Depression causing binge eating - help and advice needed!

[ellie1988]

I've had clinical depression for 14 years now - however lately my symptoms have changed and I am unable to control them as they are new to me & my previous techniques I have used.

I have gained 20kgs in the past year from compulsive and binge eating - I literally eat until I feel sick even though I hate how I look & want to lose weight.

And also lately I have become extremely angry - almost aggressive. I feel such a strong feeling of contempt and hatred towards others who in theory have done nothing wrong by me...

Please help and share if anyone else has gone through this...

[JoJo_B]

Hi Ellie, is your binge eating a new symptom that started last year? Have you seen anyone to talk about your binge eating and angry feelings?

I'm a binge eater too so I understand how you are feeling. I haven't binged for a while now. I went to an eating disorder clinic and spoke with a dietician some time ago and I realised why I was bingeing. It got me to the point that I had put on so much weight I was in pain when I walked or was standing. I tried overeaters anonymous but there was a guy there who kept pushing the AA blue book onto me and it put me off from going there again, although the others there were a really lovely bunch.

I still struggle with this but the last time I binged I kept waking up because I thought I was going to be sick in a hurry because of the reflux that was waking me, it was horrible. I have had to change my diet because I have a chronic illness with digestive issues and I need to heal my stomach. I worry that changing my diet where I have to eliminate what hurts my tummy may set me up for a binge. I used to binge until my stomach was in so much pain I thought my stomach would burst or I would pass away from the crazy heart palpitations I started getting and then I began to be afraid that I was going to cause myself damage through bingeing and my son would have no mum.

Because I gained a lot of weight too, I hated myself and barely looked at my

body in the mirror so I could deny it was getting bigger. For me, I think getting to the root of why I was bingeing is helping me. It also helped for me to go to an eating disorder clinic although they couldn't help me in regards to eliminating foods for my illness as their policy is not to restrict any food groups from your diet. My dietician did tell me that I shouldn't diet for at least a year and I think that's about now as I last saw her about this time last year, so I am now restricting certain foods that make my illness worse. I do get anxious at the thought of being invited to dinner and I have some functions coming up, and I will be back to work next week, so all of these places have triggers to overeat but I think the best thing for me to do is plan for them by taking healthy options with me etc.

[Neil_1]

Hi there Ellie

Welcome to Beyond Blue and you’ve already had a wonderful supportive post from JoJo who also gave you lots of suggestions and examples, which was awesome.

When you mentioned that your symptoms have changed, may I ask if since this time, have you been to your GP?   Oh and before that I should actually ask;   as you’ve got clinical depression and for such a long time now, are you on any medication to assist you?    And now back to the first question about having seen a GP lately?   Because if you are on meds, they “may” need a review to see if the dosage is fine;  or whether a new kind may be beneficial to you?

Also with anti-depressants they can have an unwanted side effect of gaining weight – this “may” also be a small contributing factor ?   Just a thought – but if you are going back to your GP, I’d be asking this question and if so;   then I’d be asking if you could be changed to a different type without those bad side effects.  It’d be just good to rule that out

Seeking out professional help (dietician) is also a very good suggestion.

And also choosing healthy options (snacks) as suggested by JoJo is a great idea.   Another thing to try is to rather than have the usual 3 meals a day kind of arrangement, try to go for 5 – so yes, you have breakfast, lunch and dinner (but with each of those, cut back the size that you would normally have);  and incorporate two more – one midmorning and the other mid arve;   and that can be like a piece of fruit;   or a salad sandwich;  or even a protein shake;   a few examples of that kind of thing, but if you’re interested, I could give more advice on this for you.  Only too happy too.

Kind regards

Neil