Binge Eating Disorder (BED) Help!!

24

Replies

  • Playingwithfire89
    Playingwithfire89 Posts: 87
    i used to binge eat a lot. the trick to stopping for me was finding out what my trigger foods were; ( cheese flavored chips, cheese flavored chex mix, cheese flavored snacks of any kind.) Once you figure out what your trigger foods are, it becomes easier to prevent a binge by thinking, "huh, i'm craving cheese chex mix, time to go for a walk/have some grapes."
  • starlikedolly
    starlikedolly Posts: 71 Member
    I have BED too. It's a miserable place to be. I haven't binged in three weeks, which is a record for me.

    I don't have any real advice, just wanted to say you're not alone. Best of luck with it.
  • fishgutzy
    fishgutzy Posts: 2,807 Member
    Here is an interesting article re: BED from a left coast paper.
    Though they apparently don't get the "anonymous" part of OA. :)
    http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/26/4660136/for-overeaters-fighting-food-addiction.html
  • Cathy_Daydreams
    Cathy_Daydreams Posts: 120
    i used to binge eat a lot. the trick to stopping for me was finding out what my trigger foods were; ( cheese flavored chips, cheese flavored chex mix, cheese flavored snacks of any kind.) Once you figure out what your trigger foods are, it becomes easier to prevent a binge by thinking, "huh, i'm craving cheese chex mix, time to go for a walk/have some grapes."

    Thank you for the advice, glad you have found a way to combat BED :)
  • Cathy_Daydreams
    Cathy_Daydreams Posts: 120
    I have BED too. It's a miserable place to be. I haven't binged in three weeks, which is a record for me.

    I don't have any real advice, just wanted to say you're not alone. Best of luck with it.

    Thank you.
    The support means a lot to me and I hope that some of the suggestions on here can help you too :)
  • Cathy_Daydreams
    Cathy_Daydreams Posts: 120
    Here is an interesting article re: BED from a left coast paper.
    Though they apparently don't get the "anonymous" part of OA. :)
    http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/26/4660136/for-overeaters-fighting-food-addiction.html

    Thank you for the link, that's been really useful.
    I checked out my nearest OA meeting area and it is a bit of a trek to get there but not impossible so I will see how things go :) but thank you so much for that link, it's really helped me understand what it's like and god I wish I didn't live so far away that convention sounds like such a good event :) but we have the Olympics, which isn't a bad compromise I think :)
  • sullivann
    sullivann Posts: 199 Member
    I recently accepted that I too have BED. I just wanted to say that you're not alone. <3
  • mcrowe1016
    mcrowe1016 Posts: 647 Member
    I don’t think I have BED, but I can relate to the feeling. One thing that helps if I am getting an urge to eat something I know I shouldn’t is to go shopping. You don’t have to spend a lot of money…just run out to the local store and buy a new nail polish or something. Come home and do your nails (it is harder to eat with wet nails), and by the time all this is done, the cravings will be mostly gone.

    The idea is that when you eat, you feel this instant gratification. Try finding something else to give you this gratification. Maybe you could take ten or twenty minutes to just go outside and run – I always eat better after I exercise as to not negate the work I just did. Anyway, you want to try to get those feelings of joy that food gives you from other sources. Preferably other sources that don’t give you the feelings of guilt.

    Also, even though your family doesn’t believe that you have BED, everyone can understand food cravings. Just be honest when you are about to binge. Tell them, hey, I feel like eating an entire cake right now. Can you help distract me? This way, you are being honest and accountable to someone other than yourself. Once again, spending time with loved ones can give you the type of gratification that food can give you but without the guilt.
  • DeniseBarone
    DeniseBarone Posts: 80 Member
    My best piece of advice to you is to see a therapist. I wish I'd done it years earlier. And it's been years since I struggled with bingeing, but I know how debilitating and horrifying it is. You hate yourself during the binge, yet you're helpless to stop. I've been there. I get it. I've since come to realize that bingeing happens when you're stressed out, scared, worried, lonely. The mantra of Overeaters Anonymous is, I believe, HALT. Don't let yourself get too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. Follow your instincts to see a good therapist. And I hope you get well!
  • determinedbutlazy
    determinedbutlazy Posts: 1,941 Member
    I've never been able to quash my binge eating, but I switched what I binge on.
    Instead of crisps and salty treats, I make huge salads with vinegar dressing and eat until I'm full for very few calories. If I want something hot, I steam some green peas and carrots and eat a big bowl with my dinner.

