I’ve had anorexia for years AMA

[moonmoon123]

I’ve had anorexia 5 plus years have recovered and have a child. ask my anything you want to know/don’t understand and I won’t find it triggering or offensive

would love to know peoples questions and things they’ve always wondered

www.mumsnet.com/talk/AMA

always in recovery, I think it’s a daily battle to be honest. you can go months being okay but then a food/comment/person will knock you back and you’re trapped with the horrible evil anorexic mindset

ADRENALINE! funny enough you feel sooo energetic for the longest time but that does disappear after a while, then you see stars when you stand and wake up on the floor- you can barely walk the the shop and back

Do you think you're better placed now to help your child if they became anorexic?

How do you cope with your attitude towards food when feeding your dc?

@moonmoon123
I can totally identify with the desire to be small. I've always been the slimmest adult in the room and I'm obsessed with it remaining this way, despite being 52 now.

I'm becoming increasingly controlling with my food and worry that it's a slippery slope 🙁

That sounds terrifying

I really relate to this. And it' s harder, at this age, to stay the smallest, so the pressure is even greater

My family drummed this into me. Not being the smallest in the room was a massive adjustment.

I hope you feel better after your hypo and, whether it's coincidence or fate telling you you need to make changes, that you can move in the right direction soon.

Please take care of yourself. You are much loved and needed. Please start a thread where we can support you.

Could you ask for a second opinion, or even change GPs, Pyongyang? You deserve help.

Do you stop feeling hunger?

Often people with AN have severe body dysmorphia and don’t realise they are emancipated - the current research is indicating that it is a type of psychosis I.e delusional. What are your thoughts on this?

Well done for sharing op- I hope this thread helps others- you are brave and you should be proud

Did you suffer from over exercise? If so, how did you work on stopping?
How did you rebuild your confidence after anorexia?
Thank you for starting this OP, it is very brave. Wishing you all the best as you continue your recovery.

@PyongyangKipperbang are you willing to say where abouts in the country you are?
BEAT have a helpline.

PyongyangKipperbang

Sending love ❤️

Thank you for sharing your experience OP.

I had anorexia as a teenager and young woman from the mid 70s until the mid 90s. I was in and out of the (awful) psychiatric hospitals of the time. My son (early twenties) has the same eating disorder.

I just have two questions. (1) For me, a big part of recovery was finding something else that could give me validation. Because the ED (and its 'treatment') started at such a young age, my identity was as an 'anorexic' (although anorexia was mixed with bulimia nervosa) or an ex-mental patient. Some else asked if you found something that 'took the place' of the anorexia. For me, this was education and later my career, did you channel the obsession into another area?

(2) Little is written or said about the familial/hereditary side of eating disorders. However, it is a factor (although having an eating disorder does not mean your children will have eating disorders, but there may be a predisposition). Has anyone else in your family experienced EDs?

Ginger 1982, I have just noticed your question. For me, it is tremendously difficult to see my son battle with the disorder. Knowing what he is going through, and now experiencing what my own mother went through is emotionally breaking. I have to revisit an episode of my life that was extremely traumatic for me and my family, and although the services for ED all those years ago were hellish, there seems to be nothing available today (especially for males). Furthermore, I nearly died with the disorder, and the thought of my son's mortality constantly preoccupies my thoughts.

I would advise anyone who finds themselves caring for a family member with an ED (especially if you have been through one yourself), to contact BEAT. BEAT cannot help my son (his needs are too complex), but they are a vital support to me. I cannot talk to my wider family about my son, because they went through the nightmare with me.