A young girl from Surrey is so scared of Christmas dinner that she will spend the festive day without food. Nineteen-year-old Maisie Williams suffers from a rare condition called ARFID, which causes her to have a fear of certain foods.

According to her family, until the age of 17, Macy ate only cucumbers, oatmeal and plant-based custard.

However, during Christmas festivities, she would allow herself to eat only a small portion of the stuffing and gravy while her family attended the traditional dinner in another room. Since last summer, Macy has been fed entirely by tube, and she spent last Christmas Day in the hospital.

“No one would want to live like this, away from their family and away from normal life. At Christmas, my family will come to visit me, but there will be no chocolate, no Prosecco, no Christmas celebration. When my family eats eats, I just go to a different room. I can’t stand it,” Macy said. mirror,

Messi was diagnosed with ARFID in childhood

According to her mother, Macy’s problems started when she was just a child.

“When she was weaned, she would vomit baby food. She would only eat yogurt and pudding, but I thought it was a phase. Instead, it got worse. She would only eat certain foods , and she couldn’t eat them all in one plate; she only ate specific brands; if I ate a cheaper brand, she would immediately know that her food would be prepared separately and kept in a separate cupboard, Terri, mother of five Said.

When Macy was ten years old, she collapsed and was hospitalized due to malnutrition. According to her doctors, she has been in and out of the hospital since then. She stopped going to school and also stopped dancing because she became very weak. She was initially misdiagnosed with anorexia, and although she was malnourished, her weight was not dangerously low. However, his condition has worsened.

“I can’t even stand the smell of food; it makes me nervous. My mother and sister support me, but it’s very lonely. I’ve been stuck in the hospital for months and, in fact, the doctors don’t know why.” What does he have to do with me,” she added.

What is ARFID?,

Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder or ARFID, a condition that causes you to limit the amount and type of food you eat. Experts say it is not the result of a distorted self-image or an attempt to lose body weight, which is common in other eating disorders.

Apart from affecting your nutrient intake, ARFID also affects you due to:

• loss of interest in food
• Feel worried about the consequences of eating, such as choking on food or vomiting.
• Avoid foods that have unwanted color, taste, texture, or odor

Doctors say ARFID can affect your overall health and can lead to life-threatening complications if left untreated. ARFID is also a new diagnosis Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Which means there isn’t much data available to predict how the condition affects the population at large.

Signs and Symptoms of ARFID

Some noticeable signs and symptoms of ARFID include:

• significant weight loss
• constipation
• Abdominal pain and severe cramps
• lethargy and fatigue
• irregular menstrual cycle
• fainting and dizziness
• muscle weakness
• feeling full or not feeling hungry before meals
• limiting how much food you eat
• eat only foods with certain textures
• Picky eating worsens the condition and limits the range of edible foods

What causes ARFID?

Doctors say that even though the exact cause of ARFID is unknown, studies say it may be the result of:

• Worry
• Fear
• genetic variation
• Social, cultural and environmental impacts
• trauma

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