Question about refeeding/ED recovery

I have been gradually increasing my calories over the past 4 weeks to recover from anorexia. I am now at 1200 calories (up from below 200 when I started). The thing is, even though I am eating so much more food than I have been used, the past week or so to I've been finding myself almost permanently hungry... I'll finish one meal/snack and within 20mins I'll be hungry again...why??? When I was restricting i hardly ever felt hungry, this makes no sense to me!

Also, I thought that because I've been eating more and increasing my calories that I'd start feeling a bit physically better (as before I was very weak and tired) however for the past week I've found myself feeling even worse and have basically just been on bedrest as i have no energy or strength. Why is the food not making me feel better? I find it a huge struggle eating and its very emotionally draining.... and i feel like all this effort im putting in is a waste of time as im not feeling any better!

its not a waste of time; you just have to give it more time.

i have more to say but im bumpin this

A. You feel hungry because your body wants food! Now that you are feeding it, albeit still not anywhere near enough, your body is waking up and trying to tell you that it still needs more! Its okay to listen to that. Don't be afraid. You need much, much more than 1200 calories a day to get yourself healthy again.

B. You feel tired for a few reasons. First and foremost - you are underweight and malnourished. Now that your body is being fed (as stated before, still not enough, but I know you are working on it), it takes that as a sign of relief. When you are starving, your body keeps its energy and alertness levels on high so you can search for food. Now that it is getting some food, it takes that as a sign that it is okay to rest now. Your body also needs a lot of energy to digest and process food, especially after being malnourished - it takes time for your body to really get in the jist of it again.

I know it is hard, but just give it a few weeks, keep increasing your calories, and the healthier, happier you will come in time.

Given your BMI is so low and you're only now at 1200, I think you need to go to a hospital.

I'm trying as hard as I can to avoid going to hospital... it would be far away from my family and I rely so much on my mums support I think Id break down if she wasn't with me. I really want to do this at home.

Original Post by grapefruit_:

I'm trying as hard as I can to avoid going to hospital... it would be far away from my family and I rely so much on my mums support I think Id break down if she wasn't with me. I really want to do this at home.

 "Want" and "need" are two very different things.  You may want to do this at home, but you need more help than you are giving yourself right now.  At the very very minimum, you need to speak to your mom, and she needs to help you with this.  Yes, some people have been able to re-feed themselves by themselves without help of a professional, but not everyone is capable of that.  And since you are at such a low BMI, I'm frankly scared to give you much advice for fear that it might harm you more than help you.

Edit:  However, to answer your questions above, I think rebelchick did a fairly good job of explaining them in simple terms.

Even though I'm at home I'm still getting help - my mum and I have been making meal plans together and she's been making sure I'm eating, and shes currently trying to find me a private psychologist/therapist to work with as the councellor I was provided with by the NHS was no help to me and I ended up losing even more weight while being treated by him.

you know well that as long as you do it this way you are still in "control" and therefor the disorder is controlling you.

your poor mum doesnt kno it but she's enabling you. she is just happy to see you eat more-little does she know that on 1200 cals your still losing weight. dont do this to her. either tell her you need to eat 2500-3000 and agree too start doing it or go to hosp.

also dont insult those on here who are really hammering an attempt at recovery and eating between 3000-4000 cals. its not right that you come on then moaning while still eating restrictive quantities. you're not trying as hard as you can-despit what you think. if you were you'd be right up at 2500.

im sorry for sounding harsh but nambee pambee goes nowhere with eating disorders. nor does giving you a pat on the back for eating a measley 1200 cals. you are hungry and if you listened to your body and tried as hard as you could then you wouldnt still be feeling hungry. the fact that you are means you are still restricting.

I'm sorry i wasnt intending to insult anybody and this post certainly wasn't me "moaning"... I was just looking for some answers as I'm so confused about whats going on with my body right now.

I'm kinda upset/offended that you've belittled the progress I've made... this is the hardest thing I've ever done. I appreciate that I havent got my intake up to where it needs to be yet but I'm still increasing every 4/5days and am determined to get there.

just take it easy....i found it hard as well when i was in your position 2 years ago....now i am much better but still not fully recovered yet...but getting there! i think i just need lots of support and time to get there! you can increase your cal intake to about 2500 cal per day and gaining very little or even stay where you were!! thats what i went through!! and i felt energised all the time! basically you don't have to worry at all about what you eat! just eat healthily and eat all the food groups! don't aviod anything....they are all good for you!

good luck on you journey!

I don't have a whole lot of advice for you.  I haven't been in your shoes completely.  But I think it is great that you are up from 200 to the 1200 calories. 

I am trying to restrict myself to the 1200 calories for weight loss and I find myself hungry a lot.  I have noticed though, if I up my protein I am not as hungry.  So maybe a few more protein packed items in your daily menu will help you feel more satisfied in your journey on your way back to a healthy you.

Good Luck.

Missylm: This person is trying to GAIN weight and you're telling them how to supress their appetite? What is wrong with you?

Grapefruit: Do you not know how lucky you are to have free healthcare available? Seriously. There are people out there trying to recover who don't even have the choice. Take fidget's advice: tell your mum, straight up, you need 2500 to 3000 or MORE for your meal plans, or ask about IP with your GP. At the end of the day a few months IP will get you your life back even if it means being away from your mum for a while. And if you're really still questioning that, how about a few months of IP over an early death?

As much as it is progress it is still hurting you right now. You need at least 2500 and need to be increasing suitably faster than every 4/5 days. Closer to every two to three. Every two, ideally.

If you feel insulted, tough. Eating disorders, again as fidget has said, are not something to coddle, cushion, or muddle words with. Right now, you. Are. Killing. Yourself. Put it right while you have the chance.

I am not telling her to continue suppressing!  She is just recovering and is move up the steps as comfortably as she can to come back to health.  There is no reason to slam her for not eating 2500 calories yet when her recovery has only been a month so far and a month she was eating only 200 calories. 

All recovery is baby steps and it sounds like she is moving forward.  You don't force recovery!

You don't prolong it either. Prolonging it can make it a hell of a lot worse.

Also - when a person is seriosuly at risk for suddenly dying from phyiscal complications  associated with undereating and being malnourished- you DO have to force recovery. You CANNOT WAIT to be comfortable with more. If you wait, you will never get to where you need to be because it will always be easier to just placate ED. If pushing weight gain was never a necessity in ED recovery, I probably would have died six times over by now.

Sometimes a person is just not able to do what they need to do in a reasonable time frame. And taking a month to reach 1200 calories is TOO LONG. No matter how low her calories were when she started.

As an aside - I went from eating about two tablespoons of bran flakes and a wedge of melon with some diet coke to eating 1200 calories in one shot. Nothing horrific happened to me. And increasing was made easier by using shakes initially until I got more comfortable with food. At one point, I was drinking 700 calorie shakes once or twice a day. I am more able to eat food now, so I really don't do the shakes anymore (though sometimes I make a small one to cook oats in) but it does help you get your calories up to where they need to be while minimizing the fear factor.

well said lala and rebelchick.

stop procrastinating. just do it