WLS and eating disorders...long

I have a friend who had WLS several months ago and is now being treated for anorexia.  Prior to treatment she hadn't eaten for 7 days because she starting living in fear of stretching her stomach and gaining weight back.  She could barely recognize that she had lost much weight, or even that her skin was looking dry and splotchy from dehydration, as she was even refusing to drink much water or gatorade.  This is so strange to me, because just after she was approved for solid foods after surgery, she was "binging"...well, at least as well as she could with such a small stomach, which was causing her to vomit.  Thinking back now...I'm wondering if her intention was to make herself vomit...I don't know.  She should really have never had the surgery, already having some emotional issues, but of course she lied her way through, telling the therapist what she wanted to hear.

Anyway, this happening to her has caused me to look at my own behaviors, and see just how easy it could be to develop an eating disorder or at least unhealthy thinking about food and weight.  I myself have been struggling because I feel like I'm working hard at this and the weight isn't coming off like I'd like.   I don't even enjoy eating anymore, it's a chore. I've starting obsessing over every little calorie and carb.  I've been just trying to get more protein in, suck in as much water as possible and keep the carbs down and by the end of the day I feel tired and unsatisfied and defeated if I haven't met my goals.  And then to see the scale not move for yet another day...

So have you guys heard of this or even seen some of these habits or similar thinking in yourself?? How do you keep a healthy view of food and/or weight loss and not obsess and think about it all the time?

I think that eating disordered would be very easy post-op we are constantly restricting and it wouldn't take much to go to an extreme for instance I get between 600-800 Cals a day but with my sleeve I could go full on liquids and drop it to 300-400 very easily. Infact alot of the VSG sucess stories on You tube lokk a little emaciated and I wonder sometimes if they are not suffering with ED. It is all about control, when we are bigger it is "no one is going to tell me I cant have this" "I eat what I want when I want" "I deserve this" and after WLS it feels a little powerful to be able to control calories like that JMHO-

It is all about control, when we are bigger it is "no one is going to tell me I cant have this" "I eat what I want when I want" "I deserve this" and after WLS it feels a little powerful to be able to control calories like that JMHO-

This is sooo true!!!  I get this sick pleasure from measuring out 3 to 4 oz of food and seeing food left over when I stop eating!! It's crazy....

I look a bit emaciated from the waist up. I can assure you, I'm still carrying 20% body fat. It's just a function of how I lost weight. It's filling back in as I've entered maintenance and I'm seeing my weight redistribute.

This is just my experience, but you may find when you get withing striking distance from goal that dropping down into 300-400 calorie a day range,even on full liquids, is harder than you think. Once you lose most of your fat, the body doesn't have it to burn as a ready source of energy. The big calorie deficit that's relatively easy, now, because you have fat to metabolize may well have your body screaming for nourishment a year from now. It's not even hunger, it's feeling weak, shaky, ill. I can't go below 1000 calories a day, now, and not feel ill, and I've not increased my exercise, etc. I'm burning about the same number of calories, I just don't have thousands of calories to draw from fat stores. That's, in my estimation, what can make the 'last 10lbs' so hard for people to lose and ultimately maintain.

Part of what feeds anorexia is not just control but the feeling of accomplishment that comes with not only being in control but doing so when it's NOT easy. "Look at my iron willpower!" Even with a sleeve, maintaining a significant calorie deficit once you get past a certain point 'hurts.' Those with a tendency toward ED are going to react differently than those who don't.

This is just my experience, but you may find when you get withing striking distance from goal that  dropping down into 300-400 calorie a day range,even on full liquids, is harder than you think.   Once you lose most of your fat, the body doesn't have it to burn as a ready source of energy. The big calorie deficit that's relatively easy, now, because you have fat to metabolize may well have your body screaming for nourishment a year from now.  It's not even hunger, it's feeling weak, shaky, ill.  I can't go below 1000 calories a day, now, and not feel ill, and I've not increased my exercise, etc. I'm burning about the same number of calories, I just don't have thousands of calories to draw from fat stores.  That's, in my estimation, what can make the 'last 10lbs' so hard for people to lose and ultimately maintain.

