Thought I would get it out and be honest, and ask if anyone else has an eating problem/disorder? I am just realising it is getting a bit out of hand. I was diagnosed with FMS 7 years ago and from then started to have binge eating problems. At that point it was accepted that it was due to medication, gabapentin and amitryptiline. I put on 20 pounds very quickly and got some awful stretch marks, which thankfully have now gone, after stopping the gabapentin.
But after thinking about it and realising it has never really gone away. In fact it is getting worse over time. I am constantly "starving" and counting down the time until my next meal, and craving "naughty" food such as chocolate and cake. Eventually I give in and end going to the nearest shop / store and fill up bag of chocolate, cakes, cookies etc. It is really disgusting and I have to eat this it all in the same day, which runs into the next. Then I go on a major diet to lose weight at around 1100 calories a day and do really well until the next problem comes. The cycle is endless. I am so lucky that I have some will power and my weight is at 9 stone / 126 pounds at the moment, but I am so worried with the problems and my food addiction getting worse, that I could end up like one of those morbidly obese people you see on TV one day. It may sound silly but I bet this is how their problem started.
After all the waffle, what I wanted to know if anyone else has this problem? Is it medication, depression/anxiety, boredom, or just plain greed on my part (putting my hand up here!) and what to do about it. I have been referred to a pain mgmt psychologist and hope his will provide some insight. It is just so weird to actually realise that I do really have a problem with this now. Can anyone relate to this?
Yeah, I'm a binge eater, Jo. Don't know why but I love food and choose it over a good figure. I think it's to comfort myself because I don't like thinking of myself in a sexual sense. If that makes sense to you. Probably stuff that happened when I was a kid that I've probably repressed.
I was having a problem with feeling starved all the time. I was just shoveling food in all the time, and not junk food. My weight was going up. My doctor found that I had low stomach acid and a folate deficiency which can cause a form of anemia. I was putting all this good food in but my body could not absorb the nutrients. So, my body was starving and I was hungry all the time. So I saw my MD who practices holistic medicine. He was the only one who dug deeper.
He helped me supplement with what I needed and now I don't have the cravings and don't feel starved and hungry in between meals. It took about two or three months of treatment. I also went on prebiotics and probiotics to help balance out my intestinal flora. Now I digest food normally and my bowel function is back to normal. I'm not suggesting that this is your problem, but just saying that if your body is not getting what it needs to function properly, for whatever reason, it's gonna crave and crave forever. Sometimes it can be just one thing that's not right in your digestive process and it cause a snowball effect.
I guess your doctor checked to be sure your not diabetic right? Sometimes the prescription drugs can mess up your digestive system too. Mine got messed up because I got pneumonia and was given round after round of antibiotics, then found that I had Valley Fever and had to take antifungal for a long time. Not to mention all the other rx's given to me for fms. I don't take them anymore due to the side effects and allergic reactions I had. Drugs can cause alot of long term side effects even after you go off of them.
I can totally relate to that... Shame isn't it. Every time I get really stressed I'm off to the chocolate and cake therapists... Shame we punish ourselves instead of our stressors...
That does make a lot of sense. I've got to wait another 7 weeks before seeing pain management team inc psychotherapist so I will add it to my list, if they have time. And I've got to grovel to my doc again on Monday and wll add to his list, and probably need anther appointment lol.