Recovering from Anorexia...

chibi_mousie

Honestly, not that underweight, so I'm hoping I can continue to diet as long as I change my mindset?

Lyadeia

No matter how far underweight you are, if you are underweight, then you should definitely not be dieting at all. With your doctor's help, I suggest slowly increasing your calories until you are maintaining your weight, and then slightly more than that so you can slowly and healthily gain weight. But dieting when you are already underweight is not a good thing and can lead to worse things.

scottaworley

Judging by your picture you are pretty underweight. Take it slowly. Use this http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/ and eat at TDEE or bulking + 5% at first to reestablish your metabolism. Start a weight training program to minimize fat gains.

scottaworley

No matter how far underweight you are, if you are underweight, then you should definitely not be dieting at all. With your doctor's help, I suggest slowly increasing your calories until you are maintaining your weight, and then slightly more than that so you can slowly and healthily gain weight. But dieting when you are already underweight is not a good thing and can lead to worse things.

This too

MoreBean13

Are you posting because you want help gaining weight safely as you recover or because you're upset you're gaining weight?

Please, put your recovery first. Anorexia is a life-and-death disease and the sooner you get healthy, the less the possibility you have for lifelong health complications. Good luck in your recovery, I wish you the best.

chibi_mousie

I'm wondering how much I would need to gain to make some of these symptoms go away. /:

chibi_mousie

A bit of both, honestly. And thank you.

scottaworley

I'm wondering how much I would need to gain to make some of these symptoms go away. /:

What symptoms?
First and foremost, try to get to a healthy BMI.

chibi_mousie

I'm wondering how much I would need to gain to make some of these symptoms go away. /:

What symptoms?
First and foremost, try to get to a healthy BMI.

Paralysis and joint pain, hair loss, lanugo, anemia, near fainting spells even when I'm eating properly, etc.
I'm going to get blood tests tomorrow so maybe I'll see if something weird is going on.

chelsifina

I'm wondering how much I would need to gain to make some of these symptoms go away. /:

This will truly depend on how underweight you are and, unfortunately, cannot likely be answered here. These are questions for your doctor. Have you had any blood tests done? Hormone, immune system, thyroid, and micronutrient deficiencies will all cause a variety of symptoms, such as low energy, depression/anxiety, poor immunity, joint pain, rapid/irregular heart rate, etc.
Though I have never struggled with anorexia, I had a parasitic infection for a couple of years that caused me to be malnourished, and I am still recovering from that...its been a year now.

My best to you, I'm sure it was difficult for you to even post here and ask for help. We're all with you, and want you to succeed in being the healthiest, happiest you can be.

scottaworley

It's not going to be an immediate thing. Your symptoms will decrease as you reestablish your nutrient stores. Most of this stuff needs to go through a doctor, but I can say that a good multivitamin is in order.

chibi_mousie

I'm wondering how much I would need to gain to make some of these symptoms go away. /:

This will truly depend on how underweight you are and, unfortunately, cannot likely be answered here. These are questions for your doctor. Have you had any blood tests done? Hormone, immune system, thyroid, and micronutrient deficiencies will all cause a variety of symptoms, such as low energy, depression/anxiety, poor immunity, joint pain, rapid/irregular heart rate, etc.
Though I have never struggled with anorexia, I had a parasitic infection for a couple of years that caused me to be malnourished, and I am still recovering from that...its been a year now.

My best to you, I'm sure it was difficult for you to even post here and ask for help. We're all with you, and want you to succeed in being the healthiest, happiest you can be.

Thank you.
I'm getting tests done tomorrow, what kind of things should I be asking about?

chibi_mousie

Yeah, I've been taking a lottttt of vitamins but nothing seems to help.

scottaworley

I would also recommend seeing a nutritionist that specializes in EDs. They will be able to help you increase your caloric intake while helping you meet your micronutrient needs.
Many vitamins are fat soluble. I'm guessing you haven't been eating much fat, so the multi-vs that you are taking aren't being properly absorbed.

chibi_mousie

I guess that's possible...