I LOVE what you wrote here!!!  It makes so much sense and I could not agree more! I've been sticking to 750 a day and it is really hard to do at 19 months post-op.  I remember those early glory days when 400 calories was easy peasy.  Not so anymore.  My body gets HUNGRY!  These last few pounds are hell to get off, I am struggling to fini****!

Now, please tell me what ED is?  I know that it could not possibly mean Erectile dysfuction, which is what came up in a search. 

Edit to add:  DUH...eating disorder!!!!  LOL....I get it now.  How could I not have figured that out?  I am also constantly working on my head, and working on my associations with food.  Every day is a struggle to fight the food addicted demons that live in me.

Yes, I have heard this is one of the possible side effects of WLS.  The only way to prevent this is to do like so many have said.  You MUST have a therapist and be completely honest.  You don't have to do this all alone.  Even pre-op I have issues with food and not wanting to eat.

I know my surgeon's office watches for this. It does sound like your friend, if she was binging right after surgery, already had an eating disorder and it has just changed form. A lot of surgeons try to screen for that in the psyche exam, but it's not 100 possible to know who this will happen to.

Many of us have lots of issues around food, and fear of not losing or fear of regain raise their heads on this board every day. It's hard to navigate those choppy waters so I think folks with tendencies toward eating disorders could easily get triggered into severe negative behaviors.

I know I was terrified to raise my calories to go into maintenance. I shouldn't have been - I'm having a hard time physically eating enough decent healthy foods to get them high enough - but the fear was real.

I think a lot of us (myself included) came into this with enough food/eating issues that therapy is a great idea for most WLS patients who can swing it financially. It's not just our bodies that were unhealthy.

My psychiatrist is currently unhappy with me due to this very issue.

I had emotional eating problems before I went in, known and diagnosed, and couple that with bipolar and social anxiety and I am one giant eating-disorder-waiting-to-happen.  My previous psych knew that (the one I was seeing when I had the surgery) so I had to see him more regularly leading up to and following the surgery.  He watched me like a hawk and since he knew when I was lying pulled me up a couple of times for bad behaviors - like skipping meals and deliberately restricting etc.

I have done my best to counteract my own mental problems, by being honest with my shrink and trying overeaters anonymous and coming on here but the further out I get, the harder it's getting.

My life seems to revolve around calories and carbs and whether I've had enough.  Since I now have hip problems and have had to quit the gym, it's a case of 'do I deserve this' - hence my current psych's unhappiness.

Let me say this - it is a lot harder mentally then it is physically.  I lost pretty quickly in the beginning, then changed psych meds and put some back on, then lost more, then stalled for six months, and now am losing again.  I'm thrilled with my progress, even though it's slower then most, but I'm still slipping into bad mental habits with the 'deserve nutrition' mentality - of course I deserve nutrition! - and I don't know what to do to fix it.

I am scared of eating disorders, but I don't think I can do anything other then continue to be honest with my psych and watch myself.  I think that's all anyone can do really, is just to be honest with themselves and the shrink, if they have one.  This is a mental journey just as much as, or perhaps moreso, then physical.  Not only is it loss of excess weight but it's (for me, anyway) confronting why I was overweight in the first place, and coming to terms with myself as I lose weight.  

I hope your friend gets the help she needs, and that you see that you are doing the best you can, and hopefully for you it gets easier as you get further out.  

Thank you for sharing.  I hear she is doing OK but we will see when she is back from treatment.  I am working on things too!

Pre -op I joked w my friend that I was a fat anorexic. When I was trying to diet I did diet pills, laxatives, fat burners and lastly I would have 1 day a week where I ate 1x a day. I was yo yo dieting and gaining fast.

I am below goal and still losing. I admit I feel like I am accomplishing something and right now I don't get enjoyment from other areas so this VSG is a obsession of mine. I am always on OH and I keep thinking about losing more weight. I really fear being fat again as I watched obesity kill my mother. Even growing up she always told me that I should never get fat.

I am still in the normal range for my height but I want to focus more in muscle and toning. I hope this will help me w my obsession.