Expert: Jeanne Rust, PhD - 7/15/2009

Question
Hi, I'm 15 years old girl from Indonesia. I was an anorexic for 3 months or 2 and a half. Actually i started to limit my calorie intake and go on diet at January 2009 until the beginning of March 2009. It was healthy though but i began to do it too far and start to put my self on a starvation mode. Fortunately I realized and I know that it was wrong and dangerous. At the beginning of June, I began to eat again. It was really hard and stressful after I've been abusing my body badly during couple months. After few weeks I tried to increase my calorie intake but slowly because I always feel bloated and constipated. But at the beginning of  July 2009 (1-5 July) I had a family trip to other town and I began to eat a normal amount of food and eat all kind of food in moderation (even chocolate crackers and waffle) but of course I also do some sport like swimming for 30 min twice during my holiday, I also did a lot of walking in the mall, may be 5 to 6 hours because I love shopping at the big mall. After I went home and weight myself I was surprised that my weight is stabilized( I thought I would gain at least 1-2 kilograms) after few days at home I did gain a kilo, I'm scared and I decided not to weigh myself again for  couple weeks. I was never feel constipated during the holiday, but when I began to enter school I felt a bit constipated, I did poop everyday but I feel that my poop is not as much as usual. Is that normal, what I should do? or maybe it because i need more amount of water? Last question I've been missed my regular period 3 months but I had my period again at june because i visit a gyn and she gave me some progesterone. Now she gave me a cyclo-progynova(estrogene) for theraphy for around 60 days. My question, am I able to get my period back? I'm really mentally depressed even i have feel so much better during this recovery. Thanks..pardon my language.

Answer
Dear Jovita,

i want to tell you, first of all, how impressed I am with your self-awareness and your ability to know the right questions to ask!

You are really on the road to being recovered!  Recovery is something that takes some time.  It takes time for the body to heal as well, from the destructive behaviors.

You are quite correct in not weighing. Your metabolism is returning to normal as is evidenced by your vacation.  Drinking more water is also a good goal -- 8 tall glasses a day is good.  I wouldn't pay attention now to bodily functions in regards to "Poop."  You're normalizing and these fluctuations are to be expected.  The hardest part is what you're experiencing -- the bloated feeling.  I think this is the most difficult part of recovering.  Feeling bloated is something everyone goes through but it does pass after some months,I promise!

The only thing I might suggest for you is to see about seeing a psychiatrist.  A good psychiatrist who has some understanding of eating disorders could help you with the depression and also on the causes of the eating disorder.  Diets, of course, are one of the big causes of an eating disorder.

Please feel free to email me any time!

Warmly,
Jeannie Rust, PhD
www.mirasol.net
www.edrecovery.com