Teen Eating Disorders - Thread 5

[myrtleWilson]

Welcome everyone,
Our last thread can be found here
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/eating_disorders/4279530-Teen-Eating-Disorders-Thread-4?watched=1&msgid=111172926#111172926

That we're on thread 5 in about a year is a reflection of the incredible increase in mental health issues, including eating disorders amongst young people over the last couple of years.

With that in mind, we thought we'd try to include some resources that have helped us along the way to date. No one resource will be a panacea but hopefully this list will be a useful starting off point for any newcomers and a reflection for others. It is our first go at sharing a list of resources on a thread so it won't be perfect!

www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk

anorexiafamily.com/?v=79cba1185463

www.youtube.com/evamusby

www.youtube.com/channel/UCa7G1P5WQopVMc9qTSP_lgA

www.orri-uk.com

www.nhs.uk/mental-health/feelings-symptoms-behaviours/behaviours/eating-disorders/overview/

www.stgeorges.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Junior-MARSIPAN-Risk-Assessment-Framework.pdf

People to look up on social media
Hope Virgo
Ro-Recovering
James Downs
Cara Lisette
Adam Fare
BarefootRebel
Ilona Burton

Girlie hope Covid is not too bad for your DD

Betty - great news on a gain!

dark how are you doing?

Welcome vagor although sorry you've found yourself here, your dd sounds so poorly bless her. I don't think they'll offer any therapy at such a low weight as cognitively she wouldn't be able to engage with it. Is she eating or drinking anything? Are you on the fb group? And lastly is she on any meds? Sorry for all the questions!

Dark ffs 🤦‍♀️ that's all you need - NOT!!! I'm particularly 🙄🙄 at the accusation of locking her in the car so she'll eat, how ridiculous. Well done at getting dd to eat today and hope her tea party goes well.

@Girliefriendlikespuppies we have been in this position with the bone marrow before but when she was under 18, so was always usually already in hospital anyway. But now she is under adults it's very different. I am 'allowed' to speak with her consultant on Monday at a 'best interest ' meeting so she whats discussed there. On the past it has improved as the weight increases. I think the longevity if my daughters illness is really taking its toll on her body.
@vagor really sorry you are in this position. It is very hard. My daughter had lots of admissions before she reached 18. The longest stay just under a year, the shortest about 3 weeks. Hope things improve for you xxx

@DarkBlueEyes what is Fuxache? I keep crying and then getting really angry and I know it's early days so I'm trying to hold off on taking anything yet but I'm not sure for how long !!

Investigated by social services!! Omg that's the last thing you need on top of all this. Is it bad but right at the start I got so frustrywith my DD in my head I was wanting to shove the food in mouth. Now I'm less angry with as I know she's battling the ED which I more angry that the ED keeps winning at the moment!!

@Girliefriendlikespuppies my DD went in to hospital because after having her first visit to EDC they said she needed to eat 3 meals and 3 snacks and she did try. It's was a battle and there were lots of tears and we managed maybe 3 meals most days for 4 days before she needed to go back into EDC. She's was also off school so no exercising either. Anyway when she went it she had put on the tiniest amount of weight. This sent her ED into overdrive and she stopped eating altogether and hardly drank anything. After two days and advice from EDC we took her to A&E and she's been in the Children's ward since. First two days was about hydration and she was on a drip for those two days and now it's about feeding her up so she is tube fed and is drinking water herself although her blood pressure is still low so they are pushing her to drink more is possible.
Had some real moments with the docs and nurses lecturing her and telling her to eat and try different ways of coping which has made me see red. Like ffs if she could do that we would f be here 😡
Anyway we're taking every days as it comes and with more food inside her she'll get stronger and will fight the ED more. What I'm really sad about is she might not be home for Christmas 😢😢

@Girliefriendlikespuppies sorry you asked about medication. They are giving her vitamin supplements at the moment based on her blood tests. They are doing blood tests every couple of days but the consultant yesterday said that there are no major concerns from the blood tests so the only physical thing that they are still concerned with is the low blood pressure which is good. I think we got her in before she really messed up her body.

@vagor it's a polite way of writing f*cks sake!