Ghomerzgirl

I'm 30 lbs underweight and have what I call anorexic tendencies. i can go an entire day without eating and not be hungry still at the end of the day, however it's not something that I am intentionally doing, I just have a problem eating when I am not hungry. I have ways of making myself eat, though illegally. But i don't recommend that route. For you I would suggest slowly increasing your calorie intake and eating healthy foods. I have a couple of friends who are recovering anorexics and they tend to binge on unhealthy foods and then it sends them into spirals and they relapse with it. Slow and steady is the key, don't focus on the calories in the food, just that the food is healthy for you. Good Luck!

Jenn

JuantonBliss

Aswell as a nutrionist, I would get a psychologist too. Eating is as much as a mental experience as it is a health.

Taterpoof

I went through this my freshman year of high school. It's a tough thing to overcome, but trust me, it is worth it in the end. I am so much happier now. Eating plenty of food is the main thing you need to do to reverse this. Slowly (or quickly if you can) adding back more calories into your diet. You need to get your metabolism working properly again. If you need any advice or have any questions feel free to message me.

shartran

Is there an ED facility you can get access to where you live? You will most likely need a referral from your doctor. I've now gone through recovery - it took several years to get my hair back. Once I started feeding my body with what it needed (food...not just vitamins)the weakness, numbness, cramps etc., started going away fairly quickly.

I thought I could 'do it' myself, but my dietician/ doctor kept pushing full on treatment. Now that I've completed treatment, I know there would be no way I'd be able to accomplish what I did on my own. Not that I'm saying you need 'full on treatment', but I think you need medical advise and consistent support from your medical community.

almostplenty

You need to be under a doctor's supervision to prevent refeeding syndrome, a dangerous shift in fluid and electrolytes that can happen when diets are increased after a period of restriction and malnutrition. It can cause your heart to stop, among other things. Please consult your primary care provider and/or nutritionist that specializes in EDs.

fppalmer

Honestly, not that underweight, so I'm hoping I can continue to diet as long as I change my mindset?

I'm a 300 pound endomorph athlete. I, am a talented and gifted EATER. (sort of have to be in the 300 pound range) I'm 43. Started wrestiling when I was 5. Lots of wrestlers dieted. Today, I bench 405 for reps, and have benched 587. I've been involved in competitive powerlifting, and lots of powerlifters diet.

I know NOTHING of Anorexia or what you face.

I have been around literally hundreds of folks "dieting". Many of them have lost lots of weight. Most don't keep it off.


I do get that the Anorexia "disease" can color what you want, and what you think looks good or not. The vast majority of people do NOT want to DIET. Your wording "hoping I can continue to diet ..... " just doesn't sound .... right to me. "hoping to be able to diet". In my mind, "diet" is a short term thing one does to lose weight, usually involving caloric restriction. It's ..... not really something to hope to be able to do, nor do I think its healthy.

On the other hand, a NUTRITIONAL PROGRAM, now, THOSE are cool. Nutrition IS good for you, right? Its HEALTHY! A nutritional program can be designed with a caloric deficit to reduce bodyfat, OR a caloric surplus to gain weight. Its not JUST about calories, its about consuming the correct amount of NUTRIENTS. 100 calories from cookies is not as "good for you" as 150 calories from chicken and green beans.

IMO, with a proper nutritional program, you can stay lean, look great, eliminate most of the symptoms you describe, AND, be in COMPLETE CONTROL. YOU can measure your macro-nutrients (fat, carbs, protein). you can CONTROL what you eat. With good metrics, you can for the most part KNOW how many calories you SHOULD eat a week, and you can monitor and measure and grade yourself each day.

Many people LIKE this kind of control. Like measuring. Like knowing how much they SHOULD eat. ED can confuse you, make you look in the mirror and not .... see the difference between healthy and unhealthy. For some people, appetite should not be trusted, it may make you eat too little (or too much). BUT, if you know how many calories you SHOULD consume a day, now you don't have to rely on appetite or appearance in a mirror, you have a hard number to strive for every day.

MFP helps give you this control, helps give you insights into how and what are you eating. Are you eating enough? Are you eating too much? Are you eating the right number of calories, but, too much carbs and not enough protien? One needs to monitor your consumption to be able to answer these questions, and MFP makes this easier than most other things I've seen.

Can you continue to diet? I don't know, I don't know you're particular issues, but, I do know, monitoring what you eat, to make sure you're getting "the right amounts of stuff" can help most everyone be healthier.

Dieting, in most of those that I have been around, has such temporary connotations. Learning how to eat healthy, to have a proper nutritional program, THAT more often leads to happiness in my experience.

