Eating disorder treatment

I am a 28 yo F who had gastric bypass over two years ago and lost approx. 120lbs from 299lbs to 178lbs. I was told by my therapist before surgery that I had eating disorder behaviors and thoughts and should see a specialist but I refused and thought I would be ok after losing weight. My thoughts, obsessions, and food restriction has increased after surgery where it's all I can think about. I had a few scary situations with passing out and finally agreed to see the Eating Disorder (ED) specialist. She immediately told me I needed a higher level of care for atypical anorexia and recommended partial hospitalization. I have a very demanding job that I can't possibly take time off from so I went to therapy and a dietitian weekly for a little over a month but as soon as I would eat "normal" scheduled meals I gained 4-8lbs and would freak out and not eat. I agreed to be assessed by a treatment center *****commended the partial program but agreed to let me try the intensive outpatient treatment that is 3 nights a week due to my work situation. I start this Monday and I am just so scared about how much weight I am going to gain trying to follow the doctors orders as well as if it's even going to help. Had anyone else experienced this?

Hi,

Yes, prior to my weight gain due to PCOS, I was around 120 pounds. In college I became bulimic and very sick and my parents had to bring me home for treatment. I did outpatient since I lived with my parents and they could help. When I started seeing the dietician, she told me how much I was going to have to eat and I freaked. I felt nauseous at the thought of food regularly. I was under 100 pounds. I saw a therapist and a dietician and my dr regularly - from not eating and throwing up I had made myself severely hypoglycemic. I started eating and it was SO HARD. I gained weight, and was very unhappy. The one thing that helped me was when the dietician suggested working out. I was not athletic at all and had barely ever worked out. But I joined a gym and started step class and it helped so much. It was an outlet and I felt that I was working off what I ate. Within 6 months I had gained and I weighed 135. I was in the best shape if my life.

You are not alone. Eating disorders are so hard. Food is a drug. When I was diagnosed with PCOS I gained and gained and then food became my best friend. I weighed 334 at my highest. I had RNY 5 weeks ago and unfortunately it has been a very hard journey. Sometimes I feel like I did in college when food made me sick.

Explain to your drs how you feel. You worked hard to get the weight off and the last thing you need is to gain it back.

Good luck

First, a majority of people that are as overweight as we were have disordered thinking about food...just the opposite direction.

I have always had food issues. I was severely bulimic for many years(defined as excess of purging 7x a day)

i still have disordered eating issues. I log everything I eat and trust my husband when he says I'm not eating enough of I'm getting "extra".

I have been told previously that anorexia is an issues I skirt around but I've found a way that works for me and keeps me Quasi healthy.

Re-fatting is a terrifying thought to me and I freak out a lot. But i can go from super Controlled over every morsel to boarding on binge eating.

it isn't an easy thing, you can't give up your addiction....

LG111. Before I had gastric bypass, I realized I had binge eating disorder (BED). My surgeon's office specifically gives out information on eating disorders which was very beneficial for me. I began treatment a couple of month's before I had my surgery and plan to continue at least for my first year. I've come to realize that I have experienced anorexia (I would go for days without eating), bulimia where I threw up as many as 3-4 times a day and compulsive overeating. All of it was an attempt to control the consequences of the binges I would go on. You are absolutely not alone. At this point, I am afraid of regaining weight back at the end of all this and am scrupulous about following the recommendations from my NUT. In the end, it is up to me so I will keep doing what I need to. I hope my husband would share his concerns if he saw me doing something that wasn't healthy for me. Good luck to you as you begin the outpatient program. I hope you can set aside your fear and open yourself to the help the program offers. It is unfortunate when we can't enjoy the fruit of our efforts with our WLS, and I hope you can get to a place of peace with food and body image.