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ED Recovery but I've Caught the Flu??

User Profile: myaekingheart
myaekingheart February 7th, 2018

So in the past week, I decided to finally start actively working toward ED recovery (I restrict, but don't binge or purge or use any sort of laxatives, and I am severely emetophobic). A hop on the scale at the grocey store was what really sparked my motivation to work towards getting better, seeing as I saw a number that was way too small. I was doing really good all week, things were starting to look up...and then I caught the flu. I woke up Sunday morning with a sore throat but didn't think anything of it, chalking it up to the super bipolar weather we've been having lately. By Sunday night, I had a massive migraine and terrible leg cramps. I thought it was just from crying so much earlier that night about something completely unrelated to my ED, since it's not unlike me to get headaches after a hysterical episode. I figured if I just went to bed, I'd sleep it off and be fine to go to class in the morning. Nope. Instead I felt worse. I spent the entire day in bed and hardly ate anything. I knew this was not going to bode well for my recovery but I didn't know what else to do. I had no appetite and my throbbing headache was making it hard to find any food appetizing whatsoever. I was beginning to feel a little better by Monday night and thought maybe this was just a fluke, that I'd be fine come Tuesday morning, but instead I woke up with a fever. I talked my boyfriend into taking me to a walk-in clinic where they swabbed my nose and the test results came back positive: I officially had the flu. I had a feeling i was bound to get it eventually considering how bad the epidemic has been this season but I was kind of hoping I'd be one of the lucky ones who the illness would pass right over. I've gotten the flu countless times before but that doesn't make it any less unpleasant. My biggest fear now is the way this is going to affect my emetophobia and my recovery. I was prescribed Tamiflu which apparently has a common side effect of nausea and vomiting, which is also a common complaint of the flu. I've never had stomach issues in previous years in which I've suffered from the flu but everyone kept telling me "That doesn't mean anything, this year is different" so now I don't know if they were right or if I'm currenly feeling sick to my stomach on account of overthinking. Either way, I"m terrified. They made me step on the scale at the walk-in, too, and my heart shattered to find that I lost even more weight. I became incredibly angry with myself, like I worked my ass off all week to make sure I was eating enough every single day only to be suckerpunched by the flu and backtrack all my progress. I now weigh even less than I did when I decided to work towards recovery and that sickens me. I hate knowing how big of a step backwards this is. I was so scared of what the nurse was going to say when she saw how little I weighted, or when she had to try and wrap the blood pressure cuff around my outrageously skinny arm. I just feel so distraught and defeated, I can't believe the one time I try to really work to get better I end up with a setback as big as this. It makes me wonder what the point in trying even is if I"m only going to get knocked back time and time again.

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User Profile: AffyAvo
AffyAvo February 7th, 2018

I don't have an eating disorder, but I do have chronic illnesses and I know what it's like to start to make progress and then get hit back down again and again. I am sorry you're going through that. It's frustrating and demotivating.

Some things to keep in mind the flu is temporary, and many people don't actually have any vomitting with it. I have a weaker stomach and the antiviral was fine for me. I hope that's how it is for you too!

As for the recovery aspect can you focus on what you are able to eat right now as nourishing your body to help you recover from the flu? Sometimes with the setbacks a change in focus is needed for a little bit.

I hope you start feeling better soon!

1 reply
User Profile: myaekingheart
myaekingheart OP February 7th, 2018

@AffyAvo Thank you so much for your kind words. It really does suck when you work so hard to make progress only to get knocked back down again. I know the risks of giving up, what I would do to myself as a result, and I try to keep that in the back of my mind at all times but it's just so hard when recovery seems like such an uphill battle. I have snacks with me like saltine crackers in case I get hungry but feel as if my stoamch isn't up for something too big or flavorful, so at least I can nibble on those for a bit even if they're not very nutrient-rich or calorie-packed. I also got some Powerade just to at least try and keep my electrolytes up and whatnot. Here's to hoping my attempts are going to be enough, at least for now. I feel so much pressure to get better both from the flu and this eating disorder but it's hard when it feels like such an uphill battle. I'm not going to let it stop me, but it most definitely is going to slow me down. It already has, honestly, which I hate. Hopefully the medication doesn't actually make me sick, and hopefully whatever nausea I feel right now is just a product of nerves or overthinking or just the initial shock of the medicine in my system (I only just took my first dose a few hours ago, and this is medication I've never actually taken before). I guess all I can really do is rest and try to recover from one thing at a time, and at least try to make peace with that being the reality of the circumstance.

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