15 yo with early stages of Bulimia

[Whitehydrangea]

Although this is my DSD I have posted on here as more people might be able to offer advice.

At the weekend the youngest DSD confessed that she has been making herself sick after meals. Meals which are tiny to start with. She doesn't think she is fat but is terrified of putting weight on.

As background she has scoliosis and recently had surgery to straighten her spine. This means she has been recovering for the last 4 months and no longer able to do many of the activities she enjoyed prior to the surgery such as gymnastics. For the first few months after the surgery she had a bad reaction to the drugs and was sick constantly. This stopped but we noticed she was much more careful about her food and diet.

Prior to this she had been a shocking eater. We couldn't get her to eat veg or normal meals. She was a sugar addict. So in some ways the fact she is now making herself soups and eating lots of veg and protein and no sweets is great. But the portion size she eats is not and the fact she is making herself sick and exercising in her room (against Dr's orders) is not.

H's family have reacted with hysteria as if she is now going to die. I am trying not to be so hysterical and think about what we can do to encourage her healthy eating whilst helping her stop with the extremes she is going to. She is already very thin (Size 4 UK) so we really don't want to see her losing any more weight. Her dr has put forward recommendations for a nutritionist appointment and psychologist but we don't know when they are.

Added complication is that we only have DSD every two weeks but I think its important we don't react by pushing her to eat (her Dad's reaction). Her mum (H's ex) also has food issues and has struggled all her life with anorexia/bulimia so H is finding it difficult to get much in the way of a plan with her. Any help much appreciated.

[ragged]

It's really important that she has therapy. What you can do is try to provide a relaxed and loving environment where she feels she can share whatever is on her mind (not always easy with teens, they gravitate to grumpiness).