@DarkBlueEyes haha I thought it was an antidepressant 🤦🏻‍♀️

Sounds so tough vagor are the ED team supporting her still during the admission? I know meds have helped some kids on here, olanzipine seems to have quite good results. My dd has not had meds but I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not tbh! Are they blind weighing now?

Dd had a good time on her London trip, she said she ate okay and there was lots of sharing food on the bus. She's been grumpy as anything today though which I think is probably tiredness!

Loving that well known medication fuxache! I'm definitely on it.

@vagor - really sorry that you're having such a hard time and I hope you find lots of support and advice here.

@DarkBlueEyes - one friend of mine said, 'have you thought about bursting into tears to see if that makes DD eat'. And I was like, jeez, I cry almost every day one way or another. It's definitely been the worst year of my life.

On Friday we discovered that DD has been self-harming, which is a complete new one. Quite superficial on her left upper arm and I think, but haven't seen, on her leg. But god why? I find it almost more baffling than the restriction. I got her some bio oil which I'm rubbing on every day so that I keep an eye on it and try to reduce scarring but any other suggestions? Did a room sweep for weapons.

valley - what is she using to self harm with - if it is scratching for example then CAMHS advise to paint your nails when you get the urge as is harder scratch with wet nails... (back up thread I posted that red/amber/green exercise we did and painting was i guess an amber activity).

CAMHS also gave DD one of these when they brought round her distraction box to give her something to do with her hands to prevent body checking etc
www.amazon.co.uk/Tangle-Jr-Classics-Classic-Fidget/dp/B01C28NWAM/ref=asc_df_B01C28NWAM/?hvlocphy=1006688&linkCode=df0&hvptwo&psc=1&hvnetw=g&hvadid=310813294976&hvpone&hvlocint&hvpos&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl&hvqmt&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&hvtargid=pla-306980431081&hvrand=16547505878931940075

And finally, to bring down rage/distract hands from hitting herself we'd get her to pace round the room holding ice cubes tightly in her hands..

basically recognising the red/amber/green movement and distraction techniques

Thanks so much myrtle this is very helpful. I can't remember the red/green/amber stuff - is it on this thread or a previous one? I'm sure I can find if I search under your posts.

It looks like a lot of scratching but something else too.

[quote myrtleWilson]@Bettybarkalot123 photos aren't loading so this was the exercise (I'll share a couple of my daughters on each one for examples)

1. listing motivation to change - not seeing M&D upset, being more independent

1. things that help me stay well - a good nights sleep, my friends

1. crisis triggers - if my day doesn't go as planned, day before obs are due

then Crisis indicators
Green - lasts for 10/20 mins
- grabbing/pinching my neck
- fidgeting with rings/earrings

Amber - lasts for less than 5 mins
- can be blunt and mean
- scratching myself

Red (crisis level - lasts for hours)
- bang head on wall
- irrational thoughts/hallucinations

What can I (DD) do to help at GREEN

• use fidget toys

• grounding exercises - 5 things that are blue, 4 things that are red, 3 things that are yellow etc

What can I (DD) to help at AMBER

• pacing round room - 10 laps

-throwing a bean bag 30 times

• holding ice cubes/face in iced water

What can I (DD) to help at RED

• avoid reflections
• sit in middle of floor

What can others to help me at Green

• be quite direct and take control
• offer reassurance and that I'm ok

What can others do to help me at AMBER

• don't' be too close to me

Count for me to do the pacing

What can others do to help me at RED

• rock me a little on the floor
• pass me my fidget toys
• physically guide me away from a wall

the lists were longer than that - about 10 bullets under each one but I've picked out a few. The trick is getting your DD to take the lead in shaping it- obviously we had the benefit of IHT to do that. Also they gave us a "positivity box" where we kept pens, drawing books, nail varnish (another good distraction to avoid scratching) tangle tease things, fidget toys so all the self soothing/distraction tools were kept in the same box along with multiple copies of the crisis management traffic light list so we could always double check what we needed to do until it became second nature...[/quote]
@Valleyofthedollymix - here you go, found it!

That is v kind of you thank you so much.

@Girliefriendlikespuppies they just weighed her again today and she's now 37kg 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️
EDC have been to see her today as well as she was asking what would happen if she refused to be tube fed. The told her she would be sectioned and then force fed. Think that's scared her a bit!
They are saying she might need some meds as well as her mood is so low. EDC have been great tbf.

