Dealing with an eating disorder as well as type 2 diabetes

[harrygarry95]

Hi all,

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes late July this year. It didn't come as a total shock as I knew I was pre-diabetic at the end of last year but failed to change my lifestyle. Obviously with the C would floating around (Corona) it's been stressful on everyone this year. But coming to terms with diabetes hasn't been easy. I'm 25 years old and have a history of poor relationships with food. I've had an eating disorder since I was about 14 years old and currently weigh my heaviest with a large portion of visceral fat. At my lowest weight I was 9 stone and now I'm just under 17 stone... In August I managed to lose a stone, but with work stress and the current climate I always end up turning to food.

I ended up in hospital once this year when my blood sugar went through the roof. And I've been trying to cut back on bad eating habits with it starting to pay off. I struggle mainly with binge eating but have to admit my appetite has started to go down for this.

The danger is now I'm slipping back into more harmful eating habits. If I binge I take a laxative (Even though I know they don't help lose weight! I can't help it...) I'm starting to skip full days without eating anything, or if I'm feeling weak have an apple or coffee. I'm on gliclazide and metformin and I'm worried the combination will make me worse.

I know the advice will be to seek help. I'm someone who usually waits until I'm on the ground before asking for it. Has anyone been through similar situations?

 

[VashtiB]

Hello and welcome,

I haven't been through what you are going through but thought I would give you a virtual hug until someone more knowledgeable turns up.

What you are going through is huge- so my first thought is that you need to be kind to yourself. This year has been such a difficult year for so many people I think it can be easy to forget to be kind to yourself.

The second thing I would like to say is congratulations on finding this site and posting g here. This site is an amazing resource for us diabetics that I am glad that you have found it.

The next think I would just like to say- you don't have to solve everything at once. Is it possible where you are living to get some sort of therapy? With so much on your plate and you are so young I think getting some professional help would be a good move. If that is not possible then I think you will find that having a place to vent may help. This is not to suggest that you shouldn't get professional. help as soon as possible.

The next thing you may want to try is to simply record the carbs in your meals and the resulting blood sugar levels. At this stage losing weight is not the target the target is to find out how many carbs your body can tolerate- nothing else. This gives you a baseline. Once you have that we nan suggest possible meals you an eat- let us know the types of things you like/dislike.

Take care of yourself. Someone with way more knowledge will be here at some stage.

 

[NicoleC1971]

Hi all,

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes late July this year. It didn't come as a total shock as I knew I was pre-diabetic at the end of last year but failed to change my lifestyle. Obviously with the C would floating around (Corona) it's been stressful on everyone this year. But coming to terms with diabetes hasn't been easy. I'm 25 years old and have a history of poor relationships with food. I've had an eating disorder since I was about 14 years old and currently weigh my heaviest with a large portion of visceral fat. At my lowest weight I was 9 stone and now I'm just under 17 stone... In August I managed to lose a stone, but with work stress and the current climate I always end up turning to food.

I ended up in hospital once this year when my blood sugar went through the roof. And I've been trying to cut back on bad eating habits with it starting to pay off. I struggle mainly with binge eating but have to admit my appetite has started to go down for this.

The danger is now I'm slipping back into more harmful eating habits. If I binge I take a laxative (Even though I know they don't help lose weight! I can't help it...) I'm starting to skip full days without eating anything, or if I'm feeling weak have an apple or coffee. I'm on gliclazide and metformin and I'm worried the combination will make me worse.

I know the advice will be to seek help. I'm someone who usually waits until I'm on the ground before asking for it. Has anyone been through similar situations?

Hello and yes I've been through similar:
Type 1 but went through anorexia (not very good so didn't get super thin thank goodness) then bulimia and binge eating.
As you are finding it didn't do my blood sugars any good but at a similar age to you I really didn't care about that other than it was another thing to beat myself up about. Do you feel the same? A health failure?
The binge/purge cycle was hard to get out of but you have already identified that this behavior isn't making you feel better (you know it doesn't even work and you're asking for help here).
I felt really lonely and ashamed with it.
I cannot remember how it came about but I did get help which took the form of prozac to treat my depression and saw an eating disorder specialist in my university town. I got to talk to someone and had to write down my foods and feelings so we could discuss it. This is simple but quite revealing so perhaps somewhere for you to start?
I can remember that at some point I unlinked getting comfort from eating food and that now food is in its rightful place in my life but that didn't happen for a while and for a while there were binge/purge episodes when I got stressed. Food is not something we can give up and we have a culture that promotes junk food that we crave at the same time as unattainable bodies so it isn't easy but I am so glad that my life is not wasted by an eating disorder and I truly hope you can make a start firstly by not telling yourself you need to be on the floor to get help. Just because you were that way in the past you don't have to be like that today or tomorrow so please be a little brave and as vulnerable to a real doctor as you've been here to tell your story.
A person that I continue to find helpful is Elizabeth Benton (Primal Potential website) who has a great take on emotional eating having gone through a binge eating disorder herself. She has also written a book and has a podcast.