Posted by CareBear04 on November 28, 2004, at 16:35:49
In reply to My story, and I'm sticking to it, posted by Racer on November 28, 2004, at 11:56:53
hey racer,
i hear where you're coming from, and i'm glad you're getting help and that someone is being aggressive about wanting to help you.i've lost about 15 pounds in two months, some due to adderall appetite suppression, some due to frequent lithium toxicity, and a lot due to a throat laceration from an endoscopy that made it really painful to swallow. with all this, my GI motility has really slowed down, so when i do eat, i get bad stomach cramps. since increasing my intake significantly, this has gotten better, but i still can't handle very rich or flavorful foods, even ice cream which has always been my staple food.
during a hospital stay a few weeks ago, they diagnosed me as having anorexia as my primary disorder. my family and my present and previous doctors told them that i've never had disordered eating habits, that i've always been small, and that i've never binged or purged. still, i did fit the profile of an anorexic-- very low prealbumin (though albumin was normal), body weight much under 85% of ideal, excreting large amounts of ketones (i guess showing that my body is burning up fat because of starvation), and hypoglycemia, and body fat percentage of 10% or less. there are a few criteria that don't fit-- i'm still having periods, though they've always been really irregular and sometimes infrequent, and i'm not intensely afraid of gaining weight. starting in late september when my appetite shut down and i started losing weight, i talked to my doctors-- my primary care dr, my GI dr, and my psychiatrist-- and with the exception of my psychiatrist who gave some practical advice (flaxseed oil, odwalla juices, smoothies with boost, etc), they told me to just eat whatever i can and not to worry. i tried to see a nutritionist, but my insurance doesn't cover anything relating to nutrition (which also makes me mad because nutrition is central to health), so i was more or less on my own. that's why i think it's great that you at least have access to a nutritionist, and she wants to help enough to see your once a week. i'm upset that i asked my doctors for help early on, and they let it go this far to a dangerous point. in the hospital, they told me stuff like that my brain and heart are shrinking and that i would become infertile and break bones and such. i don't know if those were scare tactics or whether they're true. my psychiatrist said that they're risks of long-term malnutrition, but that since my problem is recent onset, i should be okay.
i'm pretty sure that i don't have an eating disorder, but there's some doubt in my mind. when they suggested restarting zyprexa (which caused me to gain about three pounds a week), it scared me. it could be that i don't want to be that sedated and zombie-like again, but even though i want to gain weight, it's really disconcerting to gain weight that fast and for reasons not explained by appetite increase. i think it also affects metabolism. does that qualify as intensive fear of gaining weight? also, what i know about anorexia is that it's usually a long-term disorder. i've never had it before, and the labs indicated recent onset and dramatic weight loss in a short period of time. does anorexia ever come on suddenly, or does it develop and get worse over time? it made me mad, too, that if the doctors really thought i was anorexic, then they should have taken the opportunity to treat it aggressively early on before it became ingrained. instead, they discharged me without plans for nutritional followup and despite the fact that i lost lots more weight in the hospital even though my intake increased a lot. when they took me off IV fluids and dextrose, i lost about five pounds in two days. after leaving the hospital, i kept losing weight even though i was eating and hydrating as much as i could. then, after i reached the lowest point, i gained several pounds in just a few days. but since then, i've hit a wall, and i'm not gaining any more and am slowly losing some back. i think my body has adjusted to more food and my metabolism has sped up, but my appetite hasn't increased as much and my digestion hasn't improved by enough either. my biggest worries right now are heart arrythmias and cognitive problems and also constant bone and joint pain. i don't want to develop osteoporosis so early in life. do you have any suggestions for any of these things?
i'm so glad you posted with your situation and experiences, and i hope you'll keep posting with updates. would you mind sharing what your history with the disorder has been like and how your doctors have responded? if not, i understand that it's very personal. thanks again! cb
poster:CareBear04
thread:421293
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/eating/20041128/msgs/421447.html