Oh that's a bit shit valley with my dd the self harm seemed to coincide with her eating getting a bit better, it was like she had to punish herself for eating if that makes sense? My dds SH so far has just been punching/pinching and bruising her arms with one incident of scratching FAT into her thigh 😪 it's so heartbreaking.

Had parents evening tonight, dd had a glowing report and the teachers all had lovely things to say about her 🥰

Hello everyone, welcome to the new members. I confess I’ve not totally caught up with the thread yet but I’m really sorry you find yourselves here too.

DD is still in the thick of it but she did exceptionally well in her mocks and got lots of praise from her teachers. It was a real boost for her. She had a 500g loss last week, I think it was partly due to her weighing heavier the week before during her period and also the fact that she’s had a lot more freedom, to be with friends over the past week or so. I think the 3x3 has slipped slightly. She’s seemed happy… touch wood, no meltdowns.
Her Saturday job at pony club ends for the winter on Saturday and she’s fixed herself up a trial shift at a cafe on Sunday. If all goes well it will just be a few hours on a Sunday each week.

We have our first appointment with the Camhs psychiatrist tomorrow. I’m not sure what to expect or whether to try and push for meds. Dd says she doesn’t want them. Any advice on how to prep for
this appointment or what outcome I should aim for would be hugely appreciated.

We have a range of about five snacks and meals that she can eat without any problems now. We aren’t really tackling any fear foods yet though.

Sorry to hear about the self harm. As @Girliefriendlikespuppies says for my dd it was hitting herself and pinching that she mainly did. That’s settle a lot, but maybe that’s because we’re not challenging the Ed enough.

Hi everyone, I am reading but not retaining much! Busy season, isn't it?

DD1 turned 16 a couple of weeks ago. We took her to an activity farm for a couple of hours, then she asked to go to Burger King, but only drive thru because she was peopled out.

We've had a bit of progress with getting her needs met. An Educational Psychologist did a brief assessment, but when I got the report I was really unhappy about how useless lacking in detail it was. I complained and they've said they will reassess, which is good.

DD1 is doing a course after Christmas which aims to build confidence. It's a 12 week activity based course, one day per week. They'll do things like den building, high rope climbing, outdoor pizza making, etc. The really good thing is that the staff are MH trained and they will track her all the way through college, so if she needs support once she's there, they'll get involved.

Otherwise, looking forward to the end of term. DD1 is absolutely shattered after school each day.

Dd has been prescribed fluoxetine… hoping it helps. The psychiatrist was brilliant and dd seemed to connect well with her. She said she doesn’t meet the criteria for a diagnosis of depression but that she has anxiety mainly centred around food.
So hopeful now and keeping everything crossed it helps.

@Bettybarkalot123 how long did it take you to get seen by a psychiatrist? EDC have said my DD might need meds to help with her low mood. She's been told this and is now saying she doesn't want to take it because she doesn't want to get better 😩
I nearly had a major meltdown this morning as her heart rate was floating between 37-41 and I was just thinking the worse.

Hi @vagor - DD was first assessed in July and this has been our first appointment so quite a while.
DD had also initially said she didn’t want meds but after speaking to the doctor today she said she’d give them a go.
It’s such a difficult time, stay strong and push for as much help as you can get.

Does anyone have any experience of fluoxetine?
The doctor seemed positive it would help but I’ve done a bit of Googling (silly I know) and now I’m having doubts.

Hey @Bettybarkalot123 DD started on Fluoxetine back in September. She started on 10mg then went to 20mg a week later and was on that for around 6 weeks. She didn’t see any huge benefits so was upped to 40mg at the end of October. She says it has really helped with her low mood and has definitely dialled down the anxiety although it’s not completely gone. I think it might be one of those situations where you can’t really tell the effect it is having until you come off it and then you realise that it was definitely helping.

It’s all very individual. What dose has she started on?

Hello. New to this. I think my son (14.5) has ARFID. Anyone got any experience of this? Can anyone give me advice / guidance? Or a hand hold?

@Rollergirl11 yes dd will be on 10mg too, then increasing to 20z the doctor said we would probably see a difference in her before she does if that makes sense.
I’m a bit scared to be honest. Thanks for the advice. X

I get the prescription tomorrow.