Eating disorders - anorexia

[snakemed]

Hey, I've just been catching upreading the latest posts and a few people have mentioned eating disorders - either having one or being wrongly diagnosed cos of their emet.


Just wondering if anyone elsehas/hadone and how the two interact.As some of you will know, I have been emet since age 10 and went on to develop anorexia at 17-18. The anorexia is the biggest problem for me now - the emet is generally okay, (unless something directly happens I am not thinking about it all the time)


I am an obsessive person anyway, and where as that used to be about hand-washing and germ avoidance, now it is more focused towards calories and food. One girl said about people thinking she was bulimic and it makes me laugh too if people ask that - there is no way I could v* after eating! In a way, it may seem like a "solution" or pressing rewind, and yes, I have considered it when I have been absolutely desperate - to the point where I have been kneeling beside the toilet - but nope, never done it. This is where I feel my emet is a blessing in disguise. Perhaps it has saved my life?[img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img]


Anyway, thanks to everyone for their support here. Sage and Alvin are always great, and I love supporting others, especially younger people who are at the stage I once way. There is hope for us all lol! I don't feel ready to post on any sites directed about eating disorders, as it might make me worse at this stage of my recovery, but this site has been very helpful - a lot of like-minded people here! lol, maybe that's not always good haha


Love you loads![img]uploads/images/snakemed/Summer_2006_049.jpg[/img]

[sage]

Hi snake,


thanks for your post, your pic, and the kudos to me and Alvin. Anorexia nervosa is an anxiety-like disorder as well, so it seems your anxiety has just sort of "moved" into another area. In order for you to eat, you need to do the same things that emets do to stop being anxious. You need to tell yourself you're not in any danger. Even if you're fat you're not in danger. For you, it's probably related to assuming anxiously that if you eat you'll get sick. Which isn't true. Adults who don't like to vomit eat every day for like 20 years without getting sick. Getting sick is quite rare, actually. And even if you were sick, you'd be ok. People get sick every day as well and they're fine.


I hope you can reason with yourself and soothe yourself and get some calories into that little body of yours!


Take care!

[xroofusx]

Hey, im really sorry about you suffering anorexia, do you mean you are recovering from it now??. I've been in recovery for 7 weeks from an eating disorder, it was kind of mixed between anorexia and a second fear from this. Recovering from anoreixa will have its up and downs, but there is hope and support. I tried self v* a few times when i felt bad for eating, but it was horrible as i just couldn't do it. Take care.

Ruth x

[snakemed]

Cheers guys,


The anorexia is getting better, I got through Uni and now have a great job working for a mental health charity - it helps a lot to know that I have to stay well if I want to keep going and help others. I guess, like emet, the biggest problem is the distortion of the thoughts and the way things get out of perspective. Anyway, gotta keep going forward, and one day, I would love to be a therapist or counsellor.[img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img]

[mitch04133]

I too have recovered from anorexia. Although mine was emet related I got down to my lowest at 89lbs last summer. I was terriefed to eat foods, not cause of the calories cause I thought everything I would eat would make me v*, and if I didn't eat then I wouldn't v*! I am happy to say that I am up to 110lbs and have very little problems eating anymore, although I still fear eating out but not quite as bad. Good for you on working through the disorder, it is very tough for us to change the way we think, but it can happen. Stay with it and good luck!!


Michele

[purpleteacher]

I have an ED too and it is awful! I am actually ED-NOS and I am a mess right now. I have put on weight this summer and I am about to move out on my own, which I know will drastically impact my ED. I sent you a PM --- let me know if you need anything.

[ladymoonlight]

I had both - one sparked off the other as far as I can understand.I was so afraid of v* that I gradually started cutting foods out, not eating and drinking together, eating less and less and less until I was severely anorexic.


I dropped to about 5 or 6 stone (I'm 5'8") and my period stopped for 2 years.I was about 17 when it started and it went on until I was 21 (so 4 years in all although I was really only very bad in the last year or so). I was also agoraphobic then.


I got through it with counselling - that got me eating and going out again, but didn't cure my emet. I doubt anything will do that.

[snakemed]

It's pretty scary, and I'm sorry to hear that so many others have been effected by eating disorders and other mental health probs. It's sad that people do tend to have more than one issue, and it really complicates things. I work for a mental health charity, and sadly it is not uncommon for people to have both physical and mental health problems.


In a way it's good that we can all support each other on here - everyone has different lives and different situations - kids, jobs, places, but we all worry about v*. It's good to know there are others out there!


Thanks for replying to my post guys, take care[img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img]


xxx

[kristin1980]

I too was diagnosed with anorexia when i was a teenager. I wieghed about 70 or 75 lbs and 5'2 so no i was not healthy.. but for me it was mainly i was sooo scared i would v** that i stopped eating all together but i would eat one small meal only in the morning but usually it was something wierd like some lettuce or half of a peice of plain bread something like that. I also had wierd habits.. kind of like.. the movie "Girl interrupted" the character brittany murphy played.. how she would only eat her dads chicken and then hide it under her bed.. yeah well.. any food that i would "pretend" to eat.. i would hide in my closet. omg when i recovered.. and i cleaned out that closet.. that was so nasty!! wierdest habits i had.. i couldnt eat in front of anyone.. but the thing was is i didnt think i was fat.. but i established the strange anorexic habits.


I am now 25 and pay for my anorexia days all the time.. i get sick really easily and it cause me to have many food allergies because i was so used to not eating for so long.. i get alot of problems with my kidneys and things.. its not fun and its a long recovery but it can be done. Its hard some days..


hugs to u

[snakemed]

Uh-oh, kidney problems?


Yeah, I know about some of the complications, stuff you don't think about at first - like if your body uses up muscle for energy and that wastes away, it starts on organs - like the heart is a muscle too. I get scared in the winter here, I'm from Scotland, so it can be -3C/32F at times and it's agony. My heart feels like it's beating really fast sometimes, which is scary.


I know that I have to look after myself, and I am doing better than a few years ago. I have to eat so that I can be healthy and move about and do things! Ihave gotten through Uni, so now that I am working I have a great job to live for and less stress. I feel so bad for my family, but they have really kept me going. It must be so hard for them, because they can see what I look like, whereas I don't really see whats there sometimes.


Gotta keep fighting though! But could you tell me a bit more about the kidney thing? I think it would help me to know


xxx