Bulimia

Wow! I had no idea one could have them both together! Do they not argue with each other! Could you explain how it happens @Jogreen21, Thanks

Do you have any counseling support available to you? I think the first step is just noticing what you're eating. Can you write down, somewhere for yourself, not online what you ate yesterday and then write your BG number afterwards. Have you planned a menu for today? Can you make sure that you have healthy choices available today and just note what you actually do eat?

Jogreen21 said:

Its a case of I either eat or I don't.if I do eat the bulimia takes over and sometimes I just don't eat,hence the anorexia.my doctors very old school and expects me to go home and have a good meal. . . . if only.my body is so mixed up I cannot control my sugar levels.I have a strange eating disorder really as sometimes I'll put a dish of frozen veg in microwave and eat it,I then eat it every day or so maybe for 2/3wks then change to maybe mushrooms and so it goes on.I desperately need to get better but I've been like it for years.I sometimes binge which I hate,I've been sick so many times my stomach rejects food as a "normal" I just don't know what to do as I'm so scared my diabetes2 worsens.thanx for asking about it,I've only spoken openly about it for a year.

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Is there any soothing food you can eat in moderation? Do you have anything planned for your next meal?

I am going to tag @daisy1 for you with information that we give all newcomers. I sometimes overeat raw carrots-it probably doesn't rise to binge levels because they are a lot of work to eat-and they are so low carb it does not really effect my blood sugar very much-but I find the crunch and mouth feel very satisfying. I can not have candy in the house. I will definitely eat it within a day or so.

Hello @Jogreen21 welcome to the forum Sorry to hear of what you are going through, have you asked your GP about Cognitive Behavioural Therapy ? Because you've been experiencing this for so long you need support which will help you retrain your thinking and attitude to food, getting support to help you should be your focus, so if you haven't already discussed therapy with your GP please speak to them about this, good luck.

Jogreen21 said:

I know I've brought this on myself and I don't plan meals as a meal is too much for me to eat.yesterday I ate a small bowl of sweetcorn heated in microwave around 3-30pm then at 8pm I ate 2 small slices of Madeira cake and vomited soon after eating it.I've asked my doctor for help and he said he'd refer me but I have to meet 'the critetia' to get any help.I'm truly desperate,I had a hip replacement 8 wks ago and waiting for other one to be done after Xmas,I have osteoporosis brought on by the eating disorder.strange as it seems I feel better telling a stranger like you,I can get it off my chest.thankyouxx

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You are very welcome my friend!

Jogreen21 said:

How am I expected to be able to control my type2 when I have bulimia.my doctor won't listen,I'm testing myself and today was 13.7.I also suffer with anorexia which I've had all my adult life (I'm female 58yrs)I desperately need help.thankyou in advance x

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Oh boy, that must take a lot of mental strength to cope with.

The only thing I could suggest is to fill the cupboards with low carb foods - all sorts, so there's always something enough to tempt you with. If you 'fall off the wagon' and binge, then at least you won't compound the effect and suffer with blood glucose spikes as a result. I would encourage you to try to stop this habit and take better care of yourself - but you already know that you should.

Make sure you get all the support you need, and I wish you courage and determination.x

Jogreen21 said:

I need someone to advise me what foods I should be eating to help me sort the diabetes,just so I can try them a little at a time.I'm full of flu at moment so feeling rather down and don't want to eat anything but I know I must eat something so its probably veg again.

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You can eat meat, fish, vegetables that grow above ground, cheese, cottage cheese, kippers, anything made with almond flour, eggs and even Dark Chocolate (in small amounts). So it gives you a lot of choice. I suspect that you live on your own and it can be difficult to cook for one at times. You could start your day with bacon and eggs. Have a coffee with cream mid morning. Then home made vegetable soup for your mid day meal with a small Low Carb roll https://www.dietdoctor.com/recipes/the-low-carb-bread, Then for your dinner you could have some chicken with the skin on with some courgettes and/or aubergine baked with cheese on and a small amount of carrots. I think you might have another coffee in there too. It would probably come to about 10 - 15 carbs total for your day. And not very calorific either!

Jogreen21 said:

I need someone to advise me what foods I should be eating to help me sort the diabetes,just so I can try them a little at a time.I'm full of flu at moment so feeling rather down and don't want to eat anything but I know I must eat something so its probably veg again.

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There's loads of advice on the forum for low carb foods - take a look around, or I'm sure someone will post soon with more advice.
As a quick fix - Try Avocado, a big slab of Cheese, a bag of nuts, or a few slices of ham.

