Irrational Fear of Food Allergies/ General Health Anxiety

[sandycee]

Sorry in advance for how long this is! I appreciate any advice or support anyone's willing to send my way!

I've had anxiety for quite a few years now, pretty much has always been health-based, hypochondria stuff. I've mostly had health anxiety relating to my asthma and hayfever although my asthma has never been truly bad. My main fear is my throat swelling up and not being able to breathe, whether that be from asthma (even though, thankfully, I've never had an attack but that was my fear for the longest time ever), or in recent times, from anaphylaxis.

A few months ago I began having fears of sudden allergic reactions (anaphylaxis), despite not having an allergic reaction to any foods thus far in my lifetime, (I am currently 19). Although that anxiety passed, it has come back and worse than it was last time. My sister got admitted to hospital just over a month ago with a full body rash, swollen lips and ears and low blood pressure (she is fine now). The doctors said it was a reaction to a virus as she did not experience any swelling of the throat. I was struggling incredibly hard with anxiety during that period of time and have been for the last few months and that event has made my fears seem valid.

I am scared to eat foods I've eaten many times before without a second thought. I am finding it to be debilitating at the moment, thinking that I will go into anaphylaxis at any given point in time from food or other materials that could cause an allergic reaction. I have had individuals try to reassure me I would feel an allergic reaction straight away but I worry I will have one and not be able to get help in time or that I will be alone when/if anything ever were to happen.

I know in my mind that I overcame this anxiety before and continued living my life as normal and eating whatever I wanted to without the slightest bit of anxiety, so l feel it's not completely unattainable to not be riddled with this anxiety, but this has lasted longer and is worse than the last time I had this anxiety.

If anyone can reassure me somehow I would really appreciate it. I know this is long winded and so l apologise, it's just starting to become too much. I'm scared to sleep incase I wake up and something randomly happens in the middle of the night like it did with my sister. Any advice would be much appreciated! Thank you 🙂

[MsPurple]

Hi sandycee

Sorry to hear you are struggling with health anxiety and fear of anaphlaxis. It is a common fear to go through especically with your sister getting ill.

As someone who knows about food allergies it is really rare for anyone over 18 to develop a food allergy.

I should also let you know that anxiety can also cause some throat spasms. It did for me. This also made me scared I could have allergies or intolerances, however I logically knew it wasn't the case.

For me I tried self reassurance. I would tell myself "you are ok, you are safe, you do not have allergies, you just anxious". It seemed to help as I soon started to believe it.

[sandycee]

Thank you MsPurple!

This was my first post on beyondblue as I've only recently signed up and already someone has helped reassure me.

I appreciate your response greatly.

[MsPurple]

I am glad I could help.

If you feel like asking any other questions or roaming around other threads please do so and join us on other threads 🙂

[sandycee]

I will, thank you! 🙂

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi sandycee,

Thanks for your post and welcome to the forums! I'm really glad that you've found it supportive so far and hope you continue to enjoy being with us!

I'm really sorry to hear about your sisters reaction and I can really understand how that would cause you to worry about anaphylaxis, especially with a history of health anxiety.

I think MsPurple has given great advice here, and knowing that not only it is unlikely, but also it happens with throat spasms, as well as straight away is really important to know. I actually heard that it's usually within the first few minutes, with an average of 20 minutes; so incredibly rare for this to happen for you during the night.

Your worry about being alone or not getting help in time makes total sense as well, and I wonder if perhaps there's a way to help you feel more at ease with this. Things like having your phone nearby might not seem like much but just be enough for that peace of mind of 'if this were to happen, I would be safe'.

Another thing that might help is trying to be around and slowly tasting some of the food you're concerned about, even if this is with a friend at the beginning. Even just touching it (as this could cause anaphylaxis in people with this condition) so that way you're constantly getting that reassurance that 'this food is safe, my throat is not closing up, I am safe'. I believe the more that you can get that exposure and know that you're safe the easier that it will be over time.

and finally (long post!) general anxiety techniques. I imagine that given you've had anxiety for a few years now you're probably familiar with a lot of them! I encouraging you to keep practicing them though. The more that you can calm your mind in non-anxious situations the easier it will be to calm your mind in situations that make you anxious.

Hope this helps!

[sandycee]

Hi!

I am very sorry for the late reply, I havent been on my account in quite a while. I just wanted to express how thankful I am that you took the time to comment on my thread and offer your help. It makes me feel "normal" especially when no one really understands my ever-evolving anxiety and calls me crazy. I really appreciate your support. I am happy to say that my anxiety about food allergies has now passed and my current anxiety is my food being laced with drugs or poisoned. This is also an incredibly debilitating and upsetting anxiety of mine, especially because I am not wanting to lose weight and as you can imagine being fearful and questioning every thing you consume is the perfect way to shed a few kilos. Really trying to force myself to get over it as I have no choice but feels like Im in a never-ending, ever-evolving relationship with my anxiety. Hopefully I will also come back to this and be freed from this anxiety. Thank you again for your help romantic_thi3f 🙂

[MsPurple]

Hi sandycee. Sorry that your food anxiety (althought shifted) is still causing you to feel debilitated.

Like I said before regarding self reassurance you can do the same thing in regards to this. "you are ok, you are safe, your food doesn't have any poison in it, Australia has very strict food guidelines, you are safe, you just anxious". This maybe really helpful for you. I also want you to know Australia has the strictest food labeling and production managing laws. It is not like the tv shows how they have c and d rating restaurants. All places must meet the regulations. So thought you should know any food consumed from the shelves that are stored correctly (e.g. milk in fridge if not UHT) are completely safe

I think it would be really beneficial to talk about this with your dr or therapist. They will help you re-shift your thinking which will help you deal with the anxiety. CBT maybe really helpful with this.

Keep in touch with us and I hope it gets easier and more manageable soon. In the mean time maybe consider taking some nutritional supplements like sustagen to avoid malnutrition. For more information on nutritional supplements talk to your gp