r/ARFID

There are times when I cannot stomach food or water (stress related always) but apples are fine more or less, if the apple itself is fine.

If it’s grainy or mushy or bruised :( it’s awful.

I went to the ER when I couldn’t sleep for 96 hours and hadn’t eaten more than 400 calories in that time. I couldn’t stomach the sandwich, but I consumed the FORK out of that apple. It was fresh. No dents. No soft spots. Crunchy and juicy.

How do I find more apples that aren’t messy and messed up when you often rely on delivery and delivery services brings often moldy or mushy apples?

I’m eh about apple slices because sometimes they’re mushy, soggy, or they have a bitter taste because of preservatives to keep them from turning brown.

Hello! I'm 16 y.o person and I don't speak English, but I use a translator. I hope you can understand me!

At some point in my life (presumably when I got rotavirus and was forbidden to eat many foods, but that's according to my mother, I don't remember), I developed a fear of trying new things and eating meat products. Over time, the list of "unsafe" foods grew, and I ended up eating practically the same foods every day. And I can't understand or pinpoint WHY I'm afraid to try or eat anything. I only eat two types of soup, mashed potatoes, rice, and a few other foods. I also can't eat certain foods without seasonings and other flavor enhancers. Yet, I'm slightly overweight because I often eat certain types of fast food (I usually eat potatoes or heavily seasoned nuggets , I don't eat burgers, shawarma, etc.). The funniest thing is that I can't eat chicken, but I can eat heavily seasoned nuggets lol

The thought of having to eat something new terrifies me. I can't sit at the same table with my family because the smell and even the sight of meat and other foods make me sick. I haven't tried many dishes and I don't even know what tomatoes, fish, salad, sausage, etc. taste like. I'm truly ashamed that I'm causing my family trouble. I searched online for information about this and found ARFID, which is very similar to what I'm experiencing now.

Should I get tested, or am I just being picky?

We have a staff appreciation lunch at my office today. I was going to push myself to go today, even if I only pick at the food there’s usually some sort of roll and some sort of cookie at the dessert table. They were going to announce the people with significant work anniversaries and I’d fall into that category. But today I can’t do it. A coworker mentioned one of the options at the lunch will be salmon and the thought of communal salmon (buffet style serve yourself that will probably be room temp by the time I sit down) in a room full of people, hoping I can find a seat next to the coworkers I know (the cafeteria where do I sit awkwardness all over again) and then the smells of everything… I just can’t do it today. I always pack a lunch just in case thankfully.

I hated the cafeteria as a kid and could only eat certain foods in my packed lunch in that type of communal space, preferably dry foods and I hated sitting so close to others trying to eat. It’s cafeteria flashbacks all over again.

Several people have walked by my desk asking if I’m heading up to the luncheon and it’s just awkward. I feel like overall I can blend pretty well at this point in the office environment. Sometimes I wish I could “turn off” my ARFID even if just for a day or a single meal and just be normal like everyone else.

Has anyone undergone partial hospitalization treatment for ARFID? After trying outpatient therapy/dietary work, all the caloric supplementation, and two appetite stimulant meds, we are about to undertake PHP treatment on the advice of my young son’s pediatrician. He needs weight restoration.

Just wondering what to expect and how best to support him. Thank you.

I'm 27, I've had ARFID my whole life. I'm also insanely sensitive to fragrance and I wonder if anyone else struggles with that. It's not just like a "I don't like certain smells" it's a visceral reaction to scent and a very strong and sensitive nose. It goes for food smell but also things like fragrance in shampoos and stuff too.

I also have autism with sensory issues, so it could totally be that, but I was wondering if, with how closely related smell and taste are as senses, if it might be relatable for anyone else in this sub.

I've had periods of my life where my scent issues are so bad that I've had to go with unfragranced everything and detox compeletely. I'm just starting to get back into fragrance after almost 5 years without. I actually stopped wearing deodorant for a while (I also have a reaction to antiperspirant deodorant) because I couldn't find anything unscented and I hated it.

There are certain fragrance families that give me an instant headache - anything "fresh" or "cashmere" does that to me.

