Binge eating disorder - has anyone undergone treatment?

tullyn8
tullyn8 Posts: 8
in Motivation and Support
Hi,

I've experienced disordered eating patterns for many years now. I am finally at the point where I am starting to realise that my behaviour is not normal & I am considering getting some professional help after confiding to a friend.

I am still extremely reluctant - I have truly tried to figure out my reasoning behind it all, attempted numerous strategies to prevent it. I don't have some past experience that has caused me to be like this - I think my relationship with food has always been disordered and this is just how I am.

Is therapy a worthwhile experience? I don't really know what it involves... Im sure I sound silly but I just don't see what could be done to help change my mindset/attitude to food at an expensive price!

Thanks

Replies

  • lambchoplewis
    lambchoplewis Posts: 797
    Curious... what made you finally realize you have a disorder?? I binge and cannot control it but... it only happens about once a month and it is usually when bored and depressed. More in winter blue months.
  • fishgutzy
    fishgutzy Posts: 2,807 Member
    Been there.
    Bulimic for over a decade in my twenties and early thirties. It really picked up steam after I stopped drinking. I used to call it "changing seats on the Titanic."
    Early on I "got results." Lost 70 pounds in 7 months. Got down to 155 pounds; underweight for my 6' frame.
    I've tried therapy. Didn't work. Did the OA thing and that was actually the most helpful. Still took time to stick.
    I eventually stopped the binge purge cycle. I guess I just got tired of it.
    Grazing is what pushed me up, over a couple decades, to 310 pounds and finally dealing with the trigger foods and making a the changes I needed to make. Down 75 pounds since summer '11. Most weight I have ever lost in a healthy more sustainable manner.
    I'm not perfect by any means. But i don't graze and I don't binge anymore.

    BTW, my dentist thinks the enamel erosion is from acid reflux. If I weren't a guy he'd have suspected bulimia. Damn sexist. :bigsmile:
  • MrsSAJones
    MrsSAJones Posts: 8 Member
    I have seen a phycologist ($400/hour) and gone to O/A. I am still dealing with it. O/A did not fit me at the time anyway. The counselling really didn't do much either but maybe it was the person? I did figure out where it came from and how it's associated with my anxiety. One thing I do know is I have to stay away from my triggers. Doughnuts would be one of those. If I were to have one I would then set off a binge. I am lucky in the fact that I only binge on terrible, fattening food. I have met some that have to watch their water intake. When I am having a for lack of a better word craving I feel like I am having a nic fit. It passes but takes awhile.
  • tullyn8
    tullyn8 Posts: 8
    Well ive always been obsessive with food/diet/body image for as long as I can remember. I maybe started binging & occasionally purging 7 years ago but always when I was home alone so it was kind of like it didn't happen, I had nothing to worry about & didn't really acknowledge it. Someone came home the other day while I was purging and I literally started freaking out worried they heard me and panicked in the bathroom for ages trying to think of an excuse ...They didn't hear me in the end but it made me realise how not normal it was for me to be doing this.

    What is O/A? That is definitely more expensive than I was expecting!

    I also have triggers and eliminate them from the house. But end up binging on ANYTHING! Anything I can get my hands on. My binging is getting worse it is happening daily and that is another thing that has made me realise this! Its hard to overlook that I have a problem now thats its happening so often
  • ej_glen
    ej_glen Posts: 34 Member
    I can't afford private therapy and the NHS waiting list is far too long for psychology referrals, so I bought some books on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and have been using some of those techniques to help me.

    To be honest, I've found these so, so beneficial and I would definitely look into it as a starting point.

    As fishgutzy says, recognising your triggers is crucial, and the CBT techniques have really helped me to do that.

