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New member/ED related?

Sorry for the long post

I am a new member on the site, but I have been counting calories/excercising it off and more for quite some time now. My family thinks I might have an ED but I hardly agree. I saw my GP not too long ago and he said that I was too large to have anorexia/Bulimia nervosa. But the more I learn about these things, I think I might have one of them.

I'm 5'5" and 137 lbs (Hardly Anorexic/Bulemic material, I know), but my mind can't stop thinking about food. I HAVE to eat my food (if I do have to eat it) in a sopecific way (I.E: Colour coding my salad, then rearranging them piece by peice, and depending on what's in it, i eat only three bites of each section starting from the smallest/litest section first). I go through about 5 or six Extra-strength laxatives a day, take water pills, and when I do crash and binge (eating over 1,200 calories in a day), I end up feeling just horribleand try to counteract what I had done by laxatives, excercise and sometimes, though rarely now, using Ipecac.

But still my doctor says I do not have an eating disorder, that I am too heavy to classify to get help. It's times like these that I DO have some moment of clarity and realise that I MAY be sick. Though I really do not have room - or the degree- to say so.

I was wondering if anyone could help me with this, and possibly find a weight-loss buddy.

Sorry for the 'TMI' over this, but I just need another opinion before I go completely insane

You don't have to be underweight to have an ED.  It's all in your mind.  To me it sounds like you do and you may need to talk to a counselor or evne a nutritionist to help you make the right choices.  Good luck.

Sounds a bit like an obsessive compulsive spectrum disorder to me particularly as you are colour coding food etc.

Not all eating disorders are classified as anorexia or bulimia, and I believe that many people mistakenly believe they have one or either when they have another problem entirely (whether it be food related or not).

There is no nice way to say this but in my opinion the only thing that will help you is psychological help, this website is not going to offer you the help you need regarding your problems, and I think at the moment the last thing you should be doing is attempting to lose weight.

If your current doctor is not helping you at all you should ask to be referred to another doctor as soon as you are able to.

This sounds like binge/purge anorexia. I would normally say "sounds like bulimia" but you mentioned a "binge" for you is 1,200 calories in a day.

If your doctor is so narrow minded as to say you have to be thin to have an ED, go to another, and please do it quickly. If you can manage it, -stop- using laxatives and ipecac. But, seriously - you need to go to another, good doctor, and do it fast.

Well Welcome and Hello!

Was wondering if you have "specific" methods to doing other things too or just when it comes to food?

As far as your dr. visit I'm kinda baffled, If you expressed yourself to him as freely as you did here, there seems to be something going on there! I don't feel that there is a weight requirement for ed's ... there are so many different eating disorders.

I have been yo-yo dieting off and on my whole-life, abusing laxatives, not eating, then binging, over excersising...on and on... I'm all too familiar with that cycle. That's why I'm here!

I'm working toward becoming free of this madness and make-over my lifestyle for a permanent Resolution! The most important realization has been for me to Love and appreciate... Me and my body! I have been all over the place with this chaotic lifestyle....Change is all I see as an alternative to freeing this Beast :)

Just know you are not alone, and I hope for you Health and happiness!

I want to try and get a second opinion, but money is a problem for me and my family, so I doubt I could afford to get any help. I want to try and call a hotline kind of thing but I'm not sure which one I should call. I am not an anorexic or bulimic, and don't know if they would be willing to help me.

I'm a little confused why you first asked for advice on whether or not you have an eating disorder and then ended your post asking for a weight loss buddy? I don't know whether or not you have an eating disorder, but I can tell you that your weight loss techniques aren't healthy. I know exactly how you feel though when you say that you feel too heavy to deserve help or to be considered at-risk. At my lowest weight I was 111 lbs and 5' 6'' and I told myself I was too heavy to have anorexia... I thought I needed to weigh 108 lbs at the highest to be considered anorexic, otherwise I was just being overly dramatic... Don't let yourself feel that way! I later accepted the fact that I did have all the signs of anorexia (loss of 3 consecutive periods, being technically underweight, all the thoughts, etc...) and therefore was anorexic. What matters though is what's going on in your head; day after day after day... it gets REALLY tiring doesn't it? It exhausts me beyond belief to think about living with these food thoughts every day for the rest of my life... if you feel the same way then you too deserve help and freedom from this. Don't worry about needing to be "sick enough" to deserve help. You don't need to meet all the requirements of a specific disorder to feel justified in being unhappy. If you aren't completely happy you deserve the help you need to be happy.

If you want someone to talk to PLEASE send me a message!! I'd be more than willing to give you advice, or to just listen.

We do have advice from an About.com expert on eating disorders.  Please read this

Matthew Tiemeyer - Eating Disorders

there is a website that has helped countless people.  There are numbers for hotlines.

Something Fishy

There is a misconception that doctors are not immune to regarding eating disorders that you must be either incredibly under or over weight to have one.  Please talk to your parents, they will know your financial situation better for whom to contact for help.  In any case, there are some specific numbers to call at this site Something Fishy.

Matthew Tiemeyer - Eating Disorders This page can help you determine if you have an eating disorder and what kinds of help you might need.

Laxatives can and do cause damage, damage can occur almost immediately.  This article is a "MUST READ":

Laxative poisoning

100 doses of a laxative, over a month's time, is 3 times a day!  The damage would be catastrophic.  overuse of laxatives can cause fecal incontinance, or the inability to hold it until you can get to the toilet.  The sphincter muscles are weakened.