Terrified of food and getting anaphylaxis

[Bushbabe]

Hello there :)

This is my first time posting here, and i do so because im absolutely ruining my life. For some reason i have decided that absolutely everything i eat i am going to be allergic to and get anaphylactic shock and die. Its been going on for about a month now (although it feels like much much longer), ever since i got a dental infection and had to go on penicillin. Stupidly, i decided to google the symptoms of allergic reactions to it and somehow thats totally escalated to food (im terrified of meds too but it is much easier to avoid them).
Everytime i eat i am convinced i am going to die so that i only manage to eat about 500 calories a day. I had to call 999 twice because i was convinced i was having an allergic reaction, but these only turned out to be panic attacks. Ive also been to 3 different doctors trying to find answers about allergic reactions to food. All three of them have said that because i dont have any allergies then it is unlikely i will develop one to something i have eaten all my life. Unfortunately though, for some reason it just doesnt sink in!
To top it all off, ive had to move back home to my parents house (400 miles away from where i live) and im not going home until i feel better. This means that i have no idea when i will see my bf and my dogs again =( And in addition, my sister is due to give birth any day now and im convinced when the baby comes i am going to die.

Sorry this has been such a wall of text, i was just wondering if anything has experienced anything similar and had any hints or tips which they could share with me as im at my wits end.

thanks, Vicky.

[cattttt]

Yes,yes,yes. I went through just this 4 years ago, it lasted 6 months, then I got so sick of it, I decided it had to stop. I decided to stop thinking about it and stop worrying, and lo and behold, over about 4 days, it worked. There are still a few lingering fears, mostly about meds, but a few foods I still can't bring myself to eat, and I still start to panic sometimes, but it's manageable. It was the same thing that started it for me, I read the stuff on the internet about reactions and food interactions to the bp med I'd been given........and away it all went.Hang in there Vicky, you can beat it.

[Bushbabe]

Oh my gosh, although i would never ever wish this one anyone it is so nice to hear that i am not alone! And its even more encouraging to hear from someone that has overcome this fear, and in such a short space of time too. I think google is one of the worst things ever when used in the wrong way lol. Its like an addiction for me, i keep googling things about anaphylaxis and food allergies in the hope i will find something that makes me feel better, but i should know by now that isnt gonna happen. I think the first thing for me to get over this is to stop googling!

[uk23]

I really thought it was just me who thought like this. I ate a pork pie the other day (like you I dont eat anywhere near enough cals) and felt a tingle in my mouth, now they are sitting in the fridge and I wont eat them, I have thought the same about most foods.

[cornishmaid]

i posted recently about this,i was even checking all the packets on foods in supermarkets see if they were not suitable for people suffering from nut allergys,i Dont have a nut allergy! but if it wasnt suitable i wouldnt buy it,wouldnt eat mushrooms or strawberries which i have eaten plenty befrore and for years,i have slowly started back on the mushrooms,i was eating my babys magic star chocolates other day,then later on in the day i picked up the packet and read the ingrediants ,and there it was contains nut proteins!!!! after a slight panic i thought hang on it was hours ago i had eaten them and nothing had happened,,am still checking stuff just a little less now ,

[anthrokid]

Hey!

Ugh I started being like this at the start of the year after a scare whilst traveling in Asia. I do suffer from allergies so I freaked out, turns out it was a oanic attack not anaphylaxis. Since then I've had this absolute phobia of anaphylaxis and it's been hell trying to get through all the panic attacks and accept that I'm not actually anaphylactic to anything. You're definitely not alone, I know there's a few of us floating around here :)

If it makes you feel any better I've been seeing my psychiatrist for 6 months now and I'm nowhere near as bad as I used to be. I'm not getting panic attacks anymore, and I can actually eat most food again without freaking out. I've put weight back on too that I lost in the first few months of the year. You can get through this!

It's a shame that the doctor's you've seen are unhelpful. Try finding out if there's any that specialise in allergies or request a referral to an allergy specialist. I found that talking to my doctor has been really helpful. I had a massive hiccup this week and almost got back into the cycle after some worries over a possible allergy but she assured me that the allergy I was worried about was very very rare and that I was presenting more intolerance symptoms than allergy symptoms. She also said she'd never ever heard of an anaphylactic case to dust mites and milk, it just doesn't happen because we are so exposed to it from birth. Phew :) She's given me a referral to an allergy specialist to calm me down :)

[jessicalittler79]

iam have this too hun .....this has been going on with me for 5 months too...ive lost loads of weight over this and mine was after taken penicillin too after dental infection mabe its the meds iam not sure but if u ever need to talk pm me hun tc

[Lissy43]

You poor thing. Have you asked for counselling/help with your anxiety?

I had an allergic reaction to meds once, i felt awful and for a while afterwards i was scared to take any tablets.

My anxiety stops me eating and I lose alot of weight. Ypu do really need to get help, or you are going to become quite unwell. I know because I ended up very underweight once.

[Lissy43]

Ps- DO NOT Google!! It destroys your thoughts, my anxiety and obsession rocketed years ago because I was always Googling and panicking.

[uk23]

I am now scared about taking a medication which has PEG in it, I use shower gels and tooth paste with these in it and its fine, but then my mind reminds me that its not the same type of peg, just from the same family'

argggg

[xfilme]

I went through the same thing a year and a half ago (check my old posts). It was a hard one to get over. I tried listing all my safe foods, then having someone present when i tried a food i hadnt eaten recently, until my confidence built back up. anaphylactic shock is a health anxiety sufferers worst nightmare. from what i read back some time ago when i had the same prob, it doesnt happen just spontaneously. you tend to get severe reactions to a certain food once or twice before... then if you keep eating it despite the reactions, you can go into shock. i dont think it happens without a prior history with a certain food in terms of bad reaction. ie if youve never had a prob with shellfish, youre prob ok to eat it. if youve had a severe reaction twice before, avoid it in case you go into shock. i totally understand your fear. if you want to chat about it, pm me anytime x

[allergyphobia]

i really wanna do a decent reply to this....read my old posts im absolutely suffering with this or on my way out of it hopefully...... i cant believe so many of us have and are suffering.... i will reply properly when i have more time but you are not alone at all xxxxx