I find that now that I'm adding fragrance back to my life I have "safe scents." I've got lavender, eucalyptus, vanilla, sandalwood, clove, and cinnamon right now. I stick to mostly vanilla and lavender though, but as I'm starting to wear perfume again I got a clovey, incensey, smoky vanilla that I love so much.

My nose is so in tune that I've learned the names of popular fragrances and use them as a conversation starter with people sometimes. "Hey! You smell so good - are you wearing ___?"

It goes for food, too. I can always tell if I wanna try something or if I would like it based on how it smells. I can pick apart seasonings and tell you exactly what is on/in stuff. I can pair flavors of food I don't even eat when cooking for others based on smell (even though I hate doing this and smelling food I don't like).

Just a weird quirk I have and I wonder if anyone else here has a crazy nose like me.

i have sensory sensitivity arfid and autism. my whole life i’ve struggled with drinking water. i will drink anything else, tea, milk, juice, koolaid, soda, coffee, etc. and in times where i was trying to be better at being more hydrated i would drink water with flavoring in it. i just can’t make myself drink regular water consistently.

i’m currently arguing with my boyfriend because he wants me to drink more water. admittedly, all i’ve been drinking lately is soda which i know is bad and his concern is valid. i said i’ll start drinking water with flavoring again and he says it’s still unhealthy and i need to drink it plain. our argument got heated and i got really frustrated because he just doesn’t get how i struggle. like would you rather me drink water with a bit of flavoring as an aid or just not drink it at all?

I'm so tired of having to figure out what to eat every day, several times a day. I'm tired of going to the store and coming home empty handed because I couldn't figure out what to buy/eat.

I don't really have safe foods anymore, just foods that I can sometimes handle. I have zero appetite and developed an aversion to eating.

If I could ignore hunger, I would.

I don't want to eat anymore, ever again.

If only I could.

I got diagnosed with arfid at 14 but didn't find out until now (18) when I requested my files from my treatment places. I don't feel like I have arfid, everyone with arfid struggles with texture or certain foods and that's not really me. I just don't like eating sometimes, and it's definitely a body image thing too i want to be skinny. I don't like feeling full, sometimes food grosses me out but it's more because ik I'm gaining weight or like eating junk, I also hate how ur supposed to eat when ur not hungry. I never eat breakfast. I don't like my diagnosis and I feel like it was more filler. Is arfid just a sensory ed? Cux I don't feel that.

Im 17 years old, and im very underweight — currently being looked into with CAHMS when it comes to ARFID amongst other things, and they want me on a meal plan to gain some weight. Only problem is, is that I physically cant bring myself to eat anything with soya in because I’m scared I’m allergic (even though I know I’m not). Has anybody got any suggestions of things I can eat to add into my meal plan that are soya free as their main focus right now is me putting weight on.

So I don’t eat eggs but because I also don’t eat any meat, i’d like to do eggs as my next food exposure. But I despise the spongy texture and I’m just wondering if there is any way to cook them where the texture won’t be as noticeable? How do you guys like your eggs?

I don’t know what to do, Ive basically become lactose intolerant in a two week span but all of my safe foods contain dairy I don’t know what to do. I like oat milk thank the stars so I can still eat my cereal. all other foods I like need to prepared and cooked I just don’t have the energy or resources for that I hate this this is horrible :(

just need a bit of support right now from people who understand how important safe foods are

So for the last 25 years, my goto safe food. The only food I have always been able to eat, has been Heinz Spaghetti strings. Not hoops, not shapes, not another brand. Those specific strings. And I really rely on them, I've probably eaten over seven thousand tins in the last quarter century. And it was the one food I never had to question. I could walk into any shop in the UK, grab a tin and know I could eat.

Well, those motherfucking pieces of human trash have decided that their execs in 2026 know better than everyone going before and all their customers and changed from "long cut" to "medium cut" strings. Which has changed the texture.

I got one last week, thought it was a weird end of run thing or something. But it was also the first time in fifteen years I've failed to finish a can, and the first time I've ever failed without being seriously physically ill. It's literally food I can eat even mid migraine when I feel like I want to puke.

But I just saw online that they've just changed it. Not added a new option, just changed it with no anouncement until people started calling them out on it. Their response? "We've changed from long cut to short cut, hope that helps!". No, it does not fucking help.

