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Diabetes with Eating Disorders

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FindingNemo

Well-Known Member
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Some of you may remember me, probably mostly from a negative point of view as I think I was deemed pretty much a pain in the ass and was mostly told to pull my socks up, though also recieved much help and support from many.

I am now 9 months into an inpatient stay for my eating disorder and have a dual diagnoses of borderline personality disorder as well, but though I am a long way off recovery, my control has at least improved due to the fact that I have to comply with my medication (last Hba1c was 6.7). However, mentally I am still struggling with the ability to do this for myself and have resorted to other non-helpful ways, thoug far less life threatening to maintain and reduce my weight.

The ward Dr gave me this link for a charity set up for people in my situation and I thought it might be helpful to others and it is so could that there is someone passionately driving this most ignored, yet not uncommen issue to make sure there is appropriate care available.

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=11071&start=15#p154211

I do want to get better, it is a long hard journey, but having to live in London, so far away from my husband and children is awful.
 
Hi

Sounds as if you have managed to take some massive leaps forward both physically and mentally, and good for you. Your hba1c is great, and you should be very, very proud of yourself. Well done you and thank you for the information you have given.

Sounds like you are getting the best treatment possible. I have a friends daughter with an eating disorder, and it is horrible to see what she is going through. I do not believe that she is doing it intentionally, just that her brain is operating on a different path to mine, and I really wish she could opt herself to take a different path. She has told me that she will have to be hospitalised before she changes. I am so glad that despite you being away from your friends and family that you have got through this, and will continue to do so.

Well done and thank you for the info...I will certainly be looking in to it.....
 
PS...My mum and my Nan were admitted to Mental Units from when I was born up until I was about 9 or 10. Your husband and children will be okay, just as my dad and we were. The thing that actually got my Mum better was when she was discharged she got a part time job, then she went to full time and then she went to Management!!!!! I think it was just me being born!!!-only kidding.....just to day though that I was very young, as were my two brothers that were 2 and 6 years older than me, but we have all survived well, and actually remember very little about the time when both my Mum and Nan were in Mental Instituition Care.....
 
it may be as many as one in 3 T1 women suffer to some degree of eating disorders. There are fewer men, but they're not exempt. You're not alone Nemo . Chat to others on here . opefully you have also found the dwed facebook pages, they are quite active. We all have our monsters, it isn't always easy to acknowledge and confront them. You've done that, well done.
The ward Dr gave me this link for a charity set up for people in my situation and I thought it might be helpful to others and it is so could that there is someone passionately driving this most ignored, yet not uncommen issue to make sure there is appropriate care available.

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=11071&start=15#p154211
Click to expand...


As to the DWED (Diabetics with Eating Disorders), I've followed it's progress since I first came across it. It seems to be gaining mainstream recognition (including your doc who told you about it) Before that I had searched for hours to find a source of help in the UK for a young woman with diabulimia. I realise that it is not yet an official charity (anyone got the odd £5000 for a very good cause?) I have to say I am sad that a link to an organisation that could help people in dire need of help is only able to be accessed if a member and logged on.
 
Phoenix.
We were not aware that Guests could not access the Sticky Thread unless they joined and logged in. We will find out why this happens and if it is possible get the access rule changed.

However, as with many Forum's it is free and simple to join and log in as a Member. Many Forum's also restrict access to certain areas to Members only. It is also the case that as a Sticky, the place where it is posted will always be visible to Members, whereas an ordinary post will eventually disappear from view over time. An incentive for guests to join rather than lurk.......

Unfortunately the lady who joined and posted that information here previously didn't answer the pm sent to her about the post and the website. We have never had any communication from her but decided to place it where it is for the benefit of our Members and for future reference. An internet search for DWED would take anybody directly to the website. It is easily linked to here once a Member wishes to advise someone of it's existence.

There are many useful sites on the Net and I am afraid we cannot always place them on here for various reasons, advertising, self promotion, unsuitable content etc. A line has to be drawn somewhere.

Hope that helps.
 
thankyou, Dan :D

Nemo, your thread had got a bit hijacked, I don't think anyone has said
Welcome back.
 
I don't mind it being hijacked! Just hope that maybe some people who could benefit from the info get to see it. My husband is actually applying for a press officer job for DWED, as he is of course very passionate about it. I saw my own diabetes nurse today, which was great (meant a day out off the unit and 2 cappuccino's), I mentioned it to her and she hadn't heard of it, so is off to check it out. My old psychotherapist who specialises is diabulimia and lectures on it at Masters level advocates it very much. To be honest, I have yet to go through it all thoroughly, but it's hard to find decent time between the program offered here, when you have enough energy and concentration.

Another thing I have noticed is that now I am eating less and complying with the insulin, I am needing far less insulin to maintain reasonable control. Control is still not great and needs a lot of tweaking, but my BMs are so labile at the moment. I can often have days where I eat exactly the same thing 2 days running, with no difference in activity level and get very different results. I have also become a lot more sensitive to insulin in the evening time and have to half my insulin:CHO ratio compared to lunch and breakfast.

I used to be on the pump, but that was taken off me last March as it was too easy to abuse. DonnelleysDogs, unfortunately, it is not a path that anyone really chooses with a clear mind, mental disorders distort the world and the right thing, as you see it, even if you understand the consequences fully is often the most wrong thing and once you are 'in it', it is very hard to get out of.

I have possibly ruined my whole career (was in the last 3 months of my midwifery degree) when I had to take an intermission from the course and though uni are willing to see me to discuss possibility of return, I am stil unlikely to be discharged from here for a few months and there will need to be structured after care when I leave, which will not leave enough time to complete the course (1 dissertation and 15 weeks of practice is all I had left), but I will keep the credits I did earn and should be able at least to work in that field doing something.

I have to get better now, I am 36 and this has been with me since I was 13 years old and I started asking for help at 21 and been in and out of crisis. I am so lucky to still have all my vital organs working well, my sight and my limbs. Others abuse diabetes far less, for less time and appear to get complications much easier. I know this delay does not mean immunity, but I can change things if I keep well now and have a chance to see my children get married and see their grandchildren, instead of being in a wheelchair having someone by my side having to explain it all to me because I can't see. I owe this to myself, my husband and the children I chose to bring into the world.
 
I find your extracts from your life very, very interesting-because I worry about my friends daughter at uni, not with diabetes-certainly anorexic and bulimic too. She has already told me that in her first term at uni she got taken to see somebody (head honcho I think) because she had collapsed three times. She should be seeing psych people but has been skipping her appointments.

You sound very positive, and I would love to hear my friends daughter being sopositive as you. I admire your positiveness and the information that you have provided. It is so good to know that there is help available, albeit the person having to be at the right stage to want it.....thank you for sharing your experiences, they have made me alot more understanding
 
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