    I do think it's a good idea to see a therapist, to get the habit under control. Until then, try to change the things you feel the urge to binge on and cut out the things that normally trigger a binge.

    "Grazing" all through the day on healthy stuff stops me binging too. If I don't let myself get hungry, I don't feel the urge to binge.
  • Cathy_Daydreams
    Cathy_Daydreams Posts: 120
    Determinedbutlazy
    I'm glad that you've found something that helps you. I find that when I binge I cannot wait to prepare food, but this is a technique I'm going to have to try, it's a very good idea.
    and I have booked an appointment with a doctor and fully intend to talk to him about it, so hopefully, I will get some help from this soon. I hope things will get better when I get to university because then I will be able to eat what and when I want, whereas now I am restricted by what my family want to eat for dinner, although that still leaves me with a lot of choice it does mean that the most calorific meal is often at the end of the day, when I find it hard to burn any of it off.
    Anyway, I'm babbling.
    Thank you for the advice x
  • Cathy_Daydreams
    Cathy_Daydreams Posts: 120
    My best piece of advice to you is to see a therapist. I wish I'd done it years earlier. And it's been years since I struggled with bingeing, but I know how debilitating and horrifying it is. You hate yourself during the binge, yet you're helpless to stop. I've been there. I get it. I've since come to realize that bingeing happens when you're stressed out, scared, worried, lonely. The mantra of Overeaters Anonymous is, I believe, HALT. Don't let yourself get too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. Follow your instincts to see a good therapist. And I hope you get well!

    Thank you for your advice and I have booked an appointment with a doctor to talk thing over and hopefully he can refer me to a therapist or I can at least have some help from it. I have looked at OA since a number of people have mentioned it and it is a little far away, the nearest meeting that is, but it's not impossible and if people think it really helps I could possibly convince my dad that it;s worth the extra train fare I would need to get there on a regular basis.
  • Cathy_Daydreams
    Cathy_Daydreams Posts: 120
    I don’t think I have BED, but I can relate to the feeling. One thing that helps if I am getting an urge to eat something I know I shouldn’t is to go shopping. You don’t have to spend a lot of money…just run out to the local store and buy a new nail polish or something. Come home and do your nails (it is harder to eat with wet nails), and by the time all this is done, the cravings will be mostly gone.

    The idea is that when you eat, you feel this instant gratification. Try finding something else to give you this gratification. Maybe you could take ten or twenty minutes to just go outside and run – I always eat better after I exercise as to not negate the work I just did. Anyway, you want to try to get those feelings of joy that food gives you from other sources. Preferably other sources that don’t give you the feelings of guilt.

    Also, even though your family doesn’t believe that you have BED, everyone can understand food cravings. Just be honest when you are about to binge. Tell them, hey, I feel like eating an entire cake right now. Can you help distract me? This way, you are being honest and accountable to someone other than yourself. Once again, spending time with loved ones can give you the type of gratification that food can give you but without the guilt.

    My only problem with your last suggestion is that now it's the summer holidays I am home alone a lot of the time, since my mum is working most days and my dad's often too busy helping her to watch my eating habits if I go overboard. I'm hoping things will get better now I have some money and I can go out with supportive friends who will stop me from wasting my money on junk food I don't need.
    But the suggestion is one I might have to employ when I get back to school and I am not home alone as often :) Thanks x
  • Cathy_Daydreams
    Cathy_Daydreams Posts: 120
    I recently accepted that I too have BED. I just wanted to say that you're not alone. <3

    Thank You.
    I hope some of the advice on here as helped you too :)
  • KCGFNP
    KCGFNP Posts: 8
    Please don't take offense to my suggestion. I have a lap and, and it is definitely my off button. I can't overeat, or I have pain, and vomit. Maybe this could be an option?
  • Cathy_Daydreams
    Cathy_Daydreams Posts: 120
    Please don't take offense to my suggestion. I have a lap and, and it is definitely my off button. I can't overeat, or I have pain, and vomit. Maybe this could be an option?