Of course you can try the 'Eat to your Meter'. Test your BS before you eat something and then test again 1hr after your first bite and then again at two hours. This will show you if you can eat something..no spike... or can not eat it, a spike of more than 2.00mmol after two hours! Apologies if this is not correct folks!

In all I would say enjoy what you can eat... make sure you have enough protein, enough fat and the carbs you need within a reasonable amount. Some stay under 50g carbs... some under 20g and others under 100g per day. Happy eating @Jogreen21

Jogreen21 said:

Thanx people,I can't eat nuts as I will go into anaphylactic shock but I'm really going to try to eat something.I like cheese so thats a start and I'm going to look for other foods I may be able to tolerate. X x

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Well done x

@Jogreen21

Hello and welcome to the forum As mentioned above, here is the basic information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. It will give you some ideas about which foods you could try to see the effect on you. Ask more questions when you need to and someone will be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 220,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

Gosh @Jogreen21 , that's quite a package you're juggling there.

Firstly, I'll ask you to try not to panic, as experiences tells me, it doesn't usually help.

Having got that out of the way I'll try to help where I can. Whilst I have never suffered from bulimia, some years ago now, I did become very unwell through anorexia, but thankfully, I managed to move past it, after some time and treatment. To be perfectly frank, when diagnosed my greatest fear, bearing in mind it became clear a dietary change was on the cards, was that the controlled eating (to bring my T2 into line) would reignite my anorexic behaviour, but I have been fortunate that didn't happen. I just kept thinking back to a conversation with a psychiatrist (back towards the end of my treatment for anorexia) who "reassured" me that a recurrence would be less likely as time went on as folks, if they are going to have another addiction type of disorder (in my case, the addiction to not eating) tend to move onto a new form of addiction - like alcohol, gambling or whatever. Thus far that hasn't happened, but I do remain vigilant. But, enough about me!

My comment on your initial post would be to ask if you believe you meet the criteria your GP describes for treatment for your anorexia? If so, is it a matter of time until you hear about an appointment for some help, or don't you meet the criteria? It's a real pain if you don't hit the criteria, and certainly utterly frustrating for you.

Moving onto your day to day eating. The repetitive eating is fairly typical of the sort of controlled eating disorder you have (I won't bother to tell you how I used top "manage" myself whilst unwell, but I didn't have massive variety in my eating either), and to be honest, if it makes you feel more comfortable about embracing some glucose control, I would reassure you that there are regularly people who end up here (not anorexics) who have limited diets for a plethora of reasons. Clearly, though, it's important that you have an adequate range of nutrients to support decent health.

As @ellagy has suggested there is a wide range of foods we can have, so it could be helpful to look at the list she posted up, or on some of the other threads on the forum and see if there's anything you actually fancy eating. The reality is that for most of us embracing T2, the hard reality is we need to really moderate (if not give up) starchy foods, but as you are already testing, that will give you an idea of what's friendlier to your blood numbers than other stuff. It's important to pay heed to those scores.

I can really only urge you to take this steady. I'm sure you're probably still recovering from your first hip op, and your cold won't be helping keep your spirits up. To top it all, having a cold may also have elevated your blood scores a bit, as it often does.

Please to try to identify something nourishing you can eat - even if it's repetitive for a few days. Even if it's what most of us might consider to be an element of a meal, actually eating nourishing food would be a great step forward. I don't know if you like eggs, but if I'm feeling a bit off colour, I'll sometimes fancy scrambled eggs or an omelette. Both of those are highly nourishing and very, very blood sugar friendly. As you know, right now it's a great time to keep the protein going in to aid your healing.

Finally, Jo, if you feel your GP isn't sympathetic whenever you seek help, is there another in the same practice, or even one of the nurses whose ear may be more attuned to your situation? I'm not suggesting for a moment your GP is sexist, or that "men have no idea", but if there is a female GP, she could be more likely to have either had personal experience of an eating disorder (they're incredibly common as you know) herself, or know someone personally who has fought the fight themselves.

I'll help you where I can, but I'm not a counsellor or massively (aside from personal experience obviously) well equipped to help you.

I do hope you manage to find a positive way to edge forward soon. Don't be too impatient though. It took a long time to arrive where you are, so it's only fair to accept the route back to a better place could take a little while too.

What are you writig? if the doctor will not listen yo you, just change a doctor.... it's a misunderstanding.