advice

[survivor]

i have been suffering with anorexia now for four years i was getting better till last month was wondering if anybody could give me some tips to stop me getting back the way i was i do love being anorexic but at the moment im again at that point when im realising the risks that r also involved i dont want to end up in a secure unit but if i lose another stone theyve warned me that i will x any advice??

 

[kathrina]

I'm struggling myself so I guess the only advice I can give is to hang in there. Try not to lose too much more weight so they can't put you in the secure unit which I'm sure you wouldn't want.
Take Care.

 

[*Sapphire*]

Hi Survivor,

I guess for me the journey to recovery involved me having some of those long term effects, and realising that ultimately there is only so much the body can take, and years of semi-starvation and starvation as well as recovery from it can take its toll.

I also got sectioned in a very horrible hospital (my opinion) and the thought of that makes me think twice about going down that route again.

I also had to really get to the root causes of my issues, for me I had another disorder which kind of pre-disposed me to anorexia which needed to be treated, as well as therapy for dealing with life events past and present.

I also had to admit to myself that it is easier to look back on things and not think they were as bad as they were, than remember the horrible reality. I did this with my anorexia and still do sometimes. I remember the good points and gloss over the bad. I have to do reality checks with myself when it happens. I have written down when in a healthy frame of mind the real horrible bits about my ED and why I don't ever want to go back down that road again, and read it when the temptation arises to weigh myself or something.

I am not perfect, it has been in my life a long time, and it is hard to give something like anorexia up completely, but I manage now, have a healthy life and do have the occassional day where it does not cross my mind, and they are increasing.

In times when it is a struggle I try these techniques to pick myself up;

1) I go back to timed meal times ie Breakfast 9am, Snack 10.30, Lunch 12, Snack etc etc, whatever times fit into my life best.

2) Go back to menu planning, have a menu for the week, put it on my fridge like a prescription.

3) I would try to do something fun with food if I could manage, go out for a nice meal, cook together with someone, I would try to remember that food is enjoyable and needn't be full of stresses.

4) If I needed to weigh myself I would work on reducing it day by day as with any other ED behaviors

5) I would tell people I was struggling, my anorexia fed off my silence.

I also talk on here, it helps me when I am having a wobbly moment.
I'm not sure if this helps, but I hope you manage to keep safe.
Sapphire

 

[Patsy]

Hi Survivor,

I had anorexia for several years in my 20s, I'm now 54. It was a long slow process for me with several hospitalisations. I think there comes a time when you know you want to get better but it's one step forward and two steps back. Looking back I think for me it was the strong urge to have children and as I wasn't having periods my doctor warned me that I was compromising my ability to have kids. I'm not sure how I did it but I got there. I imagine for most anorexics there are issues which need to be looked at, there certainly was for me. I've been married for nearly 30 years with 3 healthy grown up children. To be realistic I still consider myself to have an eating disorder as I have trouble controlling my weight. I'm a bit overweight at the moment and still overeat at times (not binging though). However the eating problems are not in the forefront of my life anymore. I think it would be unrealistic of me to tell you everything is fine once you gain weight and as you get older. I still have a crazy habit of literally falling out of bed onto my scales every morning without fail! I also do this if I wake in the middle of the night so I can be found weighing myself with the light of my mobile phone I can see the absurdity of this but still do it. This sounds obssesive but once I do it I don't dwell on it. I have bipolar disorder which is the thing which causes me pain now but I feel for you as I do remember how anorexia took over my whole life. Just don't give up as life is so much better being non anorexic. Take care