To beg you for help on stopping binging

[Reallyfatandmiserable]

I’ve tried it all. Dieting, not dieting, hypnotherapy, not having food in the house, eating well. Last night after I ate FOUR cadburys chocolate yoghurts in a row I wondered if I could burn off the sweet taste buds in my tongue so that I just fucking stop. I’m addicted to sugar. It’s disgusting. I eat an obscene amount of it every day, I waste money on it, I’m ashamed every time I go into one of my local shops and wonder what they think of me. I have had blood tests and all of fine. I take magnesium tablets and it doesn’t change. I try adding cinnamon and it doesn’t work. I have a good diet most of the time, but I binge on chocolate every single day. I have told my GP and nothing. I contacted BEAT and they were useless. I told my counsellor and she mostly dismisses it.

I can’t do this any more. It’s ruining my life. I have ADHD and I presume this might be a response to that. I’ve been doing it since I was a child but it is out of control.

And PLEASE don’t just say things like ‘yo just stop eating it’. If you’ve never had a severe addiction then you don’t understand. And this is like an addiction. Smokers don’t quit smoking after being told to just stop, it doesn’t work like that, I wish to god it did. It’s an eating disorder I guess. I can’t cope.

Please, if you quit sugar, how did you do it? I can’t carry on like this.

Sounds like you need to address the route cause of the problem via mental health services first OP. Binge eating is a mental disorder. No amount of dieting will change that.
All the best x

I’m on medication and counselling. I’ve told my doctor, counsellor and BEAT and no one is offering me any advice. No support, nothing. I’ve tried and tried. I’ve got no where left to turn

Sadly my story isn’t helpful but I will add it. I used to eat like u. And then I got a bad gallbladder. I put it down to all the crap I was eating. ( not sure if that’s true ). The pain when I ate something that was more than 3% fat per 100 g was awful.

I now eat veggies , low fat meat and fruit. Becuase the cheating means pain I don’t do it. Up side is I feel like a new human. No longer tired or feel crap all the time. Even if my gallbladder is taken out or gets better I will never go back to eating like that again. I cannot go back to being exhausted, bad memory aching bones.

Adter this I have done so much research. And the facts about what sugar does to ur body and even ur brain is fairly scary and horrifying to read.

1. Are you underweight/normal bmi/ overweight?
2. Is chocolate/sugar the only thing you crave or are there other things in your life that have become a habit (could be a food, or a behaviour, or an activity)?
3. If you couldn't get a chocolate fix one day could anything else stop the craving?

Thanks

I really feel for you op as I'm the same. I can wake up and tell myself today is the day I'll change, be good all day and then by the evening I just end up bingeing. I honestly don't know what the answer is but I would love to know

I was underweight, then normal, now over.

but this has been going on for about 30 years. I dread to think what it’s done to me.

Nothing else, just sugar. If I can’t get a fox (and I have gone to extreme lengths) I will find anything else that is anywhere near related and eat that instead.

Oh bless you.
If you search my name you'll see I posted a very similar post to yours. I was desperate and very unhappy. I'm also diagnosed with ADHD.

You'll have lots of posters advise you to get therapy etc and that may work for you.
They will probably recommend Brain Over Binge or other literature. I don't think this necessarily is helpful for the ADHD brain.
I know the only thing that works for me is to go cold turkey on sugar. Clear boundaries.

If you Google Dr Huberman and listen to his episode on addiction, this helped me.
He states you need to give it up for 30 days and you will feel free of it. I actually ticked off the days and I this helped my ADHD brain. I felt better as each week past. The first 5 days are hard.

I finally feel free and don't think about sugar at all. This has enabled me to stop binging.
Good luck. X

I hear you @Reallyfatandmiserable because I’m exactly the same. Hopelessly addicted to sugar and chocolate especially. Somehow I’ve managed to lose over 3st over the last year loosely doing SW but I’ve still not managed to reign in my sugar addiction. I think it’s mainly down to exercise. I’m fairly close to goal (2lbs!) but can’t do it because of the nightly chocolate binges so I’m still paying for classes.

I saw a product advertised a while ago - a vanilla scented thing that’s supposed be so sweet smelling that it kills sugar cravings. I think I’ll buy one and see if it helps. Will follow the thread to see if anyone has any good suggestions (incidentally, I can’t quit my nicotine dependency either although I vape now).

I'm also addicted to sugar and could (and did) easily eat a family sized bar of chocolate every day, or a whole bag of doughnuts in one sitting.

I found reading Glucose Revolution really helpful, because it helped me to understand why I was addicted and the science of what sugar does to the body/brain.

I'm not cured (I still think about chocolate and crave sweet things) but I'm much more in control of my eating now, so I don't act on the cravings. It's not easy though.

I would not have four chocolate yoghurts in the house because I would eat them like you did.

