What exactly will happen if I go to my GP with a suspected eating disorder?

[Username90210]

I need some help with my eating but I keep putting off calling my GP.

Can anyone give me a bit of advice about what sort of questions I might be asked and what the next steps might be if I do work up the courage to make an appointment?

I've just eaten an entire cheesecake, a swiss roll and two steak pies, then thrown it all up, so I do realise I need help but I'm conflicted.

That sounds challenging, at least the weather is warming up a bit. Hope you can stick with it

@Username90210 are you not in a specialist ED unit?

Refeeding syndrome is where your body reacts badly to regular nutrition when it is not used to it.

Are your parents able to visit?

Nope, not a specialist unit. I think 4 out of the 20+ beds on the ward are for eating disorders.

My mum has popped in a couple of times. She's staying in my flat to look after the dog, so she's nearby. My son is visiting tomorrow

It's really hard, and not at all what I was expecting.

Hi OP, it's hard but the focus has to be on food and weight. The physical is the urgent part. Food is the intervention. Get your head down, follow the meal plan, get used to tolerating having food in your tummy without purging. Break the purge cycle. Medics worry about refeeding syndrome because they don't want any harm to come to you while you get better. Try to think what you want and need from this admission - to stabilise your physical health, start eating, stop purging. Parts of you won't want that of course, and those parts might be fearful that you can't cope with the emotions underneath, but you can and you will.
You can ask any time for information about your rights, or for a mental health advocate. There's probably information on boards in the ward that will explain it. You said you are not being detained, they do have some temporary powers to detain pending a mental health act assessment if they believe that is applicable. You can talk to them about your needs and choices any time.

Hi OP, how are you getting on today?

Up and down. For my physical health, this is the best place for me at the moment, but mentally it's very difficult. I need to get out asap.

I'm doing everything I'm told, eating whatever they put in front of me, following all the rules, and aiming to leave shortly after the 10 day refeeding plan is done.

I'm speaking to the doctor and dietitian today and will tell them my goal. I think they will suggest a longer stay, but hopefully this couple of weeks will be a kind of reset and let me convince them that things can be managed in the community.

OP, you are amazing- working so hard to get better, and sticking with something that is very very challenging. I don't know what to say, but just wanted to tell you that I find your posts very moving and am really thinking of you, hoping that you are ok.

Thanks for the update OP, we are all thinking of you and rooting for you. I agree with the PP that you are amazing facing up to your issues.
I hope you can agree with the doctors for a longer stay because I am concerned that it is your ED telling you to get home so that it can take control again. The longer you can feed your physical health, the less power the ED will have over you. I know that it is easier said than done and it is terrifying to be eating when you don’t want to but please stick with it. Good luck xx

I was in an ED ward, so slightly different, but I understand all your concerns and how mentally difficult it is.

It absolutely feels relentless at the beginning. So hard to explain to somebody that's not experienced it. Everything seems alien, like being supervised after you've eaten.

I was in hospital far longer than I imagined I would be, but I got through it. Can't say I'm completely fixed, although I'm in a far better place than I was this time last year.
It's so so tough, but keep going, there is hope for recovery. 💐

How are you feeling today OP?

Very unhappy and frustrated. I can see that I'm in a very different headspace to the other 2 women with anorexia in here. I'm comfortable eating whatever I'm given, and I am very well aware that I am underweight and I'm determined to put on weight. The others think they are fat and struggle to eat.

I've told everyone (nutritionist, doctor, nurses etc) that I want to leave next Friday, assuming I am physically stable (bloods, weight, etc), but I don't think they will let me. I feel like they're basing their view of the best way forward on a general idea of anorexic patients, and not on my actual situation.

For my mental health, I need to go home. I need to be back in the office with people who aren't constantly focused on how unwell I am. I'm having no thoughts of binging or purging at all, and I would have either my mum or dad staying with me for as long as I needed them. Mainly to walk the dog, but also to stop me binging, if that's particularly worrying the team here.

The binging thing is interesting. Usually when I am in a situation where I can't binge/purge because other people are around, I am constantly planning the next binge. I mean, in detail, down to making and then cancelling deliveroo orders. This happens even if I know my next moment of 'freedom' is weeks away. I haven't thought about binging at all since I made the decision to come in here, other than to notice I haven't thought about it, iyswim.

That sounds so difficult for you OP.
If they want to keep you in after next Friday then they must really feel that you need some extra support because MH inpatient beds are in such high demand that they will be keen to discharge you as soon as they feel it is safe for you to do so.
I’m no expert but I’m wondering if your hurry to get home is your ED struggling to regain control?
At least while you are there, you dont need to make any decisions or have any internal conflict about what to eat and when.
Would it be possible for you to try to accept their recommendations and relinquish control for the moment?
Apologies if this comes across wrong in writing as I’m not very eloquent but I do understand how you are feeling.

I definitely need someone to take control as far as telling me what to eat, because have lost sight of what's normal. But I think with a clear meal plan in place, support from my parents, and my son around a bit more once uni is finished for the year, I can manage at home. I would continue to check in with the adult eating disorder service at least weekly.

I am really clear that I need to put on weight. If they could see inside my head they would let me go home.

Assuming nothing goes horribly wrong this week, the team has agreed I can be discharged on Friday. I'll have a detailed meal plan for the weekend and I feel confident I can stick to it. I'll meet with the doctor and the dietician on Monday to review how things are going.

Good news I think.

That’s excellent news, well done you. You are doing so brilliantly at both caring and advocating for yourself.

It sounds like you have made great progress OP. Do you think this hospital stay worked as a circuit breaker, in that you knew/know in your head what you needed to do, but needed external/professional support to do so because you were so entrenched in your behaviours?

Will you receive community MH/ED support when you are discharged?

I think I needed official permission to start eating normally again. Just me telling myself to do it wasn't working.

I will continue to see my key worker weekly, and the dietician and dr regularly as well. I'll also get bloods taken and weight checked weekly.

They suggested I go home for the weekend and return on Tuesday for a review before being discharged, so they could keep my bed open for me just in case I need it, but I really can't face the thought of ever coming back. That alone should be good motivation to get better.

Good luck with the next phase

Good luck with the next step OP.

How are you @Username90210?

Was just coming on to ask the same. I hope you are doing OK, OP

I'm at home. I was discharged yesterday morning after breakfast.

I had a lovely day with my son (who is just staying for one night before heading back to uni) and my parents but it was tiring. I was exhausted by the end of the day.

I had to pop back to hospital in the afternoon to collect a prescription, and drop off a thank you gift for the nurses, and I was very tempted to ask if I could be readmitted. I'm nervous about sticking to my meal plan but I have managed one day already so there's no reason I can't do it again today and tomorrow, and the next day.

We're going to IKEA today, so I'm awake early googling the restaurant menu trying to figure out what I will have for lunch and when I might get it.

I'm awake at this time as recovering from illness & I've just read your thread from start to finish OP - I have no wisdom to offer but just wanted to add to the pats on the back here, you've done brilliantly in taking control.

My best friend's teenage niece has a similar ED & I've learnt how it thrives on secrecy & women basically berating themselves mentally over something that isn't their fault & having to fight their own psyche. It must be incredibly hard to break free of that, to wrest that control back when half (or more than half) of your brain is pushing you to do the opposite. An ongoing daily battle.

I really hope life continues to improve for you. Enjoy IKEA (didn't they used to be famous for meatballs or am I entirely out of the loop these days?! 😀)

You are doing so well OP. As you say, you can manage it one day at a time. Your posts will be an inspiration for others struggling with ED

Nope it went well today @Username90210 ?