Expert: Leigh-Anne Persing, PA-C - 5/31/2008

Question
QUESTION: hey
i have an eating dissorder and i am so scare i have ad it about a year now and i dont know what too do anymore im giving up and fast
please help me

ANSWER: please... tell me more. what have you gone through... what are you going through now. I am hear to listen.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: well i am being sick the majority of the time i cannot een keep fluids down anylonger and also it really depresses me as i will starve myself for like 3 days just so that i will not be sick and i have too stay in bed alot due too no energy

Answer
It really takes a lot of guts to admit that you have a problem and that you have lost control, especially since eating disorders have a lot to do with having something in your life that you can control. Don't you want to gain control of your life back? I know it feels like there is no hope at times, but there really is. I'm not trying to compare myself to you, but sometimes it's helpful to hear success stories from other people to know that there is hope. Less than a year ago I was about 4 months pregnant with my first child, I had relapsed a couple of months prior, but no one seemed to catch on. It was a month before I was getting married and everything was hectic, so people thought I was stressed over the preparations. During my honeymoon it became very evident to me that I was going in the wrong direction and that if I didn't get help soon not only was I going to be hurting myself, but also my unborn child and my new husband. I made arrangements for an outpatient program, but before I started my first day I ended up in the emergency room after I almost passed out twice at work. I was eating very little, and what I was eating I was throwing up. I was tkaing in hardly any fluids, and the fluids that I didn't take in I was also throwing up. While in the hospital I was found to be severly dehydrated and malnourished, and with an unborn child to be responsible for too they told me I either had to voluntarily go to inpatient treatment or they would involuntarily commit me. I agreed to go, but 3 days after arriving I signed out against medical advice. They allowed me to continue the outpatient program despite this, and I worked very hard for the next two months to improve my habits for myself and my child. I resisted at times, but it became easier as time went by and with the support of my family and friends, work, and my treatment team I can proudly say that I am in recovery... after I thought there was no hope for me. Of course I am never going to be out of the woods, but it just goes to show you that things can take a turn for the better. Have faith in yourself. Get some help... family, friends, professional. Come up with a plan to keep yourself accountable with meals... have someone eat with you... or after you eat call a friend on the phone and talk for a while to keep yourself from going to the bathroom to throw-up. Journal after meals... write down how you are feeling... or write to me and tell me how you are feeling. I can give you some feedback as to how to deal with the emotions and thoughts that are running through your mind. There are people out there that can help you... please let them!!!