Binge Eating Suggestions/Tips

alittlelife14

Hi there-

I have been a member of MFP for around 2 years now as I continue to struggle with binge eating disorder. I have previously sought out professional outpatient help before and have tried Vyvanse as well. No long lasting luck. Recently, since changing living situations and my job, that end of life has improved and thus has certain components of my eating disorder. Lately though, my binges have increased frequency and I am finding myself drowning in the familiar sea of guilt, bloating, embarrassment, flashbacks of the binge, and just feeling generally disabled from it. I want this to stop. I have reached out for professional help again. I am realizing that I need to increase and maintain my daily caloric intake as a nurse who is on their feet 10 hours a day and exercises 2-4 times a week cardio. I have been attached to 1200, then accepted sometimes 1400, and then at night wake up starving and eat mindlessly to bring me to either high calorie loads or just probably the realistic range I should be eating during the day without losing sleep and stuffing food down my throat. I want this to stop. I want to increase calories but the potential gain scares me. I want my bloat to go away. I want to be normal.

Any tips? What helps you not binge? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Sheisinlove109

Eat more during the day (1200 for anyone seems low), eat small protein filled meals several times, drink a lot of water, sleep a lot...stress causes us to eat.

I can't speak for anyone else on when you binge but myself. I drink a v8, then a glass of water and most if the time it fills me up and satisfies my salt craving. For sweet, I drink peach crystal light, it's almost too sweet and shuts that craving down.

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alittlelife14

Look_Its_Kriss wrote: »

Can I ask why the vyvanse stopped working?

Yes, initially it worked well but after a week or two into it my anxiety started to peak and my doctor was made aware and adjusted dose and then still I felt way too stimulated and my sleep, even if I took it at 5-6am... my sleep was just destroyed. Couldn't sleep to save my life!

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SadDolt

if you're working out and on your feet, you should be eating more. my calories were similar to yours but i never work out, and i still struggle with binging.

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mweckler

Hello, I have taken Vyvanse for the last year, in the beginning it worked great. I lost 35 pounds without doing anything at all. But the problem for me was the dosage, I started at 30mg and it worked for a couple weeks, then needed to change to 50mg. That worked for about 3 weeks then I would get off work and after 8 hours I was exhausted. I would pick up my kids then sit on the couch and try to not fall asleep. So I talked with my doctor again and we upped my dosage to 70 mg per day. That worked better for me but as time went on the autopilot feeling started to slip away, and the binge feeling began to return. It was nowhere near as bad as it was premedication but it was still scary. So talked to my doctor again, and added 30mg of Adderall to start my day then took the Vyvanse a few hours later to try to carry my through the day. I recently stopped the Vyvanse and started on Dexedrine a few days ago.

Before giving up on the Vyvanse have you talked with your doctor about possibly giving you something for the anxiety? What dose were you taking of the Vyvanse? I also just did a genetic test where they took a cheek swab and tested it against a panel of medications to see which medicines I responded best to. I am not sure if there is something offered like that where you are, I found it helpful as I now know that I have some genes that do not react well to the Ritalin family of medications. Which I have never taken, but my son has been on Ritalin since the summer and has not responded the best to it, so since his genes come from me, I am now going to get him checked as well.

I also started a support group on here for people with B.E.D I will copy the link for you so maybe you can browse around and see if you can find some answers from what others have posted.

mweckler

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/112095-binge-eating-disorder-support

150poundsofme

Keep trying different therapists and nutritionists who specialize in BED. Some of them say they do but they do not. Overeaters Anonymous meetings you may find helpful. If you haven't eaten enough during the day and are hungry at night, you could plan for a healthy snack. A hard boiled egg, glass of milk or maybe canned fruit. Something easy and that will satisfy you quickly so you can turn around and try to get back to sleep.

warm_fuzzy

Hi everyone! Recovering binge eater here. Looking for new friends to support and be supported by. I would love to be your friend! Please add me

animatorswearbras

Perhaps the 1200/1400 is too low considering you have such an active lifestyle and is setting you on a restrict/binge cycle, perhaps readjust your settings to reflect your active job and set your loss to lower value perhaps half what you have it set to now? Obviously a professional will give better advice but perhaps your high cal deficit could be a trigger. x

josette06

I binged when I ate 1200 calories and all carbs. I would come home from work and stand in my pantry and do some serious carnage. Honestly, when I think back, I had a bad relationship with food. I would binge then starve, binge then starve. I upped my calories to 1600 and ate more filling meals with protein and allowed myself dessert every night. I used to label some foods as "bad" and when someone would bring it into work all willpower went out the window. I have not binged since changing my perception. I found coming here and reading threads here helped the most. Good luck OP

mweckler

Sadly there is no one stop answer as to why binges happen. Some will say restricting cause it, for my it is stress, others it happens because it is Tuesday. You can change your daily calorie limit and know that you have a buffer on the days you feel the urge to binge, while on the other days trying to stay within the 1200/1400 zone. But to truly understand the cause of your binges takes a lot of hard work and tracking. Start a diary or journal and when you get the urge to binge write down what was happening before during and after the binge and see if patterns begin to emerge.

red_mage

My doctor recently put me on Contrave for compulsive eating/binge eating and I saw an improvement nearly overnight. I'm not able to be on stimulant medications due to anxiety issues, and it's helped so far with controlling the urges- the mindfulness tricks/tracking intake/upping calories didn't help, and now it feels like I have it under control. Like you, I've made some life changes that have been for the better, but the binging has still been there.

YMMV, obviously, but I wish you the best of luck. It's a miserable way to exist.

Agg90

I used to binge around 4-5 times per week at my worst, so I completely understand where you're coming from. I tried seeing a therapist and not even that seemed to help until I found the book "Brain Over Binge" by Kathryn Hansen. After reading it, I found that my binges decreased and when I did relapse, I was eating a lot less than my previous binges. You can get a book for around $15 online (less if you buy used). After trying so many other things, this seemed to be the thing that broke through to me the most, so it may be helpful to you.

Wish you the best of luck on your recovery