Expert: Joanne - 2/11/2009

Question
Hi! I am a recovering anorexic. I have struggled with this issue for about 7
years. After an initial spell, I slowly gained weight without changing my
behavior much, and then about one and a half years ago started another slow
decline into very restrictive patterns. After a lot of therapy I am getting much
better, but still still struggling with nutrient deficiencies, anemia, etc.
Recently however after getting over a cold and sleeping A LOT for about a
week and a half, I feel like I have more energy. And not just more energy, but
the tone of my awakeness/presence has changed. Is this due to the sleep or
are the effects of for the last month being closer to a consistent and adequate
eating pattern than I have for over a year and a half finally kicking in? How
long after re-feeding does the body begin to regularize? I still have a ways to
go and because this has been so long I'm not sure I know what regular
energy levels are, but I'm really encouraged by this but also don't want to get
my hopes up if its a result of hibernating. I'm also getting weird hot flashes
and maybe feeling hungry which I haven't in a long time!

Thanks for your help!

Answer
Julia

I'm sorry that I have taken so long to get back to you, problems left me away from internet access for a couple of days!  Again I am REALLY sorry.

Firstly, congratulations on deciding to recover from your eating disorder.

I would definitely say that your better eating patterns will have had an effect on your energy levels, there is very little doubt about that.  Sleeping a lot may have helped as well - did you find when you were restricting, or even just before the cold, that you didn't sleep a lot or refused to let yourself sleep a lot?  I know many people that struggle to sleep when they are severely restricting, even though they are exhausted all the time, and then I know others that don't allow themselves much sleep as they want to keep their bodies as active as possible as much of the time as possible.  Whatever fits you best, I would bet quite a lot on the fact that all this extra sleep will have helped, but be careful not to allow yourself to sleep loads all of the time as slowly inactivity can lead to decreased energy levels, and then again this can make you struggle to sleep as well!

There is no way to say how long it will take for your body to stabilise, everybody will have different experiences just because we are all made up differently.  It will happen quicker though if you stick to a well-balanced diet of at least 1800 calories or more and avoid skipping meals.  Your body needs to know that it will be fed regularly and properly before it will allow itself to truly stabilise.

I would say that you should get your hopes up!  I would really be sure that these energy level increases will be due to eating habits.  Think about something like a car driving on a nearly empty tank - a car will go much further and faster if its tank is kept full!

I'm glad that you are beginning to recognise hunger again, and it is important to listen to these messages that your body gives you!

As for the hot flushes - I would get that checked out.  It could just be in response to you eating better and metabolism increasing, etc, but to be safe, it might be worth getting that checked out to make sure that there is nothing wrong physically that can be causing this.  Don't worry too much about it, I'm not suggesting there is anything wrong, but I would definitely have it checked out rather than relying on the internet for an answer for that!  I would hate to say that it seems pretty normal or not to worry at all and then later you find out that there is something that you needed to see a medical professional for such as thryoid problems, etc.

Do you have professional help?  If not, I would reckon that you would find this potentially a lot easier if you were to have some therapy or counselling in order to address your eating habits, possible reasons for developing an eating disorder, changing body images, and also how to recognise and prevent relapses in behaviour!
If this sounds too scary, or you already have it in place, do you have nutritional advice as well?  If not, then I would recommend getting an appointment with a dietician or nutritionist in order to help you develop a meal plan that should correct your nutritional deficits.  Correcting your anaemia should help boost your energy levels even further.  Anaemia most commonly in your females is due to an iron-deficiency.  Iron deficiency basically results in less oxygen being carried around your body.  If you did biology I'm sure you are aware of this and aerobic respiration, etc, if you didn't, then I am not going to bore you with a biology lesson, but basically, increasing your iron levels will increase oxygen flow around your body and increase your energy levels!

Please come back if there is absolutely anything else you would like to ask, and if not, I wish you all the best of luck with this.  You deserve to get on with the rest of your life, free of anorexia!

Joanne