Treatment?

ab6046

What kind of treatment, if any, have you guys pursued? And how effective did you find it to be? And for those of you on meds, are you combining it with any kind of therapy?

I had my second therapy appointment yesterday and am also meeting with a psychiatrist and nutritionist in the next few weeks. The therapist highly recommended that I start intensive outpatient, as my eating behaviors are "really extreme." I do have a history of anorexia and bulimia (I now only binge, I don't purge), and I've been through residential treatment as well as intensive outpatient however that was all 10-13 years ago. I know I probably need it, and she says she thinks my bingeing is basically a result of heavily restricting for so long. I guess I am just kind of venting and trying to process this. This is a stressful time for me, as I am doing three internships, in school (should graduate with my MPH in May, woohoo!), and also volunteering. I am SURE that the stress of all of this is contributing to my behaviors, and part of me wants to wait it out. Also, I don't feel I have the time for intensive outpatient until maybe May. Any thoughts on this? I suppose I am looking for someone to say "Wait until May." Thanks for letting me vent.

irishjeepgirl1969

***The following is probably not what you want to read*** But I say it in a genuine effort to help rather than enable.

The choice is yours, of course. But why wait until May? May is not some magical point in time at which all planets align in your favor and Utopian living begins. May will find a new set of circumstances and obstacles... Or excuses. Now. That's all we are all have. Right now.

All the things that are stressing you obviously matter to you. You should matter to you as much as those things.

I know what you mean, though. On St. Paddy's Day, I am being forced by my insurer to take action. I've need assigned a case worker RN who will make me tow the line and face all my crap. I dread it, I don't want to deal with it, I am not ready. But I recognize that's just ED yapping at me. Part of me cannot wait to be free of this.

Embrace this new challenge. The longer you put it off, the bigger that problem becomes.

ab6046

Thank you, that's what I needed. You're right, there's nothing magical about May except that I will graduate. I guess the thought of doing something so intense just seems like so much work, and I have no energy these days. I feel like in many ways I am ready, but I think it's going to require a lot of effort and that is what I am dreading. And you're totally right about the problem becoming bigger with time.

mweckler

I went to a psychiatrist and told them everything I was going through and how long I have been feeling like I had no control. They prescribed me a medicine called Vyvanse that has literally changed my life.

ab6046

And all you've had to do up until now is take that? No therapy in addition? And do you anticipate being on it long term? If this is too personal feel free to private message me, or just let me know you're not comfortable sharing!

sloth3toes

I have to agree with JeepGirl.... mainly because I just don't see the benefit in procrastinating, and for sure, something else will come up to delay it. I am really trying to live as much by this.... as possible.



I might have already posted it in another thread, but, it just really resonates with me.

mweckler

The medication is paired with therapy. But it is a huge head start to getting the binging under control. The therapy is to help me figure out why I am binging. The medication I am not sure how long I will need to be on it. But it has been about 6 weeks and I am feeling really good about the treatment so far. I feel like I have control back over what I eat and how much I eat.

ab6046

That makes sense, thanks for your response!

mweckler

It is not a magic pill that fixes everything. But it has helped me to get control for the first time in years. I can still feel urges to binge when I get really stressed or overwhelmed. Like Friday I had a hell of a day at work I got home and the kids were nuts. I am not sure if they each ate a bag of sugar for lunch but they were wayyyyy out of control and I was already stressed out from work and I got the urge to binge. The only difference is where before the box of cookie I found would have completely been eaten I only ate 2. Or the bowl of chocolates I found I ate one instead of the entire thing. So that is a huge win for me. I am still sorting out my triggers it seems to be feeling overwhelmed and heavy stress that sets me off. So I am trying to learn to cope with them so that one day I will be better still.

ab6046

That's seriously amazing. I can't imagine having just one or two. It's easier to have nothing than to stop once I've started. I'm really glad that it has worked out so well for you!

mweckler

So am I. I still get scared that one day it is going to not work and I will go back to how I was. But for now I am taking it one day at a time.

mweckler

ab6046 wrote: »

And all you've had to do up until now is take that? No therapy in addition? And do you anticipate being on it long term? If this is too personal feel free to private message me, or just let me know you're not comfortable sharing!

I am all about sharing my story I want people to be able to freely talk about what they are going through, especially men who are battling this. I honestly thought I was crazy and could not figure out what happened and how l was not able to control my eating.

RespectTheKitty

I went through therapy for a really long time dealing with my binge eating. TBH, it really didn't help me because it never got to the root of why I keep binging, and that's my intense self-hatred. To this day, I still deal with the self-hatred, but I have a little bit better understanding of why I beat myself up so much and engage in self-destructive behavior. Right around this past Christmas I had a bit of an epiphany (with the help of my boyfriend) and decided to try to start taking care of myself instead of beating myself up. I can't tell you exactly why I decided to do it... more or less I was just fed up with hating myself so much and thought, maybe if I could get healthier I would feel better about myself.

As far as the binging, it happens a lot less frequently, mostly because I'm sleeping better and not waking up in the middle of the night to go eat. My doctor gave me Lunesta to help me sleep through the night, and it works pretty well. On the nights I don't take it, I usually still binge.

ab6046

RespectTheKitty wrote: »

I went through therapy for a really long time dealing with my binge eating. TBH, it really didn't help me because it never got to the root of why I keep binging, and that's my intense self-hatred. To this day, I still deal with the self-hatred, but I have a little bit better understanding of why I beat myself up so much and engage in self-destructive behavior. Right around this past Christmas I had a bit of an epiphany (with the help of my boyfriend) and decided to try to start taking care of myself instead of beating myself up. I can't tell you exactly why I decided to do it... more or less I was just fed up with hating myself so much and thought, maybe if I could get healthier I would feel better about myself.