    Don't worry, no offence taken but I'm not sure what you mean ?
  • wingednotes
    wingednotes Posts: 274 Member
    Its real. I've suffered for a lot of years with it. Therapy helped a little, but ultimately, its akin to an addiction, and you have to do hard work to gain the self control you want.
    There is a great support group on MFP for it:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/743-binge-eating-support-group

    Be aware that it gets worse if you don't get help. Today you may only do it once in a while, or for certain stressers, or during certain times of the day/night. But tomorrow, next week, next year, it will not get better - only worse - unless you get help and make changes.
    It affects your self esteem, your family life, impacts those you live with, and makes you make bad - sometimes dangerous - decisions.
    I've gone to multiple fast food drive throughs within minutes, maxed out credit cards to pay for secret 6th and 7th meals, screamed at my children for wanting to have something to eat because I just came out of the kitchen from a big binge, gained dangerous amounts of weight in short times, cried while I was eating because I wanted to stop so badly but couldn't, ordered pizza pies to the house when I was by myself and ate the entire thing, took my sleeping kids out for a drive in the car so I could get more food, ect ,ect.
    It started by just overeating once or twice a week secretly, and with stress, got worse exponentially.
    Its real. Get help.
  • apriltrainer
    apriltrainer Posts: 732 Member
    You are going to eventually have to see a doctor. I suffered from Binge eating too. I later realized that it went deeper than food. It was connected to some deep personal traumas that i won't share here but suffice it to say...just checking my cals on MFP while binging didn't help keep me in check.

    In fact sometimes I felt worse. I had to give up MFP for a while..

    Seeing a therapist, getting on antidepressants "cured" my binge eating.

    I went to see a therapist for something totally different. Not my binge eating. I didn't even think they were connected.

    I was put on antidepressants and in a few weeks my binge eating episodes....went away.

    I used to be embarrassed of feeling depressed..I didn't want to take medication because I figured that was just for crazy people and i was "normal."

    I couldn't have been more wrong about people who take these kind of medications. These are normal people who take them.
    I do and wish I had reached out and sought help for this other "issue" I had. Perhaps if I had reached out to someone, I would have been able to stop binge eating a long time ago.

    Anyways, please, please get help.
  • mainelymama
    mainelymama Posts: 57
    Its real. I've suffered for a lot of years with it. Therapy helped a little, but ultimately, its akin to an addiction, and you have to do hard work to gain the self control you want.
    There is a great support group on MFP for it:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/743-binge-eating-support-group

    Be aware that it gets worse if you don't get help. Today you may only do it once in a while, or for certain stressers, or during certain times of the day/night. But tomorrow, next week, next year, it will not get better - only worse - unless you get help and make changes.
    It affects your self esteem, your family life, impacts those you live with, and makes you make bad - sometimes dangerous - decisions.
    I've gone to multiple fast food drive throughs within minutes, maxed out credit cards to pay for secret 6th and 7th meals, screamed at my children for wanting to have something to eat because I just came out of the kitchen from a big binge, gained dangerous amounts of weight in short times, cried while I was eating because I wanted to stop so badly but couldn't, ordered pizza pies to the house when I was by myself and ate the entire thing, took my sleeping kids out for a drive in the car so I could get more food, ect ,ect.
    It started by just overeating once or twice a week secretly, and with stress, got worse exponentially.
    Its real. Get help.

    This almost made me cry and if I wasn't at work I would. Thank you for being so honest. I have felt this guilt with my son.
  • studentUK
    studentUK Posts: 7 Member
    read this: Overcoming Binge Eating by Christopher Fairburn.

    amazing book - tells you all about bulimia/binge eating disorder and takes you through steps based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to overcome binge eating.
  • beansprouts
    beansprouts Posts: 410 Member
    I think that those people who suggested that you get in touch with overeaters anonymous gave you some excellent advice...This group really takes eating disorders like yours very seriously and should be able to offer you some guidance and direction with your struggle. They have a website for your country. www.oagb.org.uk/
    Good luck, Catherine.
  • amillerwvu
    amillerwvu Posts: 54 Member
    Hi...I (and one of my sisters) do this, too. We've been told by our mom that we had no self control; however, I can tell you, I don't think that's the issue. My sister and I just talked about it this week--I'm overweight, and she's bulimic. She said she gets the most support out of going to AA meetings (she's NOT an alcoholic, but she likes the 12 steps). She tried Over Eaters Anonymous but said it didn't work for her. She also sees a therapist (her issues are worse than mine). I, too, would recommend taking a friend you trust with you. I know a lot of people don't "tell" other people what they do (my sister and I comfortable with one another, but we don't tell friends bc we're embarrassed). I'm hoping to learn a little more by reading what everyone else says on your post.

