u/T4m_K6175

Heads up - Any time I say "be sick" I am referring to the act of vomiting and only that. I just prefer to type it that way.

Hi! I have had emetophobia my entire life, and by extension, I've also always struggled with food. Im writing this out because im trying to figure out how all these things interact so I can work my way up to trying to treat them I guess. Im wondering about potentially having aversive-type ARFID?

Because of my fear of being sick, ive sort of developed a phobia of food. ALL food. Not just food capable of giving me food poisoning. Like, every single time I eat ANYTHING, I feel like im going to throw up for hours afterwards. It doesnt matter what it is. It is way worse in public settings. At home is the only place I will ever eat full meals. If im going out I basically fast. If I have to go to a restaurant I have a panic attack, and will end up ordering a salad or something to pick at so I at least look like I'm eating. I have ALWAYS been like this too. As a very small child I would have panic attacks and freak out and refuse to eat anywhere but my home, and even then id struggle at mealtimes. The only time I dont feel on the verge of being sick is when I'm starving. Like, if my stomach isn't empty, im terrified and anxious no matter what it is that i ate. Half a piece of toast in the morning will ruin the rest of my day.This has caused me to struggle to go out and function like a normal person. Ive started taking zoloft, and im hoping that'll help me get a start on things anxiety-wise because food aside i have always struggled with an anxiety disorder at some point, but slow progress so far.

Anyways, onto the topic of the sub: I saw someone talking about emetophobia induced ARFID, so I've been looking into that, but it's hard to find any information. Because I am hypothetically willing to eat anything and I LOVE food, I just struggled to eat it period. And based of everything I've seen about ARFID, it usually involves not being willing to eat. I definitely have a couple safe foods that I eat most of the time like if I HAVE to eat out of the house, and a large variety of foods that I love but refuse to eat and havent eaten in years because they make me feel ill. Ive had periods of my life where I would go to school and not eat anything all day until I get home at 4pm because I wouldnt be able to function at school if I ate and at least at home if I did get sick I'd be alone and somewhere comfortable. (I haven't been sick in like... 12 years at this point) I've also lost noticeable amounts of weight at my worst points. Anyways, im wondering if maybe anyone here relates or something? Like should I look into the disorder and see if there might be a way to help me from this angle? Ive come to so many different conclusions over the years about my nausea. At first I thought it was GERD and treated ut as such, but after years, I realized it's likely anxiety-based, and now im wondering if that may have led to developing ARFID.

I also figure its worth giving some info in case it's relevant. Im 18, and both of my parents most likely have ADHD but I have no evidence or idea of any autism in the family. Basically both my mom dad and brother were told by doctors growing up that they needed to be assessed and treated for ADHD but they all refused. I've always struggled and assumed I have it as well, but i don't have a formal diagnosis. That being said, I have no clue about autism. I bring this up because I do know that ARFID is highly linked to autism, though I'm not the most educated so correct me if this is inaccurate. Ive been told by autistic friends that I have a lot of traits and behaviors that come across as autistic and that I should seek a diagnosis, but ive never considered it myself. Basically im just throwing that all out there to give some more context.

Heads up - Any time I say "be sick" I am referring to the act of vomiting and only that. I just prefer to type it that way.

Hi! I have had emetophobia my entire life, and by extension, I've also always struggled with food. Im writing this out because im trying to figure out how all these things interact so I can work my way up to trying to treat them I guess. Im wondering about potentially having aversive-type ARFID?

Because of my fear of being sick, ive sort of developed a phobia of food. ALL food. Not just food capable of giving me food poisoning. Like, every single time I eat ANYTHING, I feel like im going to throw up for hours afterwards. It doesnt matter what it is. It is way worse in public settings. At home is the only place I will ever eat full meals. If im going out I basically fast. If I have to go to a restaurant I have a panic attack, and will end up ordering a salad or something to pick at so I at least look like I'm eating. I have ALWAYS been like this too. As a very small child I would have panic attacks and freak out and refuse to eat anywhere but my home, and even then id struggle at mealtimes. The only time I dont feel on the verge of being sick is when I'm starving. Like, if my stomach isn't empty, im terrified and anxious no matter what it is that i ate. Half a piece of toast in the morning will ruin the rest of my day.This has caused me to struggle to go out and function like a normal person. Ive started taking zoloft, and im hoping that'll help me get a start on things anxiety-wise because food aside i have always struggled with an anxiety disorder at some point, but slow progress so far.

Anyways, onto the topic of the sub: I saw someone talking about emetophobia induced ARFID, so I've been looking into that, but it's hard to find any information. Because I am hypothetically willing to eat anything and I LOVE food, I just struggled to eat it period. And based of everything I've seen about ARFID, it usually involves not being willing to eat. I definitely have a couple safe foods that I eat most of the time like if I HAVE to eat out of the house, and a large variety of foods that I love but refuse to eat and havent eaten in years because they make me feel ill. Ive had periods of my life where I would go to school and not eat anything all day until I get home at 4pm because I wouldnt be able to function at school if I ate and at least at home if I did get sick I'd be alone and somewhere comfortable. (I haven't been sick in like... 12 years at this point) I've also lost noticeable amounts of weight at my worst points. Anyways, im wondering if maybe anyone here relates or something? Like should I look into the disorder and see if there might be a way to help me from this angle? Ive come to so many different conclusions over the years about my nausea. At first I thought it was GERD and treated ut as such, but after years, I realized it's likely anxiety-based, and now im wondering if that may have led to developing ARFID.

