trying to recover from bulimia - support/partner

i've had bulimia for 2 years now, and i really just want to be healthy and lose weight the healthy way. i've been thinking about telling my parents about my ed but i'm freaking out about it. so i'm looking for someone who also has bulimia and is also trying to recover for support and  to start to be healthier. and then hopefully i'll eventually be able to tell my parents and start on a proper recovery.

i'm 15 yrs old; height 5' 1"; weigh 126 lb

thank

Heya. I'm not recovering from bulimia - I'm in recovery for anorexia - but as no one has already I thought I would welcome you to CC and congratulate you on wanting to take this step to getting better in the right way. Can I ask, what is it that makes you scared to tell your parents? You're definitely going the right way about this in looking for someone who can support you; eating disorders are easier fought with help behind you than on your own. But your parents and your doctor will be invaluable to you if you can tell them about this - particularly if you feel yourself slipping toward old habits.

Another place for you to look is http://www.something-fishy.org. It's a wonderful resource of help and information for people suffering and recovering from an ED. :]

Again, welcome to CC and I wish you all the luck in the world in getting well.

- Ellie/Lala.

I just turned 20 and I had anorexia which slowly turned into bulimia.  I thought I got rid of it but its been coming back.  :(

You need help from people in your real life.

Suggestions on who to tell when you need help:

Your parents.  I know this can be a scary one, we all have a load of feelings tied to our parents, but most of them truly want the best for their children.

A school counselor.  This is part of what their job is all about, trying to help students.  They have an enormous amount of information and resources to help you get more help.

A clergymember.  Letting them help you is part of the reason why they signed up.  At the least you get another ear to help talk to you.

An adult friend. Someone whom you can trust and who will be likely to help you do some research on where to go and even make sure you don't chicken out.

hiya

im also recovering from anorexia and earlier this year i conquered bulimia. i havent binged and purged in months and this is from someone who at one stage went months doing it everyday and was almost hospitalized from it. il do whatever i can to help you thru this because i know how hard it is an u need all the support u can get. u can and will get thru this u jus need to believe you CAN and WILL beat this. you shud be proud of urself for taking the first steps to recovery.

 are u seeing any therapist for the emotional aspects of recovery?

i think telling ur parents wud help alot, i wuidnt be here as recovered today as i am without my parents suppost, when times got hard espesically during tryin to stop b/p my mum was always there and ready to do whatever it tok to stop me gettin sick even if it was drivin around in the car with me for hrs to stop me b/p. do u think u can tell ur rents? im sure they will be super sopportive an it will make reocvery alot easier

stay strong and hopefull

lauren xx

Hi there. I just wanted to introduce myself. I have Bulimia. The reason I don't say recovered from, is because I have had therapy and I have learnt that Bulimia is always there whether it is has control over you or not. At the moment it does not have control over me, but occassionally I battle against the "demons" but I am winning. You can to, but being really honest, you need that support and therapy.

Bulimia was not something I could fix on my own. Having a therapist helped me make sense of the thoughts and feelings I was having, and helped me to repair the unhealthy relationship I had with food. He also gave me strategies to help me over come the strong urges to binge and purge. He also helped me to understand the emotional link that goes hand in hand with it.

The first step is the hardest and that is telling people around you that you have this so you can get support from them as well. Part of Bulimia is thinking you cannot tell anyone. The guilt and shame of it all makes it incredibly difficult to tell someone. BUT you have nothing to feel guilty or ashamed of. Bulimia affects so many people. It is very common. The first step to beating it is ignoring the thoughts that prevent you from telling your parents and just blurt it out, write a letter if it helps explain things better. Or show them this thread of yours. Be prepared for an overwhelming emotional time, because the first time you tell someone you love, you will probably cry buckets and have feelings of relief, fear, sadness, worry etc. It is so up and down but it is worth it as it is the biggest step on the road to recovery you can take.

You can beat this and come out the other side. Some of those thoughts and feelings do stay, but it is how you handle it that is the difference between being in control of it or not. My therapist gave me permission to have a bad day and taught me actually it's ok to have a bad day and deal with it in other ways than binging and purging. I have suffered Bulimia on and off for about 15 years. Once I started seeing a therapist I got control over it in a matter of weeks. You can to, just seek that help and speak to your loved ones.

Thanks so much everyone. I appreciate all your advice. I'm going to work on telling my parents...wish me luck!

lalabanana: i think i find the fact that i have bulimia kind of embarassing... and i dont know what to expect when i tell my parents, but i know they love me and want the best for me.

aussiegirl 17: i'm not getting any professional help at all right now. i'd want to go see a therapist or something though so i'm going to talk to my parents about it

again, thanks everyone

kay- its very brave of you to step up like this and to recognize it as such a young age.  talk to your parents and tell them you'd like to try therapy- i'll tell you why below.

i used to have binge eating disorder, it was completely awful and i'd feel guilty, ashamed about how i looked and felt, depressed and so many other awful emotions, my self-esteem sank and i hated myself.  I had a brief therapy session and it did help a lot but i didn't have the money to continue.

After about 2 months of no binge eating, i lost around 20 pounds and i felt great, ti started to creep up again.  I turned to food and then started to purge.  The bulimia developed and started to become more frequent, instead of once a week it'd be 2, 3 and now its currently everyday.  i can feel my body deteriorating and i know i need help but i honestly can't afford therapy, i'm 22 and trying to make it on my own and dont have hundreds of extra dollars. 

But, i know therapy helps so get it soon before it spirals out of control.  good luck.

Well, I am technically a binge/purging anorexic, but I definitely want to recover.  I have been anorexic for about 10 years, and have just started recovery--been diagnosed and soon to start therapy.  I have to gain 5 kg at minimum--preferably about 8 to 10.  I have been eating the amount of calories supposedly required to gain, but so far nothing.  I guess the hypermetabolism story is true or some weird thing. 

The problem is I am home on Mondays and Tuesdays, and have taken to binging--I then panic, because, although I  know I need to gain, I don't want to gain all the weight at once, and so I purge.  Grrrr, I usually do it only one day out of Mon and Tues, but last week I did it both days.  I do not want to swap anorexia for bulimia or binge eating, and I'm determined not to give in to any of these terrible disorders. 

Don't give up, everybody.  We can do it! 

Hi,

I am new to this site. I like what has been written about always being in recovery with bulimia. I have suffered from this awful thing for over 20 years. I am still really bad and I am thinking about getting help. I have just been thinking for so long that 'I am beyond help', I have had so much counselling in the past for various depression issues but none of it has helped and I have struggled on alone. I am now at the tipping point where I just can't go on like this any more. I am hiding it from my partner as I have also struggled with alcoholism  - although now recovered thankfully - and I can't bring myself to admit I still have problems. Our relationship is at such a low ebb and I am binging and purging several times a day. I know it is my terribly low self esteem but I don't know how I can change that. I am sure, like alcoholism, that I will always suffer from an eating disorder, unfortunately I can't stop eating like I can choose to with picking up a drink. It all seems very desperate at the moment.