Expert: Joanne - 11/23/2008

Question
HEY, First of all thanks for you kind replies, when you have an ED you feel kind of alone in the real world, i don't know anyone with an eating disorder and if i did i think i would feel kind of embarrassed talking about i, so you guys are really great :D

I've been in recovery for four months now, I'm finding that most days now i'm fairly energetic, more so than when i was bulimic. I think gradually my body is healing itself. I dont think about food as much, and if i do fancy something i just eat it and not purge afterwards, i've put on nearly 20 pounds since four months ago. Though now at 10 stone its hard to put on more now my metabolism has caught up with me. I still have puffy days where i feel bloated and gassy but they are becoming less and less as time goes by. My glands are still a problem, they were swollen for about 10 days, then they went down for a couple of days and now i can feel them going back up again, but i have faith that it wont last forever.

i wrote a poem about my recovery

hope you like

'I made a choice and it seems like i'm burning,
everydays a change and i know that i'm learning
about the new way, and how my life is now turning
looking back and seeing how it wasn't working,

I never meant to cause such pain,
but now i feel i can start again

Now times are hard cos im dealing with change
I'm all mixed up and it feel so strange,
I've shed all my tears, i've found the key
to losing my fears, now i'm breaking free

Cos now i want to make things right,
and now i feel i can start my life

forever i'd be lost, that was my prediction
never be free of this terrible addiction
I know deep inside the real me exists
and i know in my mind that im stronger than this

Nothing worthwhile has ever been easy,
But nothing is more important than being free'

Answer
David

I'm glad that everything seems to be going so well for you and that your recovery is good.

I'm also very pleased to hear that you managed to avoid falling back into old ways when you have put on weight, but your weight has stabilised, so proves that just persevering will eventually get you there.

Your poem is lovely, and I definitely think that it is something worth sharing with people that are going through tough times with their eating disorder.

I hope you continue with this recovery, and hopefully one day it will be a thing of the past.  Please feel free to contact me in the future if you ever feel the need!

Joanne