to consider hypnotherapy for binge eating?

[NannyOldElf]

I have a binge eating disorder. I have struggled with my weight and health eating since my teens but things have got worse.

I am 33, i'm a size 24, i am morbidly obese and this morning i have eaten: a sharing size bag of crisps, a tub of ben&jerrys, a packet of biscuits, 4 dairylea dunkers, and i'm itching right now to find something else to eat despite the fact i feel sick from eating so much.

I have reached rock bottom with this and I don't know what to do.

I have tried SW, WW and 5:2 but i manage a week or so and then fall of the waggon in epic style. in the last couple of weeks i have progressed to eating to the point of making myself sick.

I NEED to fix this. I need to stop. I'm desperate.

Has anyone had any success with hypnotherapy as a way of combating addictive eating?

I just don't know what to do any more.

the one i have info for does a phone consult to establish what type of approach is best. he has 30 years or so experience.

mike GPs seem to just throw the 12 week SW referral at you - my weight is a symptom of a much bigger issue which SW will not tackle.

It must be worth it to try and break this cycle i'm stuck in.

Its encouraging that some people have had success with it.

i just feel so down and fed up about it all - which in turn leads to more binge eating.

I'm really sceptical about hypnotherapy. I had hypnotherapy for a spider phobia last year and came out thinking that was shit.
I then joined a group as part of the course and watched people handling them and slowly built myself up to holding them. It took the whole day and even now I'm a bit funny.....
The point I'm trying to make is you need to throw yourself into it. Not half hearted. See the counsellor. Go to your gp. Go for a walk or swimming or whatever. Give yourself some serious motivation.

Hi OP, not the same situation but a friend used hypnotherapy to get over a 40 year fear of flying. A few sessions and his fear went away for good. Good luck x

After 20 odd years of binge eating I cured myself this year using the brain over binge podcast. Highly recommend it.

Can’t speak to long term affects as I am still in recovery but I’m hopeful.

Wishing you the best of luck op. Binge eating is a horrible affliction.

will look into the brain over binge.

been looking at counsellors but all their 'about me' sections seem a bit hippy for me. this is what scares me that i'm too pragmatic in a lot of ways for this to work.

In terms of counseling your GP has few options for binge eating.

Once you hit a BMI of 50, most NHS trusts will refer you for gastric bypass. It's about a 2 year process. It's a major operation and your life afterwards will change drastically. You won't be able to eat out for about a year, you'll have to prepare your food from scratch and often it will mean either blending food or skinning literally everything (have you ever tried peeling a red pepper? Tricky) You can also expect to vomit at least once a day in the first 6-12 months. It's most definitely not an easy fix, but it is the only medically-proven long term weight loss solution (which is why the NHS provide it.)

Something else to consider: Overeaters Anonymous. It's run along the lines of AA and NA, which means it has some religious overtones, but you might find the group setting and support of those who know your struggle to be of value.

If you do try it, I would be very interested in a follow up thread as it's something that I struggle with too and would love to properly address. I do CBT with a lovely therapist who I work desperately hard with and I can see him mentally banging his head against a wall every time I come in sobbing because I just have no willpower. It's a difficult one to address because you can't just go cold turkey. Everyone has to eat. And I just have no strength to say no to that last slice of cake.

Sorry I also meant to clarify
"You won't be able to eat out for about a year"
You will NEVER be able to eat out and have whatever you want. After a year you will have some options but you need to choose wisely. I cannot tolerate bread, pastry, pasta, rice. It simply expands in my (reduced size) stomach and means I can't fit anything of actual nutritional value in there. I am 3 years out now and I can find something to eat at pretty much every restaurant around, I just need to say "can we please leave the bread off" or I just leave whatever I can't eat.

thesnap that is exactly the issue - the fact you cant go cold turkey on food!

If i'm out of the house all day busy doing stuff i can go all day and not eat and not notice! but the minute i have spare time i eat anything and everything.

I didint know there was an OA - will have a look but i'm quite rural so might not be one locally.

nottheford this is what scares me about the surgery option - i love carbs! I am terrified of being that restricted. plus i have 4 DC, surgery recovery would be a huge issue for the family. i like eating out, but this is a seperate issue i think to the binging, i can eat sensibly ish while out. its when i'm home alone it all goes to pot.

just done my BMI - its 46

ami thank you for sharing your story. how many sessions did it take for you to relax enough to make progress?

You have all my sympathy. This is really unbearable and not something that the rest of the world seems to understand!