So now, I have lost my only real safe food, the thing that literally kept me alive for 25 fucking years. I've gone from "narrow but nutritionally fine diet" to being genuinely worried about my nutrition going forward.

I know this is a common question here, because I’ve spent a while going through old posts from here on this same topic. I need protein options, but all of the old posts recommend things I can’t do: meat; dairy; nuts; protein bars, shakes, and powder; peanut butter…the list goes on.

Eggs and protein pasta I can do but I cannot eat them too frequently as I have limited tolerance for them. I can also sometimes do porridge.

If you need anymore information I’m happy to help but please if you’ve got some new/creative protein recommendations that would be amazing.

So over the last 8 months or so my rating has been getting less and less, I’ve lost all my safe foods so I’ve been back and forth the hospital for IVs but was kinda eating enough to not starve but because I’ve been forcing my self to eat the amount I am eating atm I now really hate the sensory side of chewing.

I’ve tried eating soup and mashed potatoes but those are also foods I can’t really tolerate, I’m starting to rapidly lose weight since I’m eating 1-2 bites of food but then have to stop. Any advice?

I just found this subreddit and I am so glad I did! Lately I have had almost 0 appetite for anything, there are days where I go without eating anything because I just don’t want anything. It’s becoming a bigger problem because I am starting to feel the effects of not eating much, but that just makes me eat even less because I feel sick. (I will be honest, I’m taking glp-1 shots for weight loss but I’m taking a pretty low dose. I don’t want to stop taking it.)

I want to try something like a protein shake, but every one I’ve ever tried has tasted horrible! Like someone dumped a bunch of bitter medicine into a milkshake and I can’t do yogurt with any particles in it whatsoever. I really love the danimals yogurt drinks, but they come in such tiny portions and it feels like a massive waste of plastic too.

they're saying they don't want to go places with their partner because she has issues with food and has meltdowns over things she can't tolerate.

and basically every comment is full of "wow she's exhausting" "leave her" "she's a grown woman why is she acting like this?" "she's so childish" "i could never date/love someone like this" "sorry but i could never tolerate something like this it pisses me off so bad" etc.

man. now i feel like crying. i'm so sick of people not taking ARFID and ARFID havers seriously, of not respecting us, and treating us like burdens who are choosing to be. if i hear the phrase "picky eater" one more time, i'm going to scream.

Basicly the title. Was told by the nutritionist to use complan for when I didn't feel like I could eat anything however I find them rank and the texture is gross and although I find it easier than food because it's a liquid I still really struggle to get it down. Slimfast however I actually like the flavor and texture of. Is there a downside to using slimfast instead of complan (other than the reduction in calories). Because I'm way more likely to drink slimfast

Hi everyone! I will be going with my boyfriend to visit his grandmom in Texas in about 6 weeks so I’m panicking trying to find more safe foods I like. I need some recommendations. I don’t eat any meat besides bacon and my diet mostly consists of cheese and bread in different forms. I recently tried pizza with red sauce I normally eat white pizza. I’m so scared that I’m just going to be an inconvenience when I’m there and I want to make a good impression so that’s the last thing I want to do. Im not sure what to try next. I really appreciate the advice 🫶

Does anyone else just actively avoid the doctor because you know the lecture about vitamin deficiencies is coming? my safe foods have been basically just saltines and plain pasta for the last like, four months because my sensory issues are in total overdrive right now

and standard vitamins are literally the worst. i can't do the giant chalky pills, and those standard "adult gummies" have that horrible grainy sugar coating and a weird bouncy texture that makes me gag instantly. the liquid stuff always just tastes like battery acid disguised as fake cherry

I was actually complaining about this to my therapist and she suggested looking into stuff formulated specifically for sensory processing issues instead of normal adult stuff. ended up getting Simple spectrum since its just a plain powder. I've been mixing it into my one safe brand of apple juice and tbh it actually works. you literally can't feel the texture at all and there's no weird metallic aftertaste ruining the drink

its just really nice to have one less thing to stress about when the whole concept of eating is already exhausting enough. anyway just a random thought for anyone else who is currently fighting for their life in the supplement aisle rn.