I also figure its worth giving some info in case it's relevant. Im 18, and both of my parents most likely have ADHD but I have no evidence or idea of any autism in the family. Basically both my mom dad and brother were told by doctors growing up that they needed to be assessed and treated for ADHD but they all refused. I've always struggled and assumed I have it as well, but i don't have a formal diagnosis. That being said, I have no clue about autism. I bring this up because I do know that ARFID is highly linked to autism, though I'm not the most educated so correct me if this is inaccurate. Ive been told by autistic friends that I have a lot of traits and behaviors that come across as autistic and that I should seek a diagnosis, but ive never considered it myself. Basically im just throwing that all out there to give some more context.

(I refer to throwing up as "being sick" for my own comfort. Just clarifying so you know what I mean)

I need to rant and get this out of my system because im hoping it'll help. Especially if someone else is going through something similar. Around 7 pm last night, I had chicken tenders from a local grocery store for dinner. I didn't notice anything off about them, and neither did my family (who as of right now seem like they feel fine). i even had more of the chicken for lunch today.

Last night, I started to have some stomach pain. Idk when it started exactly, but within a couple of hours of eating the chicken. I didn't feel too nauseous, and I went to sleep fine. The pain is like a constant dull cramping that feels similar to hunger, but obviously isn't because I feel it even after I eat, and it feels kinda full. It's 3 pm the next day, and it hasn't gotten any better or significantly worse. It's definitely worsening, but not by a lot. I have no appetite, and even drinking water feels a bit weird. I haven't been sick in around 12 years, and I dont know what it feels like. I've also obviously never been sick from food poisoning, and I have no idea if I should suspect it. Im just so scared.

I also do experience nausea as a symptom of my anxiety disorder, which i have started taking medication for, but it doesn't feel like this. It's usually more of a throat feeling than a cramping one. My anxiety probably isn't making it better, though, and i have a concert tomorrow, so im really hoping I'll be okay for it. Uhghhh.

If anyone else is feeling scared right now, feel free to comment or message me. We're in this together, and sometimes it helps to talk to someone. I know for me, at least it does.

Hellooo. Today is my 7th day taking sertraline and I want to share my experience during the first week because Ive seen a lot of extremely negative posts. (Negative experiences are obviously valid and good to post for the sake of informing people tho ofc). I put off taking my first dose for days because I was absolutely terrified of potential side effects. I read so many people's negative experiences and it made me so anxious. I have severe emetophobia so the possibility of feeling nauseous or throwing up made me almost not seek out a prescription despite my anxiety literally ruining my life. However, the anxiety attacks I was having were making me nauseous literally 24/7 so I ultimately decided, might aswell take them anyways.

Anything big thing that eased my anxiety enough to take my first dose was talking to people in real life. I brought up my situation with my friends and classmates that I talk to often and beleive me when I say, more people take sertraline than you think. I would ask about their first week and side effects and has so many people say "Oh talk to this person" and within a day I had a web of people in my life that I could talk to about it. Out of the 5 people i talked to personally, none of them experienced nausea or any other extreme side effects, if not some minor stomach upset. Its important to remember that out of everyone that takes zoloft, most of the people that have positive experiences aren't posting about it because they have no reason to. So, searching up "zoloft experiences" will show you more bad than good. Also as a reminder, everyone's body is different and there is literally no guarantee on what you will or wont experience. What you can count on is that side effects are temporary, and if you absolutely cannot handle it, you can stop at any time.

Now, onto my experience so far. Im starting at 25mg and ive been taking it around 7-9pm with dinner. In terms of anxiety I feel 0% different, but thats expected as im only a week in. As for side effects, none of them have really affected my daily life in any significant way. I waited until friday night to take my first pill in case it did go bad so I wouldnt miss too much school. Ive heard the pill can either make you feel drowsy or awake and that dictates when you should take it, but honestly I feel neither. I just chose at night because I don't eat breakfast at all and you should take it with food to avoid stomach upset. I will say, though it doesnt make me significantly drowsy, I have been falling asleep a lot easier as someone that struggles with it. Usually I lay for a while before im out but now ive noticed once I lay down its smooth sailing.

The worst of the side effects was in the first 3 days, and it wasnt even bad. The first morning I immediately had diarrhea, but it wasnt anything i havent had before, and it only lasted about a day. It has happened maybe twice since, but not as bad. I do definitely sweat more now, and have to sleep shirtless when previously I exclusively slept in hoodies, and I smell noticably more. In the first 3 days i was a bit shaky in the mornings but that went away. My appetite hasn't been great but its manageable. I have had a minor migraine and ive noticed my eyes sort of go out of focus easier if that makes sense. The only thing ive really notice is neck pain. Starting at around day 4 my neck started to feel very stiff and sore, but its gone away now.

I will say though, because this is very notable, I do menstruate, and started taking the pills at the same time my period started. So most of my symptoms are things I already experience on my period. (Headaches, no appetite, diarrhea, sweating, tiredness) any number of these could be cycle related, or not. Either way, my point is that as someone that menstruates, everything im feeling ive experienced before and worse on a monthly basis. So, if you have a uterus, I feel like you have less to fear lol.

Overall, ive been fine! Im hoping the second week goes as smoothly if not better. I am quite scared to up my dose to 50mg in 3 weeks so if anyone wants to chime in about that, feel free. Im scared that the only reason im chilling is because my dose is quite low but who knows. Ill try to update in the future if anyone wants!