    I also read somewhere about cognitive behavior therapy and am reading up on it... Good luck to you, and if you'd like to be MFP friends, that'd be great....I can relate to what you're going through.
  • taiyola
    taiyola Posts: 964 Member
    Having suffered a diagnosed ED for 12 years of my life, I know how hard it can be. I went undiagnosed for about 10 of those years, and it was only when having mentioned to my counsellor at the time who I was seeing for something else about my food habits and how I was worried that I got me some help!

    My counsellor referred me straight to an eating disorders out-patient clinic where I went for an assessment, then had a few meetings, then was put on a 5 month course, and then that was followed up by monthly meetings. While it did help me a LOT and I wouldn't be recovered without it, I got over the end tail of it myself after refusing to be admitted to hospital and drip-fed.

    Maybe arrange to see a different doctor at your surgery and explain your issues with food, or ask to see a counsellor first who may be a bit more understanding like I did. Then if you get referred, you can expect to possibly go through similar things I just mentioned. Just beware that you may undergo group therapy as well as individual therapy, and weigh-ins and have to show a diary of your food intake. This may sound super scary right now, but it's a gradual build-up and WORKS. There will be tears and tantrums and secrecy and things you don't want to do, but it's worth it.

    Go for the help - you wont regret it. :flowerforyou:
  • 0somuchbetter0
    0somuchbetter0 Posts: 1,335 Member
    Definitely real. I don't have time to read the whole thread right now, but I recently started seeing a therapist who specializes in eating disorders. People often think that only anorexia and bulimia are eating disorders, but binge eating behavior is just as valid and just as tied in to emotions and self-esteem, etc. Hang in there -- it's wonderful that you're recognizing this when you're still so young -- you definitely have a fighting chance to beat it! Good luck, I'll be back later to read the rest of this thread -- very interested in what others have to say!
  • Cathy_Daydreams
    Cathy_Daydreams Posts: 120
    Its real. I've suffered for a lot of years with it. Therapy helped a little, but ultimately, its akin to an addiction, and you have to do hard work to gain the self control you want.
    There is a great support group on MFP for it:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/743-binge-eating-support-group

    Be aware that it gets worse if you don't get help. Today you may only do it once in a while, or for certain stressers, or during certain times of the day/night. But tomorrow, next week, next year, it will not get better - only worse - unless you get help and make changes.
    It affects your self esteem, your family life, impacts those you live with, and makes you make bad - sometimes dangerous - decisions.
    I've gone to multiple fast food drive throughs within minutes, maxed out credit cards to pay for secret 6th and 7th meals, screamed at my children for wanting to have something to eat because I just came out of the kitchen from a big binge, gained dangerous amounts of weight in short times, cried while I was eating because I wanted to stop so badly but couldn't, ordered pizza pies to the house when I was by myself and ate the entire thing, took my sleeping kids out for a drive in the car so I could get more food, ect ,ect.
    It started by just overeating once or twice a week secretly, and with stress, got worse exponentially.
    Its real. Get help.

    Thank you for the link.
    I'm already a part of that group but things have been a little mad lately and I haven't been as active a member as I would like to be, if that makes sense?
    and I know, I can relate to a lot of those feelings.
    I don't do it now because mum and dad don't really mind but I used to lie to my parents and say I had no money so I could go and buy some sweets or chocolate from the shop on my way home after school and I can relate to the financial difficulty. I don't get a lot of money from my parents (I can't find jobs no matter how hard I try) and spending all of it on binging is making things really tight and difficult, financially.
    I hope that you are feeling a lot better than you were and thank you for the advice.
    I'm going to see a dr at the end of the month and see if he can get me in touch with someone who can help.
  • Cathy_Daydreams
    Cathy_Daydreams Posts: 120
    You are going to eventually have to see a doctor. I suffered from Binge eating too. I later realized that it went deeper than food. It was connected to some deep personal traumas that i won't share here but suffice it to say...just checking my cals on MFP while binging didn't help keep me in check.

    In fact sometimes I felt worse. I had to give up MFP for a while..

    Seeing a therapist, getting on antidepressants "cured" my binge eating.

    I went to see a therapist for something totally different. Not my binge eating. I didn't even think they were connected.

    I was put on antidepressants and in a few weeks my binge eating episodes....went away.

    I used to be embarrassed of feeling depressed..I didn't want to take medication because I figured that was just for crazy people and i was "normal."

