Speaking to my GP *tw*

[Bubblemonkey]

Has anyone spoke to their gp about their whole attitude surrounding food?

I’ve never formally had an ED diagnosed but I need to lose weight & the stupid thing is niggling at me.

My history with.. stuff is about 10yrs long & I no longer know what’s “normal” any more.

I lost x amount of weight in y months by heavy restriction, then fell into bingeing & purging, then into straight up bingeing... then bouts of heavy restriction followed by more bingeing. There’s clearly issues with food/eating.

Exercise isn’t an issue, it’s all food/eating related. Maybe I’m just a fraud.

I’m at the heaviest I’ve ever been & I'm stuck in a rut. I’m seriously all or nothing

I hope I’m not stepping on anyone’s toes here. I’ve been quite the emotional mess with everything these last few days.

I don't think you are a fraud. The binge/purge/restrict cycle is familiar to many people with disordered eating and it is really hard to break.

I do think you should visit your GP, although not all are well versed in eating disorders unfortunately. Hopefully your GP is knowledgeable and understanding.

There are some useful books around that you could use for guided self help as well - overcoming binge eating by Christopher Fairburn is good. It suggests tackling binge eating first, without any focus on weight loss in the beginning.

I did- just after lockdown started last year and it’s the best thing I ever did. It was a straight referral to a charity in my city that deals with eating disorders. There was a 2 month wait but I was raring to go so I paid privately and then switched to nhs when a place became available. I’m in a much better headspace now and really feel I’m making huge progress even on my own. Go see the GP! Good luck

it's funny how speaking to my gp has put me in major competition with myself. I have an appointment on the 12th for bloods & whatnot. my stupid brain is now on the one of "do whatever it takes to lose as much as possible before you're seen"

this crap spirals at some mighty speed.

I can definitely relate to that. It's a horrible feeling.

Was the GP helpful?

@Rustnot

I can definitely relate to that. It's a horrible feeling.

Was the GP helpful?

Apparently local services are crap & won’t see u unless there’s a v low bmi involved which is fantastic. She’s gonna touch base in 2wks for a catch up

I'm so sorry - that really doesn't help the voice in your head that makes you want to lose more. It's good that she'll see you again and is getting bloods done. Did she have any suggestions of a treatment plan? The NICE guidelines do say that referral to services shouldn't be based just on BMI - it might be worth raising if you feel you can.

Sorry.

I’m not the greatest. Being quiet seems easier than trying to find the right words.

Where do I find the nice guidelines? I had a look & couldn’t find a great deal before I spoke to my gp.

These are the guidelines:
www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng69

Quite a lot to trawl through but could be useful. ED services are awfully underfunded and it is so unfair that so many people have to fight for treatment.