Anxiety & allergies, did I mention anxiety?!

[Girlygirl]

Hi, my name is Carley and I'm 19 years old. I'm here trying to get help on coping with my anxiety over allergic reactions, basically asphyxiation. This started about 9 or so months ago while at college. I have bad acid reflux, it often times made it feel like food was stuck in my throat or that my throat was "closing up". This is what started my anxiety, then to add to that I found out that my roommate was allergic to peanuts. This caused me to begin to wonder and start worrying. I stopped eating all kinds of nuts. Mind you, I've never had an allergic reaction to anything in my life other than a bee sting. Since then I moved home from college and my anxiety went away.
Now, a few months later I had an allergic reaction to some tanning lotion, I got hives, took a Benadryl, then I was fine. But since then everything has gone downhill with my anxiety. Within the last few weeks this has gotten worse. I almost refuse to eat anything, because even if it's something I've eaten a million times before I start wondering if I'm allergic and I actually begin feeling the symptoms that aren't actually there and I go into a panic. Once I calm down I realize that I was actually fine and reassure myself that I'm okay. I also carry a bottle of Benadryl in my purse at all times.
I've stopped taking any types of medication due to being worried I will have a reaction to it, except for my birth control which I've been taking for a long time now and I'm okay with it. It is also affecting my sleep for some reason, I feel like I'm going to stop breathing and suffocate in my sleep! My weight has dropped down to only 103 due to barely eating and all the stress and anxiety is taking it's toll on my health and happiness. I'm tired of worrying constantly and not eating things that I used to love.
I would just like to know that I'm not alone in this and I'm not "crazy". I'd also love any type of support, comfort and advice you are willing to give! I need to stop obsessing and start living again!

[iwanttofeelbetter]

I had acid reflux a while ago and had that same food stuck in throat feeling. I started drinking apple cider vinegar (organic unfiltered cloudy type) with honey and it helped right away.

Try this:

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (and it really has to be the organic cloudy kind. I like to use a little more)
1 spoon raw honey
put this inside of peppermint tea

I drink this in the morning and at night. It really helped the problem. The doctor told me to take tums and they didnt do ANYTHING, then I tried this.;

[anthrokid]

Hi Carley,

I had a terrible experience around your age that I associated with allergies (even though it was not an allergic reaction), which led to severe anxiety about anaphylaxis. I started a thread around that time, desperate to find even one other person who had the same worries. The thread is still running now, and there are quite a few people here who have experienced similar fears about allergies. If you want to read the thread, there are lots of shared experiences there as well as tips from different people about coping and recovering.

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=72538

Like you, I lost a lot of weight when I was suffering from anxiety and panic attacks because I was terrified of eating. What helped me was identifying "safe foods" that I knew I had never had a reaction to and eating those. One thing I found incredibly helpful was drinking protein shakes and smoothies to get my nutrition when I was at my worst. Have you spoken to any members of your family or friends about this? It may be a good idea to visit your doctor and discuss this and what you can do to help overcome this fear.

[MyNameIsTerry]

You are definately not alone, Carley.

Anxiety disorders are all irrational by nature and you will find people on here with all sorts of concerns and there is often some common themes that allow us to all try to help each other.

Aside from anthrokid above, there are several other people on here who suffer from anxiety over eating who have posted thread. I suggest you check out Kimberley's eating anxiety one on here which is an ongoing support thread as I think they will understand a lot of what you are going through and be able to offer advice & support.

I have had a little bit of this myself when I was at my worst stage in relapse and it was very unpleasant. I was anxious at eating but because of how eating changed sensations in my body. I only got over this by intently staring at the power button on the TV whilst eating and after a couple of weeks it faded substantially. I still get the odd bit of it when I am having a blip but its very controllable now, not like back then.

I also have the issue with taking supplements. For me this stems back to when I added a new strong supplement to a mix I was taking for weight training (I had been taking all sorts of supplements for years). This new one was for experienced lifters only and I found it far too strong for me and it gave me a massive surge of adrenaline and made me panic. Ever since then I have been trying to resolve an issue with taking any supplement "just in case". I think this was reinforced by taking Citalopram which brought its side effects. I couldn't even take vitamin C or paracetemol back then.

There are people on here who have posted about taking tablets, usually on the phobias board.

You really need support with this. Are you in therapy? If not, please see your doctor and start that moving because it will help you. They can suggest ways to get you beyond this.

I would also consider anthrokid's suggestion of protein drinks. There are also bags of protein sold specifically to be added to food as a booster. I know this is going to be hard too, but it might be an interim solution if you can beat the fear of using these until you can get your diet resolved.

I know people such as Kimberley, and others, have talked about being unable to even take medication or add these drinks in the past so they will understand how you think. You will also find hope there too because I have been speaking to Kimberley on here for a while now and she has improved in so many ways and you need to see this otherwise you can feel like there is no way out...which I remember Kimberley saying to some of us last year.

[Davit]

Apple cider vinegar is very easy to make, we can't get it organic here so I had to find some one with some and inoculate my own organic apple cider. It goes cloudy too.

[Sunflower2]

Ah Terry that's such a lovely post about me! :) but yes, Carley, have a look at my thread and you'll see a few of us with similar issues! It's definitely not a hopeless situation, it just takes some time and definitely some therapy to unwarp your mind! A year ago I was barely eating anything and my weight went below 100lbs, so I was just a skeleton of myself and so unhappy all the time. I could not see a way to get over this because everything scared me. I think I lived on almost the same few foods for a number of months.. And if forced to eat something different, I just wouldn't eat. I'm pleased to say now that I'm eating a lot lot more, adding more and more variety again. Next step is the medication phobia which I've started to challenge by taking a multivitamin daily. You just need to read my thread to see how hopeless I felt at some points, so if I can manage it, I think anyone can!!

[MyNameIsTerry]

Thats a good way to start the exposure Kimberley, pick something that is least likely to trigger anything. I went with vitamin C because I knew it would be very safe. I also started back on the paracetamol about the same time. I gradually added more from there and its a still a concern of mine but it will improve in time, I just haven't had any cause to try something a bit more stimulating.

I knew when I relapsed that the first few weeks could be hell as the first time the side effects got me. The second time was very different as it was a med that you taper onto and it was only bad when I hit the standara does where it starts to affect the epinephrine.

I went into to it with acceptance of how I would struggle. For the worst 8-10 days of my life I kept telling myself it would eventually "break" and it did. It was hell and the last 2 mornings I did take a 2mg Diazepam although I resisted them until I couldn't take anymore. I also completely refused to take Zopiclone for sleep and did it the natural way which helped a great deal.

...and, your welcome because its true! :yesyes:

You are far different to the person me & Oosh were talking to on the OCD board way back when. I think we have to always remember these successes because prior to them we didn't think we would ever be able to even that and the next hurdle is only the same except less intense now.