Weight Loss Surgery - Eating disorder after surgery

Hello,

My name is kass and I live in denver, co. I had bypass surgery July3 06. I have lost all my extra weight and then some. I am now strugling with anorexia and bulimia. I am looking for any treatment places that work with people who have had the surgery and develope eating disorders. Any help would be great.
** Please PM me for my email address **

thank you

Hi Jean,

Congrats on your weight loss :hug: and :welcome: to 3FC's.

Have you checked out our Chicks in Control ?? they might be able to help you there as well. http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=64

Again :welcome:

kass - first of all, my heart goes out to you.

second of all, are you SURE you have eating disorders OR is it related to the surgery? you're not quite a year out, and at this point most of us don't feel hungry. in medical terms, not feeling hungry is called anorexia, but that doesn't mean that we have the DISEASE called anorexia nervosa.

And we also throw up because things don't sit well on our tiny tummies or we don't chew well enough or something gets stuck or we drink with our meals. this doesn't mean that we have BULEMIA. Bulemics force themselves to throw up - and we don't. we do it for other reasons.

please talk with your doctor about this. you might simply not be eating enough because you're not hungry. way long ago, when i was at about your stage, if i didn't eat on a regular basis, i was more likely to throw up than when i ate regularly. there are a lot of factors involved here, and i'd hate to see you label yourself - or let others label you - as having an eating disorder when it might actually be a matter of figuring out how to live with the surgery.

Hi Jean,

Congrats on your weight loss :hug: and :welcome: to 3FC's.

Have you checked out our Chicks in Control ?? they might be able to help you there as well. http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=64

Again :welcome:

i didnt know that forum was for that, with all the positive sayings on this entire website i didnt think there was a place for people with eating disorders.. i shall go see. thanks.

I'm always surprised when I learn about something I've never heard of before -- developing an ED after WLS. I have to agree with jiffypop about the possibility that this just may be related to the surgery. Having an ED means you deliberately compensate for overeating (by forceful vomiting, laxative abuse, or excessive exercise) or you consciously severely restrict your food intake. Post-WLS patients may not be able to keep food down nor have appetites to eat, but these are brought on by involuntarily by your body, whereas an eating disorder is primarily psychological.

I'm the moderator of the CIC forum, and please come join us if you do believe have and ED and we will welcome you with open arms :)

This is a very timely thread. I was having a conversation with a woman who had gastric about 4 months ago. In fact, this was the second conversation I had with her regarding vomitting after eating. Both she and another guy who had had the surgery done were commenting about forcing themselves to vomit after they ate and were feeling uncomfortable. I thought that it was a very bad idea!! Considering how recent she had the surgery done, I advised her that she could be doing some physical harm to herself.

In the seven months since my surgery I have only partially vomitted once(didn't loose all my dinner). Whenever I have eaten too much or too fast, I suffer through it. I do this to primarily teach myself about my limits. I hate being in that kind of pain (cramping, nausea) and most of the time it lasts anywhere from one hour to two hours. But, it has really taught me a lot about slowing down and paying attention to what my body is trying to tell me (versus my mind). I am also afraid of developing bad habits like becoming dependant upon purging. I have been lucky in that most of what I do eat does sit well in my stomach and I'm not having any involuntary purging.

As I progress in my weight loss, I do see that it has slowed down significantly. As much as I am enjoying losing the weight, I also know that the day will come when the effects of the surgery will wear off and it will my responsibility to maintain a reasonable and healthy weight. I want to take this first year after surgery to develop all the good habits such as watching the volume of my intake and making sure that I keep exercising.

I've read about how some folks transfer their overeating disorder into other "unhealthy" disorders, so I think that being concerned about developing an eating disorder after weight loss surgery is very valid. I'm sure most of you have seen the Oprah site, Suddenly Skinny (http://www.oprah.com/tows/slide/200610/20061024/slide_20061024_284_101.jhtml), which touches on transference.

congrats on your weight loss, newlars.

and while i understand the reason you prefer to endure the pain and discomfort of something getting stuck - there's STILL a difference between getting rid of the pain and a bulemic purging. and frankly, having thrown up without warning, this is actually a rather NORMAL reaction to having eaten unwisely with the surgery.

it is indeed possible to learn to live with the surgery AND still throw up from time to time. it might be a cranky tummy, or something that didn't sit right, or not chewing enough, or whatever, but it ALWAYS teaches us something, or at least reminds us about what we need to be doing.

but it's not a true eating disorder. As you point out, however, transference does indeed happen, so it's not out of the question for a bypass patient to develop one. by itself, however, throwing up after gastric bypass surgery, is NOT an eating disorder.

Please do not misunderstand me, as I stated, I have had one involuntary purge myself since my surgery and am very aware that it happens quite often to others.

I just don't want to see people becoming dependant upon forcing themselves to vomit the minute they feel discomfort from having eaten too much or too fast. I think it's a bad habit to get into and could ultimately lead to developing an eating disorder. Knowing two people who have forced themselves to vomit just makes me wonder if they are trading one eating disorder for another.

Hey,

I'm going to have to chime in here and say it is very possible because it happened to me. However, I had a very long history with bulimia before the surgery! I have been hospitalized for it twice in the past. I definitely know the difference. I hadn't been actively bulimic for at least 8 years before my RNY.

What I was doing after surgery, was eating with the intention of throwing it up after. Obviously because my pouch is so much smaller than my stomach used to be, I would have to throw up 5 or 6 times during one 'binge' meal. It was a normal sized meal that I considered a binge because of my pouch size. I would continue to eat and purge eat and purge over and over again during the day (especially weekends)

About 2 to 3 months after surgery (very dangerous) I was throwing up sometimes 20 times per day. This didn't last long because I know my history. I sought help as soon as I realized I wasn't going to kick this on my own. I don't know how many treatment centers are out there for eating disorders anymore, but I found a wonderful therapist and just jumped even more into my support groups and supportive friends and family. I have not done it now in over a month. I don't feel the urge right now, but I'm always aware that the urge can come back. I feel confident now that I will control it again like I did for 8 years in the past. For some reason, the surgery kind of brought back old memories and for once it was 'OK' to throw up. I kind of took that and ran with it.... Bad me, I know!

Good luck!

Shrinky,
did your surgeon know you had bulimia prior to surgery?
ethically, surgeons are not to perforn wls on anyone with a history of ED. It's posted all over the web.

After my WLS I developed a few secondary conditions that I found out were causing me to have days of not eating and days where everything that went into my pouch came back out...even some liquids. I had family members who did question as to whether or not I developed bulimia. But to me it sounds as if a visit with the surgeon is necessary especially considering most doctors require a pre-op psych visit (this is common in my area). Shouldn't the surgeon send her to visit this psych who specializes in medical situations.

Yes, my surgeoun absolutely did know about it. So did my insurance company. I also made him aware of it when it started up again.

IMO anyone who qualifies for this surgery has an ED to some degree. You just don't get that large without having some type of issue with food. I don't think my doc did anything wrong ethically. I was upfront and honest with him and my psychologist.

Hey, you don't have to apologize for ANYTHING. And even if you DIDN'T say anything prior to surgery, what is done is done, so there is no need to assess blame. I don't have any experience with this, but I really, really am thinking of you and wish you all the best.