Binge eating -can you recover without therapy?

[Losingmymind85]

Im slowly coming to the realisation that my disordered eating is really BED. Today I have eaten a collosal amount and cannot stop. This is happening 2 times a week at the moment. I can't control my need for food and I feel sick but im absolutely going to keep eating.
I don't want to do therapy. There's a whole raft of things I can't face and if I do open the door, the fallout will destroy everything so I need to do this on my own.
If anyone has been here, are there any books/treatments you'd recommend?
.

Hello, I’ve had treatment for BED from a psychiatrist who specialises in Eating Disorders. It is based on having 3 meals and 3 snacks a day to reduce the compulsion to binge. Having said that, if you know that you have a lot of issues you can’t face addressing in therapy than you will always be fighting a losing battle to control your binges.
I understand how hard it is and to be honest I have only stopped bingeing in the last few months because I have been starving myself. I’ve lost 20kg but probably doing my body a lot of harm.
Hope you can find some help OP. It is a horrible illness xx

I'm going to try SMART Recovery for my undiagnosed BED. Twelve Step is no good to me because I'm not religious.

I also experience the feeling sick and feeling out-of-control.

I have been starving myself

Do you not end up feeling cold and faint and shaky doing that?

I’m not recommending it as a strategy for losing weight. I do get cold and my hair is falling out and I dread to think what damage is being done to my heart and bones. Surprisingly haven’t been faint, even when didn’t eat anything for 5 days.
Sorry my comments are not very helpful to the OP. I really feel that she needs to try to address her demons which are causing the bingeing. I know it is horrendously difficult and I totally empathise with her but the bingeing is just a symptom of her underlying issues. xx

I follow a low carb diet and follow a few keto doctors on youtube, there is anecdotal evidence that a carnivore diet can help with addictive behaviours in general and bing eating.
If you are open to it, take a look here,
This lady is not a health professional, but it worked for her.

Restrictive diets are never appropriate for people with eating disorders. Don’t suggest them.

I’d get hold of a book called Overcoming overeating by Christopher Fairburn - it’s the standard text a lot of eating disorder programmes use.

Take it from there. But if you decide you need more help, eating disorder treatment doesn’t have to go deeply into your past (although they will ask you some questions to try and figure out where behaviours come from). you may find in the end you have to dig deeper, or you may not.

This. With BED the restriction will inevitably lead to further bingeing. It isn’t a matter of willpower, it is physiological. That is why the 3 meals and 3 snacks approach can work to reduce the bingeing.

Thanks for the responses. I'll buy the book suggested by PP.
I really struggle with meals and am rarely actually hungry until 3pm or so. That's when everything starts to unravel and on binge says I'll eat non stop sugar between 3-10pm. It's no wonder 16:8 did more harm than good.
I need to get into a routine of forcing myself to eat sensible and filling meals, and savoury snacks.

I think

Good luck OP. It feels counterintuitive but I was told to start on the three meals even if you are not hungry. Your hunger signals will sort themselves out if you do that.
It did work for me for a while (lost 10kg a couple of years ago) so I do believe the science behind it.

my hair is falling out

That's a sign of malnutrition. I realise that "just eat" isn't always that easy, could you at least take a multivitamin+multimineral if you don't already?

@Pullmybrainout you need to go back to that psychiatrist or whoever is treating you at the moment. You sound really unwell.

Wanting to die can be a totally rational decision. It doesn’t necessarily mean that I am unwell.

@Pullmybrainout starving yourself in the hope your heart will give out is nothing at all like a rational decision.

This.

There are times when suicide is rational, such as when someone is terminally-ill with cancer and faces a lot of pain and not much fun between now and their death. Unless there's a lot you've not told us, this doesn't apply to you.

I never get any peace from my brain telling me to kill myself because I’m a fraud. It is exhausting

Then you need to seek RL medical help for your MH. You’re not a fraud and it’s shit when we can’t trust what our brains tell us.

@Pullmybrainout my teenage DD has binge eating disorder and it is a terrible, terrible disease that is grossly misunderstood. I am so sorry for you. I just wanted to check in here and let you know that I am here if you would like to chat.

I’m really sorry to hear about your DD @WhompingWillows
I hope you are able to get some help for her so she can get well and move on with her life xx

If you have disordered eating be VERY careful with Keto - it's just another set of rules / control and I still managed to binge even more spectacularly after trying it. I wouldn't recommend any kind of diet other than eat as much natural food as possible.

Also I hate to say it but the raft of issues that you can't face WILL be the cause and therefore the solution to the problem.

This

@Pullmybrainout no, we cannot access any help because our local CAMHS is only funded to work with young people with AN, so not bulimia or binge eating disorder. The effect on my DD’s life is terrible. She is just 16 and she actually booked herself a GP appointment for this morning and managed to speak to a sympathetic female GP who apparently is referring DD into paediatrics so that CAMHS have to take her onto their caseload. I won’t hold my breath…