Has anyone successfully been treated for bulimia?

[alpacasandwich]

Just that really. Would like to hear some stories. I am struggling again.

Hello,
Yes. It was a while ago, but I've been ok for a good number of years (after seven years of bulimia/restricting). It was 'one foot in the front of the other' for a while, but I saw a counsellor who provided very good support.

I'm v happy to talk about what's going on for you.

That's really great! What kind of counselling was it?

I met with a psychologist once through CMHT, I was referred by a psychiatrist. I didn't really warm to her, though, and she wanted to weigh me every appointment. Also, she wanted to dig into my past quite a lot at the first appointment. Essentially, I freaked out and didn't attend again. I think I needed a softer approach as I find the whole thing really shameful.

I have never spoken to my psychiatrist outright about it even, I wrote her a letter confessing about my disordered eating habits and she referred me from there. She had treated me for depression in the past so I was already "in the system".

I tried a few books - Brain Over Binge, and a books on prescription title about Overcoming Binge Eating. Neither of them stuck.

I go through patches of eating normally - i.e. sticking to my rules rigidly - and then it breaks down again and I fall into bad habits.

I saw a woman from my university counselling service (told you it was a while ago), and she used a bit of a mix of therapeutic approaches, but I think got the most success from exploring the 'why' with transactional analysis, and the 'what now' with more CBT type methods.

She challenged me about what I ate, and gave me the skills to think about what I was doing and why. I was really ready to stop, my teeth had started to hurt, and my last relationship had broken down because of it, but I needed that support to make a change.

Over the 12 years of my bulimia I had counselling, CBT, and anti-depressants, which all helped a bit but I still found myself just having bouts of recovery and then relapse. What helped me in the end was a once weekly session with a personal trainer at my house. I'd always exercised but it followed a similar pattern to my binge/purging - all or nothing tied in with diets etc followed by periods of no exercise and terrible eating. Seeing a trainer once a week kept me on track and accountable - I started eating better and fitting in moderate amounts of exercise and after a year I realised I wasn't thinking about food all the time, my bodyweight was settling, and I felt much happier about myself. It is now 7 years on from then and I haven't thrown up once since, which ten years ago I would think was unbelievable. I still have a sweet tooth and might have a binge once in a while but wouldn't think anything of it, as it doesn't matter. My partner and I are planning on having a baby within the next year, and I'm a little bit worried that might bring up some issues so will mention it to my GP, but I feel like I have such a better relationship with my mind/body/food now that I will cope.

There is hope - even though it feels like it's impossible with your head down the bog six times a day.