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My 17 yo DD has an eating disorder. It started about 2 years ago (same time as WH cheating, coincidence?) But first she was anorexic for a year, then this past year binge eating. She just got out of an inpatient eating disorder clinic. Doing ok so far, but I wonder if any of you have a child with an eating disorder and how you handle it. We've been to family therapy a few times, but with schedules and money we discontinued.

(((DD & letitout)))

I haven't been through this, but wanted to send hugs and strength.

(((((letitout and DD)))))

I would like to send hugs also.

I think continued therapy is very important, if there is any way you can swing it.

I'll be sending good thoughts.

((((hugs)))) I have not had this issue in my family, but I do have a friend who is going through it with her 17 yo daughter. Continued therapy is so key to successful recovery.

Thanks for your support and advise. I know we need to get into family therapy, and DD was going to IC for a while, I'm in IC, my H may be in IC, and MC will be starting soon. It's a bit overwhelming and expensive. But you know, you do what you half to do.

I went through this with my older sister....she became anorexic when her marriage ended due to infidelity.

She was painfully thin, but would not eat....it was the only thing she felt she could control in her life was what she did or did not eat....everything else seemed to be spinning out of control for her....

We worked with her to help her reach a point where she felt she had a little better grip on things, but when she wanted to start eating again everything she ate came right back up again....

It took a long time, a lot of love and patience and some counselling for her to get her to a point where she was a healthy weight again.

To this day she stops eating if stressed or upset and her weight plummets down to a dangerously low number....

He current husband is loving, patient and keeps a close eye on her eating and exercise routine...he will call her on it if he sees that she is dropping weight, and brings it to all of our attention so we can work with him to help her stay healthy....

It is a very difficult thing to watch, and can do so much damage to their bodies while they are not eating properly/at all....hang in there with your daughter and keep her honest about what she is eating, how much she is exercising, if she is binging/vomitting....when it is a secret it easy for them to get very far off track....HUGS

(((letitout, and DD)))

As you probably already know this is a similar disorder to cutting, and OCD. It takes a lot of vigilance, and constant follow up. I have also seen that it can rear its ugly head again anytime that person is under extreme stress.

Learning and consistently implementing other ways of managing the stress is key.

I personally do not have a child with an eating disorder, but my oldest niece walks a fine line with this. She was worse in high school, dancer, athlete, honor student, perfect GPA, on and on. She would tend to have very strange eating habits, now she is getting ready to start her sophomore year of college, and lives on her own. Her eating habits have improved, still eats very clean, lots of fresh fruit, veggies, and only very lean protein. No Fast food, no junk (unless you count pretzels). She also runs for her exercise and stress relief. She looks pretty darn healthy at this time, and I think her learning to accept that it's ok to not be perfect in every aspect of life has helped her more than anything.

Good luck to you guys.

Moving Forward: I'm so glad that your sister has so much support. I know that is crucial to recovery and relapse. Stress for her was a big factor, but you wouldn't know it. I am not anorexic but already was thin and became very underweight due to the stress of infidelity and looked anorectic . That didn't help my DD situation.

One of things we worked on in therapy is she needs to be open about when she is feeling out of control. We don't have family here and they don't know back "home". She has no girl friends, But she has our immediate family support.

Since she has been home for 3 weeks she got a boyfriend and he is the best therapy, and cheaper too! Only have to feed him! lol. He gives her all kinds of encouragement and likes her just the way she is. He really boosts her self esteem. She is overweight now due to the binge eating and doesn't purge.

I'm going to stay in IC. An absolute must for me. My DD IC we may be able to afford and can probably handle Family therapy, but my My WH IC and MC will have to wait. But I'm afraid to wait too long for those things because I don't want things to slip back to the way we were.

Tushnurce: Your nieces story is somewhat similar. DD made straight A's freshman year, cheerleader. Then all F's Junior year and then dropped out of high school. She is now on an online school trying to make up credits but it's slow going.

She never left the house when she was binge eating. Ever. For about a year. Wouldn't accept help. We were ready to call the police to come and pick her up for treatment when she finally let us take her. When she was anorexic she exercised insensibly. Her diet was very strange. Didn't put anything in her mouth that wasn't "healthy" and it was a mono diet, meaning she ate very few types of food over and over.

The thing of it was I am a Dietitian and couldn't stop her from harming herself. It was very heart breaking to watch. she also many years ago was diagnosed with OCD, and currently on an antidepressant which she wouldn't take before treatment because she thought it was harming her body.

So, to end with, I am dealing with the infidelity, DD eating disorder and a DS who is on meds for depression. I am also was severely depressed and on meds. But these stories are best left to another post.

Thanks for your support.

((((letitout))))

I will keep you and your D in my thoughts and prayers...HUGS