Healing Your Relationship With Food After Trauma

Back in 2015 I suffered from an illness called esophagitis. Basically I had an infection that had caused my esophagus, the tube between your mouth and stomach, to have some pretty gnarly swelling.

This led to 4 different endoscopies, some biopsies, 3 different medications and a whole lot of pain. From that infection, I also developed gastritis (the swelling of the stomach) and discovered I had GERD and lactose intolerance.

To put it quite frankly, my junior and senior year of high school was pretty rough.

The years following are what I want to focus on though. Unfortunately we were never able to truly pinpoint the reason behind my esophagitis and the issues that followed. We speculated it was the GERD or a stomach bug I had a few weeks prior or possibly this old inhaler I had used. Bottom line is we had no clear idea of what had caused it.

When I first discovered my esophagitis, I had actually been at a prom weekend celebration and was on the Seaside boardwalk around noon. I had just enjoyed a slice of pizza and had not a care in the world before the nausea hit. The events to follow were quite unfortunate, but the worst part was getting sick, miles away from home, my first time driving down the shore with my new license, realizing my parents were going to take a while to come save me from the pain. It was horrible.

Following that, there was a lot of anxiety that took over my life. I had no idea where this illness came from and even though the pills and procedures seemed to have cleared it, could it come back? Would I be far from home and get sick again? Would the pain ever go away? This led to years of disordered eating, fear of foods and a rapid weight loss.

I was in a dark place until I was introduced into the world of holistic health and nutrition. Entering college, I decided to join the dietetics organization and I fell in love with all things wellness. The knowledge I was given helped give me power over the unknown and helped me to gain more insight on preventing future issues. The friendships gained with fellow nutrition students taught me that I wasn’t alone in my suffering and others had been through health trauma as well. I also met so many amazing nutrition professionals that taught me to dive deeper into my relationship with food and why food is meant to be enjoyed and savored rather than feared.

When it comes to healing your relationship with food after trauma, it can be a challenge, like getting back on a horse after a big fall. But educating yourself on both your fears and your trauma, surrounding yourself with support systems, and re-learning/ re-wiring your thought process around the trauma can all help in bringing you back and better than ever.

I was able to gradually heal my food trauma which later in life inspired me to heal others and provide them with the knowledge, support and guidance to free themselves from the cycle. If you are interested in learning more about how I can help you in your wellness journey, send me an email to nutrikaywellness@gmail.com