It has been suggested that 'love' of carbs can be part of a vicious circle. It isn't love at all. Your body craves carbs but they don't relive the craving.

You could try low carbing and see if removing carbs can stop the cravings and desire to binge on things long after you are not hungry.

If it works for you it shouldn't take more than a few days (perhaps a week) of will-power. After that you should be able to carry on and not feel that overwhelming urge to eat. (There is some really helpful information on the low carb bootcamp on here. I also liked the 'idiot proof diet'.)

If it doesn't work - at least you will know part of what you might face with the gastric bypass.

Carbs are to blame as you've likely spent too long with spiked blood sugar. I did this too. You're probably insulin resistant, which (loosely) means that your muscle cells won't accept carbs as a fuel anymore. So your body thinks it's hungry all the time but gets no nutrition from what you're eating. Read Michael Mosley's blood sugar diet - it's really interesting about how foods high in sugar make you crave more food.

Also only eat foods with a glycaemic index of under 55. I wouldn't bother about doing a strict diet, I would eat whatever you want but only foods under 55. Basically it's low carb, sort of.

Sorry if this has already been mentioned but have you tried a low carb diet? I was sceptical at first but I’ve looked at BIWIs low carb boot camp threads on here and since I’ve been doing low carb the urge to binge has completely gone. I’ve got tonnes more energy and my depression has lifted. Might be worth a go?

I empathise Nanny - I can eat perfectly sensibly when out and in front of other people, or eating ordinary meals with DH, but the moment I'm alone and free from moderation the wheels just come right off.

I've done a bit of self-interrogation and I think I can identify why I have this intense urge to binge. Unfortunately it's nothing to do with feeling hungry or insulin spikes or craving carbs, and is simply opportunistic - perhaps linked to severely controlled and restricted intake as a child. If I get an opportunity to eat alone and in secret, I'll get as much junk food as I think I can reasonably stomach in the time I have, and eat it irrespective of hunger. Then I hide the evidence. I don't purge so I'm not bulimic, but it's still a habit I have indulged on and off for 30 years. My BMI is 36.

CBT has worked well for a phobia in the past, hypnotherapy not so much. There must be therapists out there who do CBT in relation to eating habits? I think that might be quite effective.

Have you tried to pin down what drives you to binge? Is it hunger or cravings, or just opportunity?! What does the eating do for you? I find it pleasantly numbing, I'm not thinking or doing, I'm just in a sort of trance.

Please read brain over binge op - it is fantastic and only a few quid so worth trying first

Not rtft so don't know if this has already been mentioned, but you might want to look into OA (Overeaters Anonymous). It's a 12-step programme, same as AA.

Has anyone been to Overeaters Anonymous and found it worked for them? I've just looked and there is actually a meeting in my town and it's at a time I could make it. There seem to be quite a lot of negative views online.

You've mentioned you have easy access to food all day as you are a SAHM. I read about someone in a similar situation who controlled binge eating by only ever having in the house the food she would need for that day's (healthy) meals for the family.

It meant she had to go to a shop first thing every morning (which obviously isn't practical for everyone) and be disciplined while she was shopping; but once she had been shopping she had no access to food other than the healthy food she had planned to eat/prepare for her family that day.

Her theory was that she was treating it as an 'addiction' as closely as she could, recognising that 'cold turkey' isn't an option with food.

Apologies if this is a useless suggestion for your circumstances but I thought I would mention it.

Wishing you success with your weight loss journey.

have ordered brain over binge. have also started a support thread in weight loss chat if anyone else struggles with similar:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/weight_loss_chat/3310395-Binge-Eaters-Anyone-want-to-chat-support?watched=1&msgid=79535643#79535643

will look at OA and see oif there is one local.

tomorrow i am sending my purse to the office with DH so i cant buy anything new.

radio i eat for any and all reasons - to reward myself, to comfort myself, because i'm happy, because i'm sad, because the kids are driving me mad, because i can and i have the time.

i get the 'numb' feeling and i get a rush of relief when i first start eating. by part way through i start to feel sick but push on to finish whatever supplies i have. i then hide the evidence from DH. sometimes i'm sick but from overeating rather than physically trying to make myself sick - like fingers down throat etc.

screaming i have only relatively recently accepted the addiction side of food and that i need to treat it as i would smoking/drinking/drugs. its hard because i dont think most people understand that element of it - they just think 'just stop eating'. if only it was that easy.

i think i need to find more things to do getting out of the house, give myself less time to think about food.