Hi, I'm not sure if there'll be anyone who gets this - but I'm a diabetic whose had alot of eating disorders and I'm binging at the moment. It's causing me loads of problems with control - is there anyone with experience of this or does anyone have any ideas on how I can help myself? I'm 20 and I've had diabetes since I was 8 and this is ruining it so much. It goes so high sometimes! Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Hi, MS. Yes i have the same problem with my diet, eating the right thing becomes a big problem.I have Diabetic Neuropathy from not keeping it in control. I feel your pain. I wish there was something i could say that could help you, its hard to stay in control...I found you have to train yourself, try thinking about eating right ,go get some books fill your mind with eating the right foods, get some gum sugarless every time you think about eating grab some gum..i find you need to replace that urge with something else from reading a book to chewing gum whatever it may be, but find something, if that don,t work try something else..and keep trying, don,t give up. You can do it and keep telling yourself that.. till it happens..best advise i have is you have to train your mind.. if theres a will theres a way..good luck to you :-))
Hi I am new, I have the same problem,but I am 61,really hard to give up food you like, we do eat mostly low fat food,but I really feel like I need sweets and chocolate ugh,one thing I have found that helps me in the afternoon I freese grapes, the purple ones, they are soooooo good that way, very refreshing,it is night and when we go out to eat is when I have problems with control.any and all help I would appreciate ,I have a zillion diabetic cookbooks, rescipes,and lots of diabetic sites on the webb.but that does not seem to help.
thanks
linda in Texas
MS,
You brought something to my attention that I didn't necessarily correlate. I am borderline diabetic right now, had gestational diabetes that was not under control with my last pregnancy and haven't been the same since before that pregnancy.
In fact, my body still feels pregnant.
Getting back to the story though, I do binge eating. Ever since that particular pregnancy when I couldn't eat pretty much anything because 2 insulin injections per day did absolutely nothing...I've been a binge eater.
Lately it has completely gone out of control. I'm almost 41 years old though so my metabolism has slowed a lot. I don't exercise.
I also feel like I need to constantly eat. Or smoke. But since I am a non-smoker I never do that. Smoking would prevent me from eating, whereas chewing gum would not.
My grandma used to say "Send me to the fat farm." I understand now what she meant. At least at a place like that you don't have to worry about controlling yourself--other people are paid to watch you.
That would be great while it lasted but wouldn't have long-term effects. I've been sitting here tonight trying to figure out how I am going to survive the significant sugar cravings that I get several times per day, without losing my mind. If you figure anything out, let me know.
We could try to support one another.
Hi to all. I just joined. I have a problem with not recognizing when I am hungry. Because of this I too bigne eat. If I eat 5 times or more a day I don't have that problem. But I have a problem eating 5 times a day because of working. Is there any suggestion on what to eat to get me though the day? Protein bars is not working for me. Or I am eating the wrong kind. Please give suggestions.
To all that have written, I've found the trouble was that I was stressed with the work load from uni - my metabolism is too very very slow because of the eating disorders (I dread to think what it is like when I'm even older...) but my life was literally study, eat, study, eat (and I realised I was eating the amount a normal person could eat and still putting on an extreme amount of weight!)...But anywho - I'm not completely better, but I'm a bit better and this is the important thing. Firstly, I tried to stop thinking about food - I'd previously planned my days around what I was going to eat in the desperation that I would actually gain control that day - but it just made me think about food more. Instead I said to hell with it, I will try and eat healthily but will not plan and will read books, do art work, relax (give yourself a shoulder massage! It helps!), sing, go out to a dance class...etc then come back, and be aware that after you may think to binge out of happen - prepare and say to yourself! NO! I do't need to go near the kitchen and lye down and read a book in the evening. I also found (adn still find it difficult not to) that I used alot of artificial sweeteners because that's what diabetics are told to do very often. I study neuroscience at uni, and did a bit of research and realised how some of these affect your brain chemistry. So I cut them out initially. I also found that yeast and dairy were making me very bloated - so I didn't actually know when I was hungry and just binged), soI cut them out (and later found out that intolerances can cause you to store fat and yeast overgrowth also can result in food cravings and binge eating).
I understand cutting out this much is difficult - I spoke to my mum I live with over the holidays, and we cleared out the cupboard of all tempting foods like biscuits and sweet cereals (and foods I was intolerant to). We replaced it with all fruit and veg (things like watermelon are really satisfying and filling). Dried fruit is quite sweet so this could trigger a binge - we replaced it with small boxes so I could pick little bit. So don't restrict...replace with salads and fruit.
I also found exercise really helped. It lifted my mood, energised me and got me out the house.
After a while, when you feel more in control you can slowly introduce a small amount of them. It's best when you're wit other people - e.g. go out to a coffee shop and have a treat very occasionally and breathe deeply, relax and enjoy it...then move onto the next thing. Drink PLENTY of water, if I'm dehydrated and feel uncomfortable I look to binging again.
Now I still have problems, I think because I've had an eating disordered way of thinking for the last 5 years non stop and have such a slow metabolism BUT! I think things like these leave deep scars and it takes a long time to heal those scars. But be kind to yourself, so many people have this disorder, and so many people overcome it.
Best of luck to all (and wish me luck! I'm not quite there yet!)
Mina
Hi fellow diabetics and binge-eaters. Wow I feel really scared if I binge with the diabetes. I know it caused years of damage to my pancreas as I had severe hypoglycemia for years. I am 48 now and over 100 lbs overweight. My metabolism is nearly non-existent without rigorous exercise. I have been a binge and starve eater most of my life. I controlled my weight before the age of 40 but now it is critical that I get and keep the weight off. I know as I am getting older this will harm my body beyond repair and with the medicines not even able to control the sugar levels, I am in dire straights to exercise and stay on the diet I need to be on. Best to everyone on their search for a moderate way of eating and sugar controls. Overeaters Anonymous is a great help too.
I just joined tonight. I understand what you are saying. I am a type two diabetic and I also have a problem with binge eating. I never thought of myself as having an eating disorder, but I guess I do because I can't seem to stop overeating in the evenings. I do great during the day. I eat 6 times a day except the sixth meal goes on and on! This evening binging is keeping my bs higher than it should be and I too have some neuropathy although it so far isn't too bad. I would like to get my eating under control to prevent further damage. I know how to eat. I have read numerous books about eating as a diabetic. I know that I am not physically hungry, it's just mental, but I don't know how to break the habit. It seems like it should be so easy...I mean, just say no, right? But for a very long time I have had a habit of eating pretty much straight through the evening...from dinner until bedtime and I tend to stay up rather late. This eating has caused me to gain weight and now that I am a diabetic it is even more important that I get control of this.