn't still in there and I wasn't choking. I also had a problem if I didn't see someone prepare my food, like they would put something in it or something.

It was scary. But instead of the food anxiety I have health problems anxiety - i think i have every bad thing know to man.

In my opinion it wasn't worth the anxiety to me to eat it if it was questionable.

So glad I posted but I feel awful for the people who are dealing with similar issues but worse than what I'm going through.

I appreciate your ideas and I think just trying a small amount to start may be a big help.

I'm also finding that if I keep my mind off of it - watching TV or talking with a friend on the phone while eating I'm not as bad. I had to do the same with the not being able to swallow thing. I don't have that all the time - only at times of high stress.

I think mine may be related to my anorexia which I still get a touch of from time to time. But I feel that's related to food being something I never enjoyed. Everything other than sweets tastes bitter or soapy to me so it's not something I really like.

I used to wish (and sometimes still do) that I could eat if I wanted to but didn't have to.