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Wanting recovery... but not really? Conflicted

User Profile: givemecoffee
givemecoffee November 13th, 2015

I've been having restricting/binging cycles for a few years now. Sometimes one is more common than the other, but sometimes I go through "normal eating" phases, which are rare in the past 3 years. I've done purging through vomitting, but stopped out of emetophobia and lately my binging makes me feel awful so the thoughts of returning to it have come back stronger than ever. I also do this thing I won't mention, but it's a way of getting food but no calories, but i'm really terrified someone will read it by mistake and be like "that's an amazing way to lose weight" and it's not. It's addicting. It's disgusting. I told my best friend, ex best friend, last year and she was like "oh thanks" and I know I gave her an idea since she had an eating disorder diagnosed... so yeah, I feel awful about it. We don't talk anymore.

Moving on, I do see a psychologist for other things. My weight loss came up as I mentioned once I had been overweight and she looked at me surprised. I'm not underweight, my BMI is actually pretty healthy but i have a higher body fat and look bigger than my BMI. I could've told her how I lost the weight, but I panicked. She did suspect though. Because on my medication, it's really impossible to lose weight since it lowers metabolism like crazy not only that but increases appetite, much less as much as I did.

I want to stop this, not because I hate restricting but because I have my binging and other behavior and fear i might engage in others. I planned to increase my intake but was triggered now and feel scared of it. I tried it before and failed, binged a lot after 5 days.

Thing is, and this is what others won't agree with, is I want to lose weight no matter what! Healthy, unhealthy... but I think healthy way would be better.

I could tell my psychologist, yes. But last time I did tell some doctor, they repplied saying I was looking for attention, that I had to choose one eating disorder and stick with it then ask for help, or even adressed me to a nutritionist to lose weight that forced me to eat super clean, and would look at me disgusted for even eating a cup of greek yogurt or a bowl of cereal because it's fattening and I should NEVER eat it. That I didn't try hard enough. I kept gaining weight and she started being upset with me and saying bluntly "lose one kg until next appointment, okay?" or "it's not that hard, just don't eat sugar, fat, flour, ice cream, dairy, refined carbs, chocolate etc" but never gave me a meal plan. She also gave me back then a target weight that was higher than my weight before my binging started a year before, a lot higher and when i told her that she called me liar and was scary. And when I said "oh i do this and that, i binge and sometimes don't eat much and purge it" my nurse replied "so you're trying to be anorexic or bulimic? Because you're not binging enough and not purging enough, and you don't purge what you binge, so there's nothing wrong. Just eat normal, come on easy breezy". That was a slap on the face.

Long story short... I'm scared I'll be sent to a nutritionist. I'm scared I'll gain more weight, because my weight fluctuates a lot these past 6 months, and I really don't want to be called fake again. I can see something's wrong, just don't know what and want to see someone else's opinion but if they make me maintain or gain, I'll go into that cycles again or maybe trigger a full restricting cycle, leading on to a restrict/binge or binge cycle.

Help?

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User Profile: JayBumble
JayBumble November 14th, 2015

People don't know how to react to eating disorders a lot. There are A LOT of misconceptions. A binge/purge cycle is an eating disorder though, as you know, and a fairly common one too. It sounds as if the people you were seeing were not at all educated in eating disordered behavior. I just wanted to stop by and validate that it is not 'just that easy' and what you're describing isn't so uncommon that no health professional has ever heard of it unless uneducated in the field. Binge/purge cycles can be very dangerous for your health, and it is something I wish those doctors would take more seriously.

Eating disorders are also not something you can easily beat alone. It is far more an emotional problem than a food problem. And so perhaps that is where you should be knocking on doors to get help? Therapists who specialise in eating disordered behavior might be a good start?

1 reply
User Profile: givemecoffee
givemecoffee OP November 16th, 2015

@JayBumble It's not a binge/purge cycle... its binge/restricting... And I do see a psychologist already, that's who I'm going to talk. There are no specialists on eating disorders where I live, and even if there were, which i really doubt, I couldn't afford one so yeah... The center I go to is more educated on it than my other doctors. I think, they specialize on teens and young adults. So yeah...

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User Profile: Anomalia
Anomalia November 16th, 2015

@givemecoffee - @jaybumble is right. A lot of people don't understand eating disorders, but that doesn't mean that they were right. I believe what you're saying and I know that it's not just looking for attention or anything else. You're reaching out for help, and you deserve to get it. As Jay mentioned, looking into people who specialize in eating disorders might help you avoid that sort of thing again.

As to being conflicted, that's 100% normal. One of the hardest parts of recovery is consistently wanting it, but the fact that a part of you knows you do and is willing to work for it tells me that you can get through this. Keep reaching out for the support you need and let us know how we can help. Take care and be safe, lovely.

1 reply
User Profile: givemecoffee
givemecoffee OP November 16th, 2015

@Anomalia As i've said, there aren't specialists on eating disorders here... You guys can help if you do not judge me when I say I can only be happy when I'm thin. I know that's not real recovery, maybe that means I don't want recovery, but I can't accept myself without being in my normal body, not this body... so sorry but yeah, that's me being honest. All I want is to stop binging, so I can feel comfortable with eating more normal meals without fear i'll eat all.

Thank you both <3

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