    Best of luck - it's not easy but it is manageable. xx
  • elenipdx
    elenipdx Posts: 17 Member
    I was in your position - binge eating since I was a kid - and therapy was honestly the best thing ever for me. It's important to find a therapist that you click with (the first one I went to spent six weeks trying to convince me I'd had a horrible childhood, and that once I admitted that I'd stop eating...), but once you find the right person it's awesome. A therapist can help you straighten out your thinking around food, deal with your triggers and start to eat normally. My therapist set me homework every week, usually things I really didn't want to do, so you need to be committed to it. I'd recommend that you speak to a few therapists and find someone whose approach you like and feel comfortable with, rather than just going with the first one you meet, which can put you off the whole experience if they're not right for you.

    My therapy sessions ended about six months ago, and I consider myself to be in recovery. It's not easy, I still have to focus on the way I think about food and I have to set myself homework every week (forever is scary, a week I can manage), but now that I'm not beating myself up all the time, normal eating feels very achievable, and I'm getting there. It is doable. Good luck.
  • tullyn8
    tullyn8 Posts: 8
    Emmboglen, would you mind sharing what books you have had a read of by any chance please? :)

    Thats great that your in recovery now elenipdx! I think I am hesitant because I think I know how I SHOULD think around food, I know what my triggers are and I know what normal eating should be. I wish I could just apply everything I know to myself! I am making a big assumption that I would just get told everything I already know about myself and what I should be doing?
  • elenipdx
    elenipdx Posts: 17 Member
    Therapy for me wasn't so much "telling me what I should be doing" as "helping me actually do it". It was very practical stuff, broken down into manageable bits, that I then went away and tried to do over the course of the week.

    There's a free downloadable CBT self-help course about halfway down this page: http://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/freedownloads2.htm and a lot of the worksheets elsewhere on the site are ones I used in therapy. You might find something there that's helpful to you.
  • Lauren2H
    Lauren2H Posts: 33 Member
    I can't afford private therapy and the NHS waiting list is far too long for psychology referrals, so I bought some books on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and have been using some of those techniques to help me.

    To be honest, I've found these so, so beneficial and I would definitely look into it as a starting point.

    As fishgutzy says, recognising your triggers is crucial, and the CBT techniques have really helped me to do that.

    Best of luck - it's not easy but it is manageable. xx
    [/quote

    I'd love to know what book(s) you're reading.
  • Lauren2H
    Lauren2H Posts: 33 Member
    I've been in therapy for two years and also did a 1/2 year intensive out patient program for eating disorders. I am still seeing my therapist, who was involved in the IOP. It's been a great and critical experience. It's also been hell and I'm finally working through my underlying *kitten*. That means my behaviors are worse right now, but that I'm fundamentally changing the way i think about myself. This is the key. I'm just on MPF for accountability and being honest with myself about food.

    So I'm in favor of both therapy and treatment programs.
  • fishgutzy
    fishgutzy Posts: 2,807 Member
    re: therapy. The few times I tried, I got extremes. One guy that was totally "in-your-face" that made it quite apparent that he was annoyed by my very existence.. Another that used silence to get me to babble on. Neither worked.
    Basically, I just had to start going one day at a time, the same way I stopped drinking. It has been a while since I binged. Over a decade anyway.
    Now I just avoid grazing.

    Just as with any addictive behavior, one has to want to stop.
    Eating healthy is a whole lot less expensive. :bigsmile:
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,419 Member
    Really do look into Cognitive Behavior Therapy books. Go to a reputable medical website like Mayo Clinic, or PubMed, or WebMD. Read about CBT. It is your best bet if you can't get to therapy. You have a problem that CAN lead to permanent health issues - please get some kind of help. Amazon.com will have popular books listed, too.

    OA (Overeaters Anonymous) is modeled on the 12 Step program of Alcoholics Anonymous. You can Google meetings n your area.

    Good luck. Good for you for wanting to change.
  • profesorakate
    profesorakate Posts: 39 Member
    Even better than CBT is DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) for Binge Eating and Bulimia Nervosa. I've tried everything (minus OA), with therapists, and finally I've found a therapist with a good fit, and she recommended this therapy. There are a couple of books you can get (just search DBT for BED and BN in amazon - the self help book is good).

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