Recovering binge eater... Can I get weight loss surgery?

Hello,

I am in recovery for binge eating disorder. I completed an 8 week Intensive Outpatient Program for BED a few months ago. I'm seeing a therapist weekly and a dietician once a month.

I've been thinking about getting weight loss surgery for a few years now. My doctor brought it up to me again on Friday.

My binges have gone down, and I have lost some weight. I'm at 420 right now. I've never been below 350 as an adult and I'm 32. Both of my parents are morbidly obese and my mom is having severe complications from being nearly 60 years old and 350 lbs.

I see my therapist tomorrow and I'm nervous to bring it up to her. Most doctors I see suggest it as an option I should pursue... I just really doubt my therapist and dietician at the eating disorder clinic will see it as a good idea for me.

I had undiagnosed BED when I had my VSG in 2014. (Easier to know this was true in retrospect, I didn't know what BED was at that time.) The first year post-op was awesome, I didn't binge, my eating was on point, I lost 130-140 pounds. Woo!

And then my dad's cancer metastasized to his brain. For the following year, I started binging occasionally. My weight stayed at 170-180 for pretty much the entire year.

Then my dad died and the BED came back in full force. Binging, obsession, hiding, shame, all of it. I gained 20 pounds, went to my doctor, got diagnosed with BED and started on Vyvanse. I've been on Vyvanse almost a year now and the only incidences of BED I've had have happened during the few periods I haven't been taking it. (Due to timing, I didn't take it over my winter holiday and the BED was still there...) During that year of medication I've lost 40 pounds.

So that's my story. I see a therapist regularly. I have a psychiatrist now as well to manage my medication - I started out with my PCP for that. I just had my first round of reconstructive plastic surgery. You can see my weight stats in my signature below.

For me, the VSG has definitely made a huge difference in my life. I will likely always wonder if the BED would have come back if my dad's cancer/death hadn't triggered it's return, but I'll never know and, in all likelihood, something else would have triggered it's return eventually.

For what it's worth - I did have to have a psych eval prior to WLS, but my BED didn't come up then so I'm not sure if it would have kept the psychiatrist from clearing me.

Thank you for your input!

I'm going to see what my therapist says tomorrow.

I appreciate your feedback ;)

You can talk to your therapist about this. It will help you. You have to do what is right for you. I mean our therapists help us. But we are the ones who are actually in control of ourselves.

I am addicted to food and other substances. Alcohol is the one that is major. But food actually has been my hardest habit to kick.

Be strong and if you want to have the surgery and are willing to work with a therapist. You should do what you want.

I work daily sometimes meal by meal to make sure I do not gain the weight back.

It took my therapist a long time before she would sign off on it. But she knew I was ready.

Best of luck to you.

I was bulimic/binger in my teens & 20s due to abuse, it's hard to overcome as you know, but it didn't keep me from having my surgery. Best thing I've ever done for myself. Definitely talk to your therapist about it. Research the different options, keep talking, but ultimately you have to do what is best for you whether your therapist supports your decision or not.

I was a bulimic binger for many years and a snacker . Basically I had to have access to food at all times.

Turned out I had a huge congenital birth defect- the biggest hiatal hernia my surgeon has ever seen. So when I was " binging" I was actually self medicating for a very painful medical condition.

Don't blame yourself. Your binge eating may predispose you to drinking post op so you may want to restrict that ... other than that I don;t believe it will rear its ugly head only because if I overeat or over drink I am in such immediate physical discomfort that I never want to do it again.

For me surgery was a lifesaver, sanity saver and total life changer . Like most here all I can say is I wish I did it sooner .

Be careful what you tell the psychiatrist or you may not qualify ((()))))

"Be careful what you tell the psychiatrist or you may not qualify ((()))))"

Please don't go anywhere near this. Purposely not answering questions truthfully during your psych eval makes you vulnerable to charges of insurance fraud.

Additionally, it can put you in a very serious financial bind. If you have a complication and dishonesty during your preop appointments is discovered your insurance may not charge you with fraud. But they may very well decline to make any more payments on your behalf for services that they can connect to your surgery. And they can find a way to connect almost everything to WLS.

Admittedly this is very rare. But I wouldn't want to be the one person out of thousands that it actually happens to.

Good luck - tell the truth - you'll be fine. =)

In addition to the insurance aspect, I would contend that not sharing that we have BED (which by the way, I have and have successfully had WLS) -- is akin to not mentioning that we have cancer or a heart condition before having surgery.

These are medical facts that are directly relevant to not only our surviving surgery but in giving the proper medical support to be successful afterwards.

just to make sure it doesn't end up looking like I'm talking to myself.