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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to consider hypnotherapy for binge eating?

64 replies

NannyOldElf · 18/07/2018 12:47

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.

OP posts:
RadioDorothy · 18/07/2018 19:50

Yes I get the rush of relief as well. Never eaten myself sick, but that's only because I'm emetophobic hohoho

HildaZelda · 18/07/2018 20:03

I had hypnotherapy a few years ago when I was going through a very bad time with stress and anxiety. I'm sorry to say it did absolutely nothing for me.

Goodasgoldilox · 19/07/2018 17:53

Don't blame yourself OP.

I hope the hypnotherapy works for you.

If it doesn't - do try the low carb thing. ( It isn't a diet.) The desire to binge could well be a physical thing rather than a mental one. ( A dip in blood sugar makes you much more emotional about everything and more likely to need a prop.)

In the last 3 months I have found that distressing things (which have always led me to food) don't leave me needing (or wanting) to eat.

balancehypnotherapy · 04/09/2018 14:12

I am a senior qualified hypnotherapist and supervisor for the General Hypnotherapy register and regularly see clients for binge eating disorder. Most people are unaware that food is just the symptom of the disorder and not the real reason for the problem. Generally binge eating is caused by perfectionism, anxiety and stress, low self-esteem and excessive dieting. Although these are the main reasons I have also seen cases where loneliness and feelings of not being good enough are responsbile. Binge eaters should never be placed on a weight loss regime! This is because the more they try to diet and fail the bigger their problem with binge eating becomes.

A good hypnotherapist will see you for a program of hypnosis (not one session wonders) to address the root causes for your problem. The therapy needs to be directed at the underlying issue not just the binge behaviour. Where possible please avoid Groupon/Wowcher type deals. Really good competent hypnotherapists would never advertise on these sites because you earn virtually nothing from these clients. Generally these deals reflect inexperienced therapists desperate to try anthing to get people in through their door. You get what you pay for as with anything in life.

FranticallyPeaceful · 04/09/2018 14:16

Watch some documentaries on food (Netflix has a few) it will make you more determined to change your diet and it will also take your mind off it Flowers

FranticallyPeaceful · 04/09/2018 14:16

And try a high fat, low carb diet

bernijane100 · 12/09/2019 10:54

Hypnoband any updates?

bernijane100 · 12/09/2019 10:55

Has anyone successfully gone through the full Hypnoband experience? I am doing some research and would be interested in whether this is effective or not

pugtato · 12/09/2019 12:09

I think it is definitely worth a try, but from someone who also suffers from a similar disorder (bulimia), I would recommend talking to your GP if you haven't already. Some form of therapy may be beneficial for you in the long term. Even if you try hypnotherapy while waiting on a referral for therapy, it's all worth a try. If it gives you any hope, I am mostly on top of my bulimia and binge eating now. Sometimes I still binge if I'm stressed but it's very occasionally (once a month or so) rather than constant.

JuJu89 · 24/08/2024 00:10

Hey all,
I am looking to see if anyone's has tried hypnotherapy for Weight loss? I gave a very unhealthy relationship with food and am desperate to get on track, especially for my own health and my LO'S.
Would love some feedback from those that have tried it. J

PresidentBarklett · 24/08/2024 00:40

I have BED. The binge you describe in your OP I'd painfully familiar to me. I promise you I've been there and I thought I'd never escape it, but I think I might have only gone and bloody done it?

I strongly, strongly suggest that you do NOT follow any kind of 'plan', join any Slimming Club or cut out any food groups.

I stopped binging only when I accepted that I could never diet again. I read a couple of books on intuitive eating and it made sense. It was only when I gave myself unconditional permission to eat whatever I liked that the urge to binge stopped.

I think it was the scarcity mindset. Initially I pooh poohed it, thinking that my body would 'intuitively' want wall to wall doughnuts and pizza. But I gave it a go as, frankly, I had nothing left to fucking lose. Weirdly, the first thing I wanted to eat was peanut butter on toast with raspberries. I had a salad on that first day, and then we ordered dominoes. I had three slices and then just...stopped. It was bizarre, like a switch had flipped. I put the rest in the fridge and shared it with my DP for lunch the next day. Like I knew I COULD have it, so that panicky 'eat it, eat it before it gets taken away' disappeared. This doesn't happen every day btw. I had pizza two days ago and ate 5 slices because I guess I was hungrier that day? And it was fine.

I've not binged for months. I always have my trigger foods in the house now. I eat them, I enjoy them. In the beginning I definitely ate past the point of comfortable fullness from time to time, but because my satiety signals were out of whack and I was still working them out, not because I was out of control. It wasn't that frenzied binge feeling that I'm guessing you understand.

I still get cravings and I give in to them. This evening I helped myself to an extra piece of almond chocolate because I fancied it and it was lovely. But I also crave vegetables and fish and apples. I feel like I'm eating like a normal now. I never, ever thought I'd be able to. I'd say prepare to spend a few weeks thinking about food ALL THE BLOODY TIME. And then, the food noise just goes.

Now I just make sure my meals have fibre, carbs, protein and fat in them in some way. My only real food rule, other than eating when I'm hungry, is 30+ plants a week, which doesn't feel like a restriction as its adding things in rather than taking them away. I enjoy the game-ification of it. Other than that, no rules. I eat three meals a day and sometimes a snack. I'll have cake if I go for coffee with my mates. I might eat a biscuits in work as long as I decide I want the biscuit but I can leave them if I decide they don't tickle my fancy at the moment. It's liberating.

Also, although IE is specifically not about weight loss and any good IE nutritionist goes to great pains to say that they don't know what will happen to your weight if you follow this approach, I've lost about a stone and it's still going down. It's incredibly slow and at some point I accept it will stop, but it's better than before. I, like you, was well into an obese BMI so I guess it was a natural side effect.

Point is, diets make you binge.

PresidentBarklett · 24/08/2024 01:00

Oh bugger. Zombie thread. Sorry, all.

Oakcupboard · 24/08/2024 01:32

I’ve tried it, didn’t work for me. I’ve tried everything, even a gastric balloon - what is working for me is mounjaro. The “food noise” just disappears. I wish I tried it sooner but I thought it was only an appetite suppressant and would work. For me it’s been life changing, food is no longer as obsession. There are boards on here about it. Best of luck.

Scorchio84 · 24/08/2024 01:47

NannyOldElf · 18/07/2018 14:20

nottheford no, i've never tried it before, i'm getting to the point where i'd try anything. I have only recently admitted/accepted to myself that what i have is an addictive issue. the person i have info for does councilling as well so could maybe work on both together.

I'm so sorry you're going through this, eating disorders are horrendousso I think go for it especially as this person is a counselor too, I've never tried hypnotherapy nor do I know anyone who has but honestly anything is worth a shot to try & break that destructive cycle

Good luck 💐

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