Anyone have experience with binge eating? What helped you quit?

[Anonymous]

I managed to go a full 8 weeks without binge-eating (my record in 2 years) until this week. I've binged on tons of junk I don't normally eat for 4 days. I feel terrible mentally and physically. Sometimes I get severe back and stomach pain after eating an estimate of 5000 calories and I worry about my stomach rupturing. The pain is still not enough to stop me from binging because as soon as I feel better the next day, I do it again! I do 40-60 hr fasts and copious amounts of exercise (30 km of walking/jogging) following my binge eating episodes to compensate for some of the weight gain. After I complete my fasting and exercise ritual, my blood pressure drops to dangerously low levels and I end up feeling faint and exhausted. I still binge the next day which reverses all of my hard work. A few days ago, the discomfort, pain and guilt I felt almost brought me to the hospital. I have an all-or-nothing mentality.. if I break my diet just a little, I'll be very inclined to screw up big time and eat the whole refrigerator. I weigh myself every morning and I'm obsessed with food. I think about calories, weight and food 24/7 even when things are going well. I feel ashamed knowing that I have to start from day 1 tomorrow after so much hard work. Help?

[jadexo]

My advice to you is SEE A DOCTOR. From what it sounds like, you probably have an eating disorder. You can cause yourself serious damage from your starvation and purging exercises, as well as your binge eating habits. Your binge eating habits will not get better if you don't get professional help. This is serious - people have died from binge/purging.

Saying that, I recovered from a binge eating problem, but it was a very slow process and my "purging" methods were no where near as dangerous as yours. Pretty much, the best way for you to quit binge eating is to quit your purging habits and learn how to eat relatively normally, or at least on a calorie controlled diet. I know how terrifying it is to give up those 'safety blankets' (the fasting and so on) but not only are they dangerous anyway, they fuel your shitty relationship with food. And to stop binge eating, you need to repair that relationship.

But any advice I can give you on how to stop binge eating is useless compared to the work a doctor can do for you. I cannot stress enough how much you need to see a doctor about this. If it's too expensive where you live, try to find free or cheap help, or at least a bulimia support group or something.

[Ladyslipper]

Honestly I got a prescription from a doctor called phentermine it suppresses appetite so I didn't get the desire to binge, but I never skipped days like you did it was basically a daily routine for me

[Touglyforfemales]

I do all the time mostly cause I'm board and depressed.

[Ladyslipper]

Aw :( I know that feeling all too well.. It's an overwhelming urge and having the self control to not do it always seems impossible

[Touglyforfemales]

@Ladyslipper Your not fat like I am.

[Ladyslipper]

Hey now pictures are deceiving, I look bigger in person. My weight right now is 200 my highest was 260, but I've been there it's a very hard addiction to break and I still have a ways to go I just knew I had to get help at some point

[Touglyforfemales]

@Ladyslipper I'm 273 at 5'10 1/2 I was trying to lose weight but gave up cause I wasn't losing any. I'm also ugly so fact that in.

[Anonymous]

I binge all the time... I haven’t quit so I can’t help.

[miserybusiness]

you can't binge eat

if you don't have food

[Ladyslipper]

A binger would go to the store and buy some

[miserybusiness]

@Ladyslipper lock her in a house and throw away the key

[Ladyslipper]

Haha