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My little brother weighs nothing.

User Profile: AmeliaAdrianna
AmeliaAdrianna November 4th, 2017

I have never personally been impacted by eating disorders but my little brother either has anorexia or is well on the way to it.
He is twelve years old. He weighs (Edited by Hope for mentioning specific weight counts)

I'm scared for him.

He is currently seeing a psychologist for his anxiety but I want to know if there is anything I can do to help him. He doesn't eat, he never really has. He says that he doesn't know why he doesn't eat, only that he can't. He is slightly mentally delayed and his medication further discourages his appetite. I try to cook him food he likes but he is a picky eater and often sneaks away and hides his food in the trash and then lies about it. I don't like getting upset at him when this happens, but I'm scared and I'm worried and I don't know what to do. He doesn't understand the seriousness of what is happening and I'm scared that one day he's going to go too far and not wake up the next day.

Is there anything you can think of that I can do to help him?


I'd really appreciate the support.
Thank you.

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User Profile: Autismaunt14
Autismaunt14 November 4th, 2017

@AmeliaAdrianna

have you tried pedisure meal replacement drinks ?

my lil guy now almost 15 had always been underweight except for when he was born preemie at (Edited by Hope for mentioning weight counts) , he was on the pedisure from 3yrs till last yr 2-3 cans a day, he now only has them when he wants them, he is now a healthy weight and he dont eat much till come dinner time (4pm till he goes to sleep) for past 2-3yrs he has been growing non stop both heigh and weight wise. he is also special needs and delayed mentally.

hope this helps you some Amelia

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User Profile: Autismaunt14
Autismaunt14 November 4th, 2017

forgot to also put that he is also a VERY picky eater, and we pretty much just let him pick and choose what he will eat just cause thats what we have always done so that he would he something.

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User Profile: Hope
Hope November 5th, 2017

Hey Amelia! first of all, it is amazing to see you trying to help out your little bro and on a field where you don't have personal experience with, it can be tough. You being scared for him is justified given he is at low weight, I had to edit out the number in your post as per our guidelines, we don't mention specific weight counts or specific calories. Please go through them when you have the time, they are on the home page under "community guidelines".

I am glad that your bro is seeing someone for his ED, it can be hard for us to see someone dealing with an ED and its tricky because our first instinct when we see someone not eating enough is to tell them to eat which is not helpful at all. When it comes to any suggestions that I may have would be that ED is almost always a way to cope with an underlying issue, maybe you know what the issue is and if you do, you can try and focus on providing him with the support he needs to deal with that issue, you can also ask the psychologist treating him, if you can help your bro anyhow, they may have a better suggestion for you than any of us here.

Supporting someone with an eating disorder can be hard, we are here to support you through this, feel free to check-in with us and share how you are doing from time to time, do remember to take care of yourself because you can't pour from an empty cup, in order to support your bro, you need to be in good health yourself heart

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User Profile: Hope
Hope November 5th, 2017

forgot to tag you @AmeliaAdrianna

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