GOOD LUCK!

Graelwyn75

Honestly, not that underweight, so I'm hoping I can continue to diet as long as I change my mindset?

I'm a 300 pound endomorph athlete. I, am a talented and gifted EATER. (sort of have to be in the 300 pound range) I'm 43. Started wrestiling when I was 5. Lots of wrestlers dieted. Today, I bench 405 for reps, and have benched 587. I've been involved in competitive powerlifting, and lots of powerlifters diet.

I know NOTHING of Anorexia or what you face.

I have been around literally hundreds of folks "dieting". Many of them have lost lots of weight. Most don't keep it off.


I do get that the Anorexia "disease" can color what you want, and what you think looks good or not. The vast majority of people do NOT want to DIET. Your wording "hoping I can continue to diet ..... " just doesn't sound .... right to me. "hoping to be able to diet". In my mind, "diet" is a short term thing one does to lose weight, usually involving caloric restriction. It's ..... not really something to hope to be able to do, nor do I think its healthy.

On the other hand, a NUTRITIONAL PROGRAM, now, THOSE are cool. Nutrition IS good for you, right? Its HEALTHY! A nutritional program can be designed with a caloric deficit to reduce bodyfat, OR a caloric surplus to gain weight. Its not JUST about calories, its about consuming the correct amount of NUTRIENTS. 100 calories from cookies is not as "good for you" as 150 calories from chicken and green beans.

IMO, with a proper nutritional program, you can stay lean, look great, eliminate most of the symptoms you describe, AND, be in COMPLETE CONTROL. YOU can measure your macro-nutrients (fat, carbs, protein). you can CONTROL what you eat. With good metrics, you can for the most part KNOW how many calories you SHOULD eat a week, and you can monitor and measure and grade yourself each day.

Many people LIKE this kind of control. Like measuring. Like knowing how much they SHOULD eat. ED can confuse you, make you look in the mirror and not .... see the difference between healthy and unhealthy. For some people, appetite should not be trusted, it may make you eat too little (or too much). BUT, if you know how many calories you SHOULD consume a day, now you don't have to rely on appetite or appearance in a mirror, you have a hard number to strive for every day.

MFP helps give you this control, helps give you insights into how and what are you eating. Are you eating enough? Are you eating too much? Are you eating the right number of calories, but, too much carbs and not enough protien? One needs to monitor your consumption to be able to answer these questions, and MFP makes this easier than most other things I've seen.

Can you continue to diet? I don't know, I don't know you're particular issues, but, I do know, monitoring what you eat, to make sure you're getting "the right amounts of stuff" can help most everyone be healthier.

Dieting, in most of those that I have been around, has such temporary connotations. Learning how to eat healthy, to have a proper nutritional program, THAT more often leads to happiness in my experience.

GOOD LUCK!

Very nice post.

guidothecat

listen to fppalmer...nutrition is the key...you need fats and carbs and such.

They enable you to absorb vitamins and micro nutrients, which I assume (sorry if wrong) that your hair is brittle, your fingernails are brittle and your face is breaking it out, not to mention the loss of the TOM?-common deficiency signs) but a varied diet with proper nutrients will keep you healthy...think about the health and not the weight. and I know it is difficult with ED tendencies...but you know what, I finally listened and per my nutritionist went up to 1400+ calories a day of food, I am short and sedentary (not counting wine, wine is not nutrition and guess what, happy, healthy, and strong...oh and I lost 10 lbs of fat since I was actually giving my body what it needed to survive so it wasn't hanging onto everything. (now it took almost a year mind you) but I am happy and strong...

I can work out, I can go for walks, I can go swimming, and I have the strength to do it. Nutrition is the key here, along with adequate calories, but you have to want the recovery...in your heart and soul, and kick some *kitten* to get there too...it is not a nice road, it is full of crap, but if you want it, it is there, and you can achieve it too.

You are here, on this board looking for insight, so I say you are halfway there?

edit: and with the glasses of wine with dinner I net about 1600-1700 per day...43 years old, 5 foot 2 inches short, and maintaining around 120-125 pounds

poohpoohpeapod

Do you have a counselor or nutritionist? They are beetter suited to advise. I would think dieting is what you would NOT do. Please ask a trained professional/

Donna2d

I read they fasted in the bible but it did me no good.