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Type 2 with eating disorder

stephbospoon

Member
Messages
7
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi I have been diagnosed for a year with Type 2 and also have a long standing eating disorder, where I eat nothing until I'm starving hungry and then binge on sugary food. This is usually as a result of external stress and anxiety. I've had CBT to deal with the negative thoughts that cause this behaviour and was doing really well until the Type 2 diagnosis. My BMI is 50+ and I need to lose weight - this was challenging enough with an ED but the addition of diabetes has pushed me over the edge this past couple of weeks.
Have any of you lovely people been or are in a similar situation? It can seem overwhelming having to choose between managing blood glucose and losing weight. I don't think cutting out carbs is going to work with me as I will just spite eat them! I really hate this way of thinking, but I guess I'm just going to have to deal with it!!
 

Steph - There are many people, including T2s, who have difficult relationships with food, including binge eating and disordered eating.

Personally, I didn't have a lot of weight to lose when diagnosed, but as I managed my bloods my spare poundage dropped off, and I'm now very slight. I never set out to lose weight, but managing my bloods, it just sort of happened.

Almost everyone has a period of missing carbs when they reduce them, but one thing many agree on is if you can see through that brief period of almost withdrawal the taste buds so often change and the sweet stuff doesn't have the same lure.

Additionally, there are many, many low-carb recipes for cake, biscuits, chocolate truffles and so on, meaning it is possible to be able to still actually eat sweet tasting things, but without the sugar.

Do you live in a family situation, or on your own? Either way that can make things easier and/or tickier.

Personally, I had an ED back in my late 20s (many moons ago now), so I do understand how these things can really get a hold on us.
 
 
Thanks @AndBreathe oddly the food I eat when I binge I don't really like - chocolate and sweets - but I find it hard to feel full if I don't eat things like oats, potatoes, pasta etc. I spent a miserable year doing Smart Points (weight watchers) which is very low carb and I felt terrible for 12 months and actually gained weight. I felt my whole body sigh with relief when I had a meal with potatoes in! Just got a blood glucose monitor so am going to see how my current diet affects it. I think I've decided that getting a handle on the ED is going to have to take priority over the blood glucose. All the talk of LCHF etc is massively triggering for me. We've been talking about it at Diabetes group and as a result I have been bingeing on sugar for the past two weeks. It's annoying but is what happens with the ED. I feel like The diabetes course has been useful but unfortunately has made me take a fair few steps backwards in my ED recovery.
 
Many of the symptoms you are experiencing are just that symptoms!
Each and every one can be controlled by lowering your carbs enough not to have them! You probably have not the will power to do it but it can be done and my condition has so many symptoms, it is similar to yours but much more serious.
I tried all the diets except the one that worked for me. I do a very low carb diet, that relieved my symptoms and I lost weight and my health has improved dramatically.
I had to do this because if I didn't I would have been seriously ill!
My ED was constant hunger, I couldn't satisfy my appetite, I ate and ate!
I fasted and the hunger went away!
Now, I eat when I want, not to hunger or regimen, I use intermittent fasting and that really helps with control. But very low carbing is so good for symptoms that you describe.
I lost nearly six stone over the past three years and I'm fitter and healthier than for decades.
It can be done, I did it!

There is no reason why you can't!
 

To be honest, I find potatoes one of the easiest things to swap out of foods. Cauli rice is enormously filling. Cauli mash can be very like it's carb-filled cousin to taste and in texture.

There have been several people comment on how WW or Slimming World) didn't work for them, and indeed, like yourself @zand gained weight during her time there.

I know the ED v diabetes regulation may seem like a battle, but trust me on this one, many people have stated that after a short while they no longer felt quite so driven to self-sabotage.

I can think of one member in particular who talked about her disordered eating issues very candidly, but I haven't seen her post for an age. I'll see if I can find some of her content. You might find it an interesting read, if I can find it.
 
The first 3 days are the hardest. There are many of us on here with ED's, of various types. I found that after the first three days or so, the carb cravings begin to get less. But, like an alcoholic with drinking, if I have a bit of carby sweet stuff again, I have to battle the three day cravings.
 

There are several threads about emotional eating and eating disorder here: http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/category/emotional-and-mental-health.74/ I hope you find something useful there.
 
You're not alone.
And by jove you have come to the right place for support!

I'm still wrestling with proteins but definitely have my head and cravings around carbs now.
Its all a learning kerb.
Knowledge is power.
Read through some threads regarding losing weight, especially testamonials. They are wicked!

Read, ask questions and tell us when days are the hardest. We are here for you!
 
AndBreathe said:
There have been several people comment on how WW or Slimming World) didn't work for them, and indeed, like yourself @zand gained weight during her time there.
Click to expand...

Yes I gained weight at WW, but by the time I was given free SW sessions by my GP I had learned my lesson that these type of diets didn't work for me. I went to SW for the weigh in only and I followed LCHF (without telling them) . I lost over 10% of my bodyweight in the 6 months I was there. Sadly though my weightloss has mostly stalled since then, although the weight I lost in those 6 months has stayed off so at least I have stopped yo-yo dieting.

I think you will be surprised how good you feel when you reduce carbs. The great thing about LCHF is that if you are hungry you can eat, but you feel less hungry with fewer carbs anyway. After a while you realise that most of the high carb things are just bland stodge anyway and when you get to that point it is much easier to manage to live without them.
 
Thanks guys. I had a lot of success with slimming world- lost 5 stone doing green days (pasta rice and potatoes for the uninitiated, with lots of fruit and veg) but can't face doing it again, and even though I lost it slowly over a few years, I then put it back on over a few years . Will have a look at the threads you suggest!
 
Steph. If I can lose weight anyone can. I'm losing slowly but not adding so im feeling hopeful. Lchf diet didnt help me lose weight but very low blood glucose levels constantly, does. No matter how much insulin i inject.
Unfortuntely ive been diabetic 40yrs and now on insulin. If only id known about low carbing, maybe i wouldnt be!
In the past ive had some terrible dark days, gorging on sugary treats to numb my emotional pain. Exercise (walking and swimming mainly) reset my cravings 20-30yrs ago and so i just returned to that aid when i was hitting the 18st mark. All undiagnosed then but exercise did take the hunger cravings away.
Unfortinately im not in a position to go jogging now but i found it liberating once i was fit.
I took canagliflozin and it has caused mobility problems. Probables bone density or a fractured pelvis uninvestigated, as yet.
I am losing weight slowly even though i have unactive thyroid and huge insulin resistance.
You CAN do this, i promise!
 
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