Eating issues stem from childhood

[NameK]

Okay so when I was 11 years old I had a traumatizing experience with food. I was in class eating pizza and the cheese part got stuck in my throat I was basically choking.

I did what a your not supposed to do and ran to the bathroom but it eventually rather came out or I swallowed it.

After that incident I was scared to eat regular foods like broccoli etc for 3-6 months.

Ever since then I've been a really slow eater and recently once my tms kind f started I sometimes chew my food too much to the point its hard for me to swallow it.

I've also had a few instances where Ivd been close to choking again and apparently when i was 3 i choked on some bacon and my dad had to grab it from my throat.

So it's no surprise I have issues with eating but I want to get over it.

For the record I've always been a skinny guy atm I'm only 152 5 '10 almost 5 '11 and I've always had a fast metabolism.

It's more so I have difficulty eating in public areas I'm not comfortable in. Like when I was on vacation everywhere we went to eat I was sometimes taking like 40 minutes -an hour to eat a meal.

I typically dont have much issues eating in the comfort of my own home as well I've was always bullied about how slow I eat and for being so skinny etc. I was born 3 months premature though so that's most likely why .

Either way I want to eat at a normal rate as I hate it when my friends and gf always gotta wait 20 -40 minutes after they are done eating.

 

[Dorado]

Oh man, I had the same thing. I've discussed having similar experiences to other members so many times on this forum. I'm starting to wonder whether people take my posts seriously because I identify with so many random symptoms, but it's true and largely because I was so stressed out from the time I was a kid. I'll quote myself:

As someone who was stressed out and had obsessive compulsive thoughts since I was a child (one of countless examples = I refused to eat anything other than yogurt and applesauce for a few months when I was 11 because I was terrified of choking on food), I started experiencing TMS symptoms early on in my life.

I also reference this as a symptom in my thread on how I healed from emotionally-driven symptoms: http://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/how-i-healed-from-a-myriad-of-symptoms.18723/ (How I healed from a myriad of symptoms)

Like you, I was also 11. This happened after some chicken gently scraped my throat while I was at camp. I was terrified that I was going to die from choking on a chicken bone (even though I wasn't actually choking, and there was absolutely no bone in my throat). Even after I reintroduced solid foods back into my diet, I spent a lot of time worrying about chewing correctly, and I couldn't eat swallow a single bite without drinking a sip of water just to ensure the food would go down my throat easier. Everyone commented on how slowly I was eating all of a sudden. But I eventually got tired of worrying about it and said screw it. I want to say that was during my later high school years? That said, it wasn't until after college that I felt comfortable eating chicken off the bone again.

I haven't had any problems related to this since my early days, and it's funny because I'm guilty of sometimes eating way too quickly these days. Regarding the speed of your eating, just remember that you're safe, and even if someone chokes, it's incredibly unlikely for them to die or suffer some terrible consequence. Knowing how to help myself just in case I choked while alone alleviated many of my concerns back then.

How long has this been bothering you? Have you spoken to anyone about it? Are you happy in life? What has been stressing you out for so long? What makes you feel safe? Unsafe?

 

[NameK]

This has only really been bothering on and off since about June or july it's more about eating in public or uncomfortable situations and yes I've spoken to my therapist and girlfriend about it and I know its anxiety and not feeling safe even alone as long as I'm at home I still feel fine.

Truthfully i haven't been happy recently with my job as I was supposed to reiceve a promotion February but in still waiting. And at home my mom has been stressing me out but I can afford to move out. Also at the moment my gf who is at my house hasn't been working for awhile about a year and hasn't found out what she wants to do for a career.

My therapist has said it's all these things at once is stressing my body out to the point where I'm getting pshyical symptoms from it. And I know its what's causing it now.

At first I thought my back ,prostitis plantar fasciitis were all just injuries "manageable , but I know they are just tms " and in order for me to fix it I need to not be so hard on myself (I always trying like to strive for sucess and a perfect life )
In other words I feel like I'm not where I should be in my life at 23 almost 24. I compare myself to others my age (which I know is terrible to do)

My savings has depleted I have alittle credit card debt not much. But I'm also worried if I can even do my career for the rest of my life etc.

I haven't been sleeping well 5 or 6 hours a night. I'm on vacation right now until Monday though and I'm trying my best to relax and let go not worry about stupid stuff and just enjoy my life