    I couldn't have been more wrong about people who take these kind of medications. These are normal people who take them.
    I do and wish I had reached out and sought help for this other "issue" I had. Perhaps if I had reached out to someone, I would have been able to stop binge eating a long time ago.

    Anyways, please, please get help.

    I'm really glad that your binge eating has gone and everything's worked out for you.
    I understand what you are saying about antidepressants and the like, but, although I was quite young at the time, I watched my granddad get hooked on painkillers and I think it's left me with a sort of fear of any sort of drug in a way. My dad refuses to take medicine for his artheritus because of it and I've found myself, lately doing everything and anything before taking any sort of drug.
    I don't know maybe it's just me :( Also I am going to see a dr at the end of the month and we'll see what happens hey :)
  • tabs121
    tabs121 Posts: 6 Member
    I have binge eating disorder, well I haven't been diagnosed with it but I 100% have a MASSIVE FOOD PROBLEM. It has developed over the last year or so for various reasons (I know what they are) and over the past few weeks has got to the stage where it could be seriously affecting my health (I binge on mainly sugar). I NEED to see some sort of counsellor/nutritionist about this issue asap, just haven't found the time yet. Reading this thread has been really useful though, it's relieving to discover I'm not a total food-obsessed psycho and there are other people in a similar situation. I get really angry when I can't have the food that I crave (e.g. when there are people about so I can't binge), so much so that I actually start crying with frustration.... BED is definitely an eating disorder, one that is just as dangerous as anorexia or bulimia, and I believe it should be regarded as such.
  • Cathy_Daydreams
    Cathy_Daydreams Posts: 120
    Having suffered a diagnosed ED for 12 years of my life, I know how hard it can be. I went undiagnosed for about 10 of those years, and it was only when having mentioned to my counsellor at the time who I was seeing for something else about my food habits and how I was worried that I got me some help!

    My counsellor referred me straight to an eating disorders out-patient clinic where I went for an assessment, then had a few meetings, then was put on a 5 month course, and then that was followed up by monthly meetings. While it did help me a LOT and I wouldn't be recovered without it, I got over the end tail of it myself after refusing to be admitted to hospital and drip-fed.

    Maybe arrange to see a different doctor at your surgery and explain your issues with food, or ask to see a counsellor first who may be a bit more understanding like I did. Then if you get referred, you can expect to possibly go through similar things I just mentioned. Just beware that you may undergo group therapy as well as individual therapy, and weigh-ins and have to show a diary of your food intake. This may sound super scary right now, but it's a gradual build-up and WORKS. There will be tears and tantrums and secrecy and things you don't want to do, but it's worth it.

    Go for the help - you wont regret it. :flowerforyou:

    Thank you, this has really put me at ease :).
    One thing I worry about is having to be away from school and auditions and that because of therapy and the like, is it flexible at all?
    You see I'm seventeen and hopefully going to university so the grade I get at school are really important this year, as well as the way I perform in auditions. I'm a little more wary of seeking help if this will affect my progress in either of these fields. I am seeing a dr at the end of the month about my eating habbits, and some other ongoing problems. I've seen him once before and he seems really nice and understanding (I think it's just because of all the rubbish dr's I've seen at the same surgery, it'a made me a bit anxious, if you know what I mean?) so I think I will be fine.
  • Cathy_Daydreams
    Cathy_Daydreams Posts: 120
    Definitely real. I don't have time to read the whole thread right now, but I recently started seeing a therapist who specializes in eating disorders. People often think that only anorexia and bulimia are eating disorders, but binge eating behavior is just as valid and just as tied in to emotions and self-esteem, etc. Hang in there -- it's wonderful that you're recognizing this when you're still so young -- you definitely have a fighting chance to beat it! Good luck, I'll be back later to read the rest of this thread -- very interested in what others have to say!

    My mum is one of those people, except she gets the two mixed up sometimes, which annoys me no end when she's preaching to me about what's healthy and what's not -_-. and thank you for the support, really means a lot. I hope you find this thread useful and good luck to you :) I wish you all the best
  • Cathy_Daydreams
    Cathy_Daydreams Posts: 120
    read this: Overcoming Binge Eating by Christopher Fairburn.

    amazing book - tells you all about bulimia/binge eating disorder and takes you through steps based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to overcome binge eating.

    I will try and get hold of this. I have a feeling I will have to wait till I get a bit more money in, but it's something I will definatley look at. Thank you for the recommendation.

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