Yet another water retention question, but this time with a complication

So I hate to be all public with this stuff, but it's clearly keeping me up late at night and it's been causing me quite a bit of anxiety so I may as well post it online where no one really knows me. But please, I'm sensitive about this all.

So I'm trying to get over an eating disorder and I've been eating an average of 400-500 calories (sometimes 600 if I was being generous) daily with 1-3 hours of exercise for about three months. I haven't eaten more than 1000 calories daily since January. My scale annoying reflects little of this: I basically retain water like a sponge. This problem began with the first major binge episode of the summer about two-three weeks ago. I gained literally 15 pounds of water weight in one sitting to the point where my feet were so swollen the next day I couldn't wear my shoes. I still haven't lost all that weight and I've been so psychologically beaten down by this that I've finally realized that it's time to try and eat normally now, or at least try and eat more than 1000 calories a day, but I'm so incredibly nervous about water retention consider how sensitive my body is to it. Plus I was a big ol' idiot and took diuretics for a couple days, which I am now reading are actually quite counter productive. I KNOW that I should be drinking more water, but the last time I tried that I just retained all the water I was drinking. Should I just keep drinking water until my body stops retaining and then finally decides to let it go? I was also thinking low carbs, but then eventually I would have to stop eating low carbs and then water retention would occur once again in the same magnitude. Plus, I'm going back to school in three weeks and I'd REALLY like to come without being a giant watery poof ball, because I literally do expand several inches around. 

So that was a tangent. Does anyone know about the relationships between water retention+eating disorders+diuretics+possible muscle inflammation (from running intervals daily)+laxatives (yeah there was that too...triple shame on me :( ) ? I really don't want to just suck up two gallons of water like last time.  I'm very curious about recovery time...perhaps ways of lessening the recovery time?

I don't know a whole lot about most of this, but I do know that drinking a lot of water regularly keeps you from retaining.  So you do need to just keep doing it - you won't burst at the seams or anything, I promise!

And you can't safely binge and purge on anything, including water.  So drink at least eight ounces - or as much as you can - every day for as long as you can.  But make sure you're drinking an amount that you know you could continue to drink for an extended period of time, you know?  I mean, don't try and drink four gallons of water a day if you don't think you could do that indefinitely.  Because you will start retaining it again if you decrease the amount of water you drink - especially after long periods of high consumption of water.

Diuretics and laxatives shouldn't permanently change your water retention patterns, so I wouldn't personally worry about that not that you've stopped taking them.  =]

I don't actually know how to answer your question [I too am eating disordered and retain water like a sponge], but are you sure that its not salt doing this to you?
apparently salty foods make you retain lots of water, dunno how much salt you have to have to make a difference though

If you go to "Ask Mary", and type in "how much water should I drink?", you can find a water calculator. It will tell you how many ounces of fluids you should drink in a day. And it doesn't have to be just water, any liquid counts. If the swelling doesn't go down after a week or two of drinking the proper amount of fluid, you should probably call your doctor. Good luck in your recovery!

I dont know about EDs.  But I do know that if your nutrtion is inadequate then your body will rebell in many ways.  Including holding water. I suspect your body just can not process the waste and water it is accumulating right now.

Your best defense is to get your nutrition and calories under control.  Drinking water will help - but not if you do not have the right vitamins to allow your body normal functioning. 

These are all great tips even though a couple of you said you don't know about EDs....so because I'm a little anal and like lists, here goes:

1. I'm taking vitamins to stabilize my nutrients (and I have started a very healthy eating program that's online...when I move back to school in two weeks I plan on talking to the nutritionist)

2. Drinking a moderate amount of water (oh moderation is such a tricky word for bulimics!) and use the calculator to determine that amount

3. Patiently wait around two weeks (which is just enough time for me to get back to school and not have to sit on a really long plain ride with full body edema)

And of course keep working on recovery! Which is scary as heck!

I do NOT want to frighten you, and hope that I don't.  But I have to suggest that you check in with your doctor about the amount of water retention.  MIGHT be a kidney problem.. probably isn't, but it MIGHT be.  I had the problem with gaining 15 lbs overnight and also couldn't fit into my shoes, and that's when I finally went to a specialist and discovered I had kidney-issues.   I don't know what the ED could do to your system.. but please, please, please, just check it out..!!   And even if it's NOT kidney issues, it wouldn't be bad to run your question about the water retentin past your doc just to see if it may be something you can do something about! 

Actually I think it might be just good sense to go get some blood work done just because purging is extremely bad for you. But I'm already doing a lot better in terms of peeing and stuff, especially with this awesome powerade zero. When you had the kidney problem did you ever have sharp pain in your lower abdomen off to the side? Because sometimes when I'm running I get a very sharp pain in a spot like that, but it might just have to do with electrolyte imbalance and overworking my body.

I DID have pain in my side, and also had electrolyte-imbalance  problems (particularly my potassium levels), but honestly my entire body hurt and I was incredibly weak.   How are your energy levels?  I was what my doc called at that time "severely anemic" due to the kidney issues.  For years I was on a shot of procrit to build red blood cells due to the anemia.  The last year I have been able to go off it and I attribute it all to being a bit OCD about my diet and fitness (I've become an avid runner, but I also do my best to eat in a healthy way).  I was in my mid 30's when the kidney issue became apparent (I'm 46 now, and everything has remained "stable" in that area for some time now). 

The ironic thing about the kidney issues is that I retained water in places I didn't need it, but it wasn't where it SHOULD be and I would get dehydrated.  I still tend to have ankles that swell especially when it's really humid (they sort of look like Fred Flinstone); but it's NOTHING like it was and I'm pretty healthy, and can remain this way forever.  But I watch my salt intake and avoid it whenever I can (that's also part of our electrolytic system).

I'm happy you're going to have blood work done.  It's always good to know what to rule out!   And I'm also happy to hear you admit that you are overworking your body!  Our bodies sometimes know better than our brains what is too much, and we have to learn to listen to them and give them a break when they need it. 

Please forgive me if I'm being presumptuous, but in your recovery from the ED, is overburdening your body with excercise part of the problem; that is, if it's not done in a healthy way with enough calories to support the effort? 

PLEASE get that bloodwork done, and perhaps check with your doc about your excercise routine as well!!