I don't think there's a magic solution but things that might help:

• Thinking quite hard about what diabetes, stroke etc are like - looking up pics of ulcerated feet etc. Dealing with that is harder than dealing with binge urges.
• Thinking that when you eat that food, you will only want to keep eating. You need to cope with that feeling eventually. So why not before the binge rather than after.
• Use the 10 minute technique in binge code book (quite a good book, have you read it?) - allow yourself permission to binge but wait 10 minutes before you do.
• Try to think of a treat food you could have to replace your typical binge food - so I used to have pomegranate or yoghurt with honey etc, something sweet but not oily sugar chocs
• Do a bit more exercise, I find it makes me want to eat less crap and knowing how long it takes to burn off 20 cals on a treadmill puts junk food in a different perspective.
• Have a concept of worth it calories - I will eat good cake from a fancy bakery because the experience is wonderful. I will not eat a giant sized galaxy choc bar because it would make me feel sick.
• Make your own cake/sweet things (in small batches) so you know how much butter and sugar go into them.
• Doing a mindfulness course might help as well.
• Some foods I've just labelled as binge foods in my mind and they don't come into the house. I can eat them at other people's houses or when out and about but a multipack of choc/crisps etc - nope.

I'm still quite fat and eat too much but I binge much less than I used to!

Also sugar really is an addictive substance - I've previously managed to just not have it and after a week or so you no longer want it and if you have it, you get a crazy sugar rush and realise what it does to you chemically!

I don’t have chocolate in the house. I don’t have anything like that in the house. I find excuses to go out and get it. I am also aware of all of the health issues. It like smoking, people know it can kill then but they can’t stop. I know exactly how much sugar is in stuff but that doesn’t change anything. Not being able to fit into my favourite clothes doesn’t change. My skin and poor sleep doesn’t change it. I eat fruit, it doesn’t help. I can’t have honey because I’ll binge on it. As I said in my OP, exercise doesn’t help. And a giant bar of galaxy might make you feel sick but it has a different affect on me.

I understand people are trying to be helpful, but I am at the point of literally physically hurting myself to stop this. The ‘just don’t have it in the house’ mindset doesn’t work.

Are they really 'not offering any advice'?
Or is it advice that you've not liked or been able to apply? In which case you need to tell them.
Nobody has a magic wand, you have an eating disorder which requires serious emotional work and lifestyle changes.
It sounds like you really like venting by writing things down so try journaling as one tool to help you hopefully.

A little trick that might work. When you're binging in the evening go and brush your teeth, it might dull the cravings for a while.

They’ve offered me nothing. Beat told me to join their community to chat to others. This was really unhelpful for my state of mind. I went back to them and they said that was the only advice they could offer.

My counsellor just keeps saying we will talk about it soon. My GP isn’t interested and just said it’s all in my head.

I wouldn’t be at this point I am when I have wondered about physically harming myself if someone would offer me genuine suggestions on how to cope.

What medication are you on OP? Can you pay out of pocket for wegovy?

Sertraline. What is wegovy?

I would try allowing yourself a reasonable amount of chocolate or/sweet, satisfying food a day then build the rest of your diet around that. Don't see it as disgusting or a treat or punishment, just as regular food.

Do you have particular feelings or events that trigger you to binge?

It's the prescribed for weight loss version of ozempic. It quiets the food noise. I literally feel like a different person, ie normal, on it. It is such a relief not to think about food all the time.

Hell yes. I get headaches from having a smoothie and that's fruit sugar.

One trick that might help - use your incredibly powerful imagination. When you want some chocolate sit down and close your eyes.

Imagine everything you are about to do; walking into the kitchen, taking the bar out of the cupboard, the feel of the paper, the sound of the foil and the smell that hits your nose. Make it as real as you can. Now imagine eating it, the the cloying sweetness, the texture, the fat and sugar coating your teeth and throat. You'll probably find your mouth moving as if you were actually eating it. After a couple of minutes imagine the feeling in your stomach - that slightly sickness, bloating and discomfort that comes from gorging on sugar and fat.

As far as your body and mind are concerned you've just eaten a big bar of chocolate. Carry on with your day as normal...

Okay, I’ll look into it. I just don’t think I’m overweight enough for anyone to prescribe anything to me that’s designed for weight control.

Diet Coke - not good for tooth enamel but I've found it helps me stick to a calorie controlled diet and lose weight

I have ADHD and massively struggle with binge eating because of this. When I take Elvanse it curbs every food/sugar craving & lets me eat when I’m physically hungry rather than emotionally turning to food for comfort/stimulation/boredom etc. It sounds cliche but it feels so so freeing after 30 years of food struggles, and my weight yo yo-ing.

sertraline isn’t an ADHD medication, are you able to look into getting medicated with stimulants?

You need Overeaters Anonymous. There are online and face to face meetings and they work on a 12 step programme at the same time as helping to control binging.