Expert: Joanne - 8/1/2006

Question
i know i am belimic. i am afraid of what will happen next. i have been this way for about 5 years. i used to weigh 210 and now am about 122. this is the only way i have ever been able to lose my weight. now my dentist is telling me thr enamel is coming off my teeth and they have even asked me if i have this problem. i of course told them no. i need help but i work too much and my dr when i told him told me that i need tho see a phsycologist but then that would mean more time from work and of course telling someone else. it is to the point where i eat around 20 times a day and i mean eat like double cheeseburgers and lArge fries. i can eat a whole pie by myself and 1/2 gal of ice crean

Answer
Unfortunately, I don't have the miracle answer that you are looking for!  The only way to combat the eating disorder is with psychological help!

It can be hard telling people about this, but find a manager or supervisor that you feel you can confide in, either that, or speak to your Dr and see if he can write to your work telling them something.  He may be able to state something very vague on a letter rather than telling them exactly why you need time off.  It's either that, or consider going into a full-time, residential style treatment scheme, and just take a block of time off of work rather than needing to take the odd hour here and there.  The only problem with that is that they can be hard to get into, can be expensive, and with some, there is no guarantee of the length of time it will take as some will just keep you until they feel you are ready to be released rather than saying we will work intensely for three weeks or whatever.

You need to understand that when there is a decision to be made over your health or your job, your health should win everytime.  Without your health, you won't be able to work.  I had to come clean to the Dean of the medical school last year and admit to the eating disorders as I was going to get nowhere in recovery, or in my studies, keeping it a secret.  Yes, it meant that I had to leave (I went back this year!) but I did manage to get everything more or less sorted!  I never thought that I could give up medical school for it, but I knew that in the end, my health had to be more important, without it, my studies were worthless!

As for your dentist, be very careful there.  My teeth aren't in bad condition, but I do have one that is needing sorted, only it is impossible to get a dentist here now after I fell out with my last one when he refused to treat me until I had the bulimia under control!

I think that you should go back and see your Dr, and really consider taking up his offer of a referral to someone trained in treating these conditions.  In the meantime, I recommend trying to just eat three proper meals a day, and trying not to purge them!  I know that this sounds almost impossible, but it is a matter of trying to break that binge/purge cycle.  Think about what you are doing to your heart when you eat all your binge foods.  They contain a lot of fat which will cause problems, and then you make yourself sick which puts a lot of strain on the heart!  Think about your stomach - eating so much so quickly, making it work extremely hard to accomodate these foods, and then the work it does when you purge.  Your stomach produces a lot of acid in order to digest food, if you are making yourself sick, that acid is left to destroy your stomach lining, putting you at risk of ulcers etc.  I read somewhere once that if you were to put pure stomach acid on your hand, you would badly burn yourself (not sure how this is known) so think about what it can do to your stomach and you oesophagus and throat, never mind your teeth!

I hope this has been of some help!  If not, or you have any more questions, please feel free to come back.

Wishing you all the best
Holly!

Have you made that appointment yet?!