How long before we see weight gain?

[Raspberrysins]

Hi everyone. I’ve been lurking on these threads for a few weeks. My 15 y old DD is in the early stages of an ED. Her periods stopped 5 months ago and I knew she was being excessively ‘healthy’. Thought it was great to start with of course but soon saw the changes. Anyway, have had the first GP appointment who took bloods and told us to go back in 6 weeks. No mental health support offered so we have found a private lady online via the beat website who’s been great. My DD has fully accepted she has a problem and is really trying to eat more calories but it’s very stressful as she has many ‘fear’ foods. She enjoys running and the therapist has said to only do this twice a week. She said if she gets referred then CAHMs will stop all exercise immediately which has scared my daughter. She really wants to get better. The thing is I wondered how long it might take to see changes. Her pelvis is clearly visible and her shoulders and arms are so bony it breaks my heart to see it. She is healthy generally and aiming for 2000 calories a day (gp recommended). However she is struggling to eat around 1700. She eats 3 full meals a day and snacks in between. I know we are lucky that she’s accepted it straight away. The therapist thinks it may be ‘orthorexia’ instead of anorexia but I think the issues are largely similar.

Its also very difficult to diagnose a ND issue in someone with AN.
During her illness my DD had autism, ADHD and OCD traits.
Once weight restored, and at a healthy weight for about a year, they all disappeared.
The starvation of the brain in AN does very odd things to it, and makes the sufferer not themselves at all.
If diagnosed with ND before the illness, then treatment is often different.

Well here we are 3 months later and zero weight gain. We are now with camhs having had 3 weigh ins now, multiple blood tests and my DD is going to come out of school next week. She’s very underweight and they are talking about hospital. The meal plan was given finally 10 days ago and despite eating what’s on it she’s stuck at 79% WFH. My dd is feeling very stuck and very down about it all. She is really trying. However there are still many foods she won’t eat. Yesterday she cooked chocolate fondants at school and even having a tiny taste was virtually impossible. It’s so sad and so hard. She has changed to whole milk, butter on sandwiches, we are eating loads of pasta, eggs and potatoes. For snacks every day she has a yoghurt and a crumpet. It feels impossible.

So sorry to hear progress is slow. Only 3 weigh ins in 3 months doesn't sound like a lot, and that's a long time without a meal plan. It does sound as if she needs a spell out of school using as little energy as possible so the efforts she is making to eat are getting the maximum impact.
Hope you are getting support too, it's draining and you need your energy to be the support for your DD
Sending hugs

I know it’s a silly question but how are you @Raspberrysins this is a lot for you to be dealing with.

I think coming out of school is a good idea, and if there is ever a good time in the calendar it’s now. We’re nearly at half term and then the last half term is full of days limping to the end of term. She then has the summer to hopefully continue to get better.

What are they saying about hospital? Are her physical obs ok? I agree with other posters saying 3 visits in 3 months isn’t enough. You haven’t had the support you need and they should be looking at themselves and how the can really support you now.

We are here for you xx

Idk how unwell your dd is, but that is low weight and maybe she does need some time off school, because she’ll be using a lot of energy at school. And I hope that she is being followed medically. And I’m saying this on the proviso that she is and is ok - Does she really want to go to school? Because that is something potentially to be used as a bargaining chip for eating more…

I also just wanted to maybe get you to have a think about what you and she have achieved. If your dd does have ASD @Raspberrysins , getting your dd to eat butter and drink whole milk are massive achievements in 3 months. And she’s eating yoghurt and crumpets and had a tiny taste of the chocolate fondant. That’s actually really positive steps. My dd has been in treatment for almost 2 years now - rather dh and I are working with an ED coach and dd has engaged on and off. And I can’t make her eat anything she doesn’t want. She has had periods of eating butter then stopping. Fats and oils are a tough one. She won’t, for example, have milk, let alone whole milk or full fat ice cream. It’s all diet.

What I am saying is to celebrate the wins. On the flip side of not gaining weight, your dd hasn’t lost any weight. Ok, weight gain would of course be good and needed, however, it’s the micro steps Jenny Langley talks about… have a look at the main support thread, thread 15. I’ve just posted all the links on there.

So try not to be too despondent, because it sounds as if you’ve been doing a great job even if it has felt like treading water and muddling through.

Thanks so much everyone. @Pearl97 you are so kind to ask that. The 3 appointments have actually all been within the last 3 weeks. Since camhs got involved things have moved quickly. It was the frustrating bit in between the gp (that was when I first posted this thread. ). Now we are apparently at the top of their priority list, they are very worried about her. Although there’s been no weight gain, her obs HAVE improved - eg she had a resting HR of 40, which has increased to 50 at yesterday’s appointment. So yes, small incremental steps have happened I suppose. My DD is now really down and feeling like she’s trying hard without results.

I had some good news today though- my headmaster (in a teacher) has signed me off for 4 weeks on compassionate leave which is so amazing , and to be honest I was blown away. But I know being at home with her is going to be very difficult.

@Mummyoflittledragon you are always so encouraging thank you. X

Hi late to this thread but to see weight gain your dd is likely going to need to massively up the calorie intake. Will she drink smoothies? You can make a smoothie up to around 800 calories by making it with fruit and double cream.

You can also add double cream to porridge, soup, pasta sauces, scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, milkshakes in fact pretty much anything.

My dd needed over 3000 calories a day to see weight gain and for some teens it’s nearer 5000 calories.

Id also tackle the fear foods head on, the longer she avoids chocolate, crisps etc the harder it is.