Eating Disorders Forum

A couple of recommendations, the first would be to look at any number of websites including our own to get information about eating disorders. The second is to look for a therapist or professional who has experience in treating eating disorders. The third recommendation might be to explore attending a support group such as overeaters anonymous which now sees people that are not just compulsive overeaters, but suffering with bulimia, binge eating disorder, some forms of anorexia, etc. And I also would suggest being honest with your primary care physician so when you seek treatment for something else, they know what's going on. I will give you an example of why that's important, years ago when I was working more in a hospital setting a friend of mine who is a kidney doctor automatically makes me evaluate all the patients that are experiencing kidney failure that are under 30. The reason for that is these patients won't tell the doctor that they have been binging and purging or taking laxatives or not eating or whatever and what happens is their kidneys shut down and they need dialysis on their lab work. When the blood is drawn it shows marked abnormalities and those abnormalities suggest kidney disease, but their kidneys are not diseased, it is self-induced. So rather than have to go through dialysis or even up to the point of may be being considered for kidney transplant. It is as simple as replacing magnesium and giving them peripheral fluids is once their fluid balance is restored within about a day their kidneys are functioning normally. So that is an extreme case, but when you see your physician they need to know if you do having an eating disorder. The other thing is educating your own physician. So, those are just some of the basics and I would say that you can try the least intrusive levels of care to deal with your eating disorder such as seeing a therapist, may be consulting with a dietitian. If that is not working, may be attending an intensive outpatient program or more structured program. If that is not working, may be look towards a residential program and if it gets very serious you may need an inpatient program. So there are different levels of care. I usually advise people to start at the least intrusive and work their way up if they are not getting a result.
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