As far as the binging, it happens a lot less frequently, mostly because I'm sleeping better and not waking up in the middle of the night to go eat. My doctor gave me Lunesta to help me sleep through the night, and it works pretty well. On the nights I don't take it, I usually still binge.

Thanks for your response. May I ask how you define better taking care of yourself? It sounds like that has helped you with the bingeing, which is great. If it's too personal, no need to reply.

RespectTheKitty

No, it's fine. Taking care of myself, in my opinion, means eating healthier and exercising more, and yes, losing weight. So that's why I started MFP. Well, actually I started at the gym first, and the trainer there recommended MFP for watching calories to help with weight loss.

Taking care of myself also means finding ways to alleviate stress and anxiety (taking a bubble bath really helps me), and trying to work through situations which usually cause me stress, like being out in public or dealing with my family. It also means working on my relationships, trying to be a better girlfriend, a better mom, etc.

It also means trying not to beat myself up so much, to be kinder to myself, to allow myself a little slack. Like in losing weight, I know it's not going to go perfectly. There's going to be some slip-ups. And that's okay, as long as I'm on the right track.

sloth3toes

Laura @RespectTheKitty has kind of gone over a lot of what I think, as well, in her reply.

My story is that I've had such a low stress job for about 7 years, that it's actually being combined with a very high stress job and another guy went on stress leave because of it, and guess who got stuck in his place? So, I decided to come at this situation head-on. I started getting just a bit of exercise, almost every day... either at home on the Stairclimber or Treadmill, or a few laps at the pool, or going to the gym. I am quite honestly doing 1/3 the number of laps I was doing before I quit... and 1/2 the weight I was doing before. But, I'm doing something. I put every book / DVD and CD set about relaxation, meditation... yoga, Tai Chi.... you name it, on hold at the library. One guy's audio books, I listen to in the car. The guy might be a bit of a quack, I'm not sure, but a lot of what he says, is just common sense. The whole meditation thing might sound a bit flaky.... So far, it seems that the age-old recommendation to 'breathe' is at the heart of meditation... and I find it actually does help me to relax.

I'm not even exactly sure where I"m going with this.... but..... what Laura defines as 'Taking Care of Yourself....' I think is what I started to do, without really defining it. I've tried to stop stressing over my weight so much.... and more focused on just not binging..... and lately, it seems my binge urges are less... and I have to think that it comes from de-stressing.

So, I guess I'm just trying to give you my version of Taking Care of Yourself.... I think my version is trying to accept myself the best as I can now.... and not to get so wrapped up in all the things that are wrong with me.... and maybe, just maybe... if I just get some exercise, some rest, some relaxation.... and 'try' to eat as 'healthy,' as possible... then, maybe, over time, good things will happen.

mweckler

I think those are great things you are doing @sloth3toes. We all need to take care of ourselves, and find ways to help us cope with stress. I am seeing a pattern from what people post about triggers for binges, and most of us stress is a binge trigger.

msty112

Well I made my first appointment at an eating disorder center. Couldn't get in for a few weeks but it's a step in the right direction! I feel really good about it. Hopefully this helps me

ab6046

That makes me so happy, and I'm sure it will help! I think being able to vent about what's going on can make a huge difference. That's why I'm all over this forum all the time haha!

mweckler

Great job @msty112. I know a few weeks seems like a long time, but it will be here before you know it.

ab6046

sloth3toes wrote: »

Laura @RespectTheKitty has kind of gone over a lot of what I think, as well, in her reply.

My story is that I've had such a low stress job for about 7 years, that it's actually being combined with a very high stress job and another guy went on stress leave because of it, and guess who got stuck in his place? So, I decided to come at this situation head-on. I started getting just a bit of exercise, almost every day... either at home on the Stairclimber or Treadmill, or a few laps at the pool, or going to the gym. I am quite honestly doing 1/3 the number of laps I was doing before I quit... and 1/2 the weight I was doing before. But, I'm doing something. I put every book / DVD and CD set about relaxation, meditation... yoga, Tai Chi.... you name it, on hold at the library. One guy's audio books, I listen to in the car. The guy might be a bit of a quack, I'm not sure, but a lot of what he says, is just common sense. The whole meditation thing might sound a bit flaky.... So far, it seems that the age-old recommendation to 'breathe' is at the heart of meditation... and I find it actually does help me to relax.

I'm not even exactly sure where I"m going with this.... but..... what Laura defines as 'Taking Care of Yourself....' I think is what I started to do, without really defining it. I've tried to stop stressing over my weight so much.... and more focused on just not binging..... and lately, it seems my binge urges are less... and I have to think that it comes from de-stressing.

So, I guess I'm just trying to give you my version of Taking Care of Yourself.... I think my version is trying to accept myself the best as I can now.... and not to get so wrapped up in all the things that are wrong with me.... and maybe, just maybe... if I just get some exercise, some rest, some relaxation.... and 'try' to eat as 'healthy,' as possible... then, maybe, over time, good things will happen.

Love this. I just started reading a book on bingeing and this sentence is really striking to me and supports many of the points you made: "it's impossible to binge if you refuse to yell at yourself."