From one disorder to another?

worldofalice
worldofalice Posts: 148 Member
in Introduce Yourself
This is my first port on MFP, and I could really do with some advice!
I have suffered from anorexia for the past few years, and things came to a head when I reached a dangerously low weight and was admitted to hospital and threatened to be put into an inpatient unit. For the past two months I have been putting on weight - although it has happened really fast! At first I found it very difficult to eat more, but after that I started to binge. The past few weeks have been alright, I've been making the most o my new-found energy by exercising a lot and my net calorie intake has been pretty standard for my activity levels (although I have had the occasional blip). However, I had a HUGE binge after a night out on sunday, and overate yesterday as well. I just had my second binge of the day - 1000 calories at breakfast, then 5k + zumba, then probably over 2000 calories just now. I wasn't even hungry. I'm showing serious signs of BED which terrifies me - this is my worst nightmare, I have always been proud of my ability to get by on little food. I have pretty much reached my goal weight at 43 kg now, up from 35 at the end of March. That is a hell of a lot of weight gain in a very short space of time, how do I stop this from continuing? I just want to develop a healthy relationship with food.

Replies

  • gypsy_spirit
    gypsy_spirit Posts: 2,107 Member
    Good for you for getting the help you needed to be healthy. It sounds like you still have more work to do (as do we all) and I strongly encourage you to keep working with a therapist.

    Your issues seem beyond the scope of this forum. Best of luck to you and getting healthy. It will be soooooooo worth it. :flowerforyou:
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
    Good for you for getting the help you needed to be healthy. It sounds like you still have more work to do (as do we all) and I strongly encourage you to keep working with a therapist.

    Your issues seem beyond the scope of this forum. Best of luck to you and getting healthy. It will be soooooooo worth it. :flowerforyou:

    QFT
  • JoelleAnn78
    JoelleAnn78 Posts: 1,492 Member
    It is very common to substitute one disorder for another. As a compulsive overeater (who weighed 399# at my highest) I struggled with the urges to compulsively shop, drink, run, etc......

    I benefitted greatly from therapy to explore WHY I needed to compulsively do everything. Please, take these new issues to the therapist you've been working with. I assure you they are very common and can be helped, but only if you are willing to work! Congratulations for overcoming a very dangerous ED - don't fall into the trap again. :flowerforyou:
  • earthboundmisfit
    earthboundmisfit Posts: 192 Member
    I was anorexic in high school then I went to college and got into compulsive eating, gained a lot of weight which was good for me..But I felt horrible. My second year of college I got into bulimia. It was awful. Now I'm 47 years old and still struggling with anorexia and bulimia and alcohol addiction. I've quit drinking which is good but I'm still a hot mess with the eating disorder.
  • idoknowannie
    idoknowannie Posts: 20 Member
    Hey there friend :) I know what your going through though my case wasn't as severe as yours and I hid my Ana really well I know how you feel. The best thing for you to do is let up on the exercise a bit I used to do at least 250 minutes of cardio everyday plus 120 minutes of moderate cleaning and stand from 7 in the morning till 11:30-12:00 at night. The thing that's making you binge is the exercise and not enough rest and possibly restriction from what you may believe to be "bad" food. Just let loose a little bit and you'll find it really easy and peaceful :). I now do 60 minutes instead of 250 haven't binged and I incorporate all food in my calorie goal like today I had 8 slices of enriched white bread a whole lot of iceberg lettuce 21 baby carrots 11 fudge striped cookies 7 almonds 2 cake rusk 12 oz of propel kiwi water. Tomorrow I'm gonna have 2 cups worth of buffalo hot peanuts 8 slices of enriched white bread a cake rusk some fudge cookies lettuce and carrots and whatever else I can get in my calorie goal :). And I weigh myself every 3 days I keep losing. When I was anorexic and only eating a scrap of lettuce two baby carrots and an egg white with the same exercise routine with a lengthy walk I would lose a steady 1.5 pounds a week now it's every 3 days with all this food ;). You can do it my dear I know it's scary but believe me the binges will stop if you follow this method hopefully. I go down on my cardio 5 minutes every day now then weigh in 3 days to see where I'll maintain so far I'm still losing so I guess I'll go down another 5 ,ignites and up another 50 or 100 calories :) friend me id love to be there with you <3
  • Springfield1970
    Springfield1970 Posts: 1,945 Member
    It could be that your body is just trying to renourish yourself and that's perfectly fine!

    I would be reluctant to label it as a disorder or another issue that needs dealing with by therapy.

    I may be wrong of course. I know nothing about you and am a stranger on the internet, as we all are.

    Get your answers from professionals and treat websites as places to vent and find similar stories, there are people here who know what they are talking about too, it's just difficult for you to work out who they are!

    Good luck!

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