Has a change in diet helped your disorder?

I eliminated caffeine out of my diet the day I nearly passed out through anxiety after drinking coffee. It had been a slow process, I noticed it made me feel sketchy but put it down to other reasons (work). I still have tea (all kinds) but will stick to 1-2 cups a day and use teabags that are low in caffeine.

Alcohol - I was addicted to this stuff for near on ten years. I would drink regularly (as in every day if I had the chance) and whilst I wasn't alcoholic as such (I didn't have the physical manifestations of weaning off) I drank 30+ units a week pretty much every week for at least 5 years - even if I was really ill. I've drank 30 units in total this year so far. Eliminating alcohol was a catch 22 for me because whilst it made me healthier, it also unearthed this torrent of crap that is my mental illness - I was able to disguise my illness via alcohol.

Drugs - never really a big issue for me, I wasn't regularly taking illegal drugs.

Diet - Just whole foods - complex carbs, low sugar and decent fats (olive oil, avocado, feta cheese). Lots of protein (nuts, meats, fish). I've lost 80lbs since the start of the year, but I was really overweight to begin with. The loss of weight has helped my body perception slightly.

IMO I think you should give it more than 2 weeks because you will be going through a withdrawal phase. Also, just cut out refined or processed food. You need some sugar in your diet so don't try cut it out completely,

Ugh. Eating has always been an issue for me. Sometimes I have to force myself to eat, and when I did eat it used to be any and everything frozen, pre-made, take-out; full of carbs, sodium, and fat because I had no desire to actually cook ( not to mention the idea of doing dishes after cooking seemed insurmountable). Since my diagnosis ( a month ago) I was put on Mirtazapine, and despite it being the only medication I've been prescribed so far that actually works, it also brings with it an insatiable appetite. When I first started the mirtazapine I would wake up in the middle of the night, stumble into the kitchen and literally eat dry cereal out of the box with my eyes half closed ( I'm sure anyone who's been on mirtazapine can relate). Lately however my eating patterns have changed. No caffeine (gave that up years ago. Horrible withdrawing from it), no alcohol though I've never been much of a drinker; even socially. Right now my fridge and cupboards are full of healthy foods: fresh fruit and vegetables, low fat cheese, tilapia, brown rice, tofu ( TRYING to eliminate meat from my diet again), organic flax seed powder in my yogurt......AND I always make sure to eat a few small handfuls of raw almonds throughout the day. NOW if I can just find some Almond Milk that won't cost me $7.00 for 1 litre of it!

I've tried changing my diet a lot over the years but it hasn't helped at all. Even caffeine makes no difference. I drink coffee because I like the taste. The caffeine doesn't affect me at all. And I've tried tests to make sure I wasn't just making it up to trick myself. It has no affect on me.

I can't eat certain foods now because of health problems but that's because they cause me immense pain& trips to the loo.

I've tried all sorts of diets cutting out this and that, substituting this and that, only eating xyz, adding in health food supplements etc, its never made a difference to my mental health.

I always have a coffee in the morning, and don't feel right until I do, but as I say I've tested out stuff and its not down to the caffeine, I think it's just the routine of the taste of it and a warm drink to start the day.

Zerosum wrote:Ugh. Eating has always been an issue for me. Sometimes I have to force myself to eat, and when I did eat it used to be any and everything frozen, pre-made, take-out; full of carbs, sodium, and fat because I had no desire to actually cook ( not to mention the idea of doing dishes after cooking seemed insurmountable). Since my diagnosis ( a month ago) I was put on Mirtazapine, and despite it being the only medication I've been prescribed so far that actually works, it also brings with it an insatiable appetite. When I first started the mirtazapine I would wake up in the middle of the night, stumble into the kitchen and literally eat dry cereal out of the box with my eyes half closed ( I'm sure anyone who's been on mirtazapine can relate). Lately however my eating patterns have changed. No caffeine (gave that up years ago. Horrible withdrawing from it), no alcohol though I've never been much of a drinker; even socially. Right now my fridge and cupboards are full of healthy foods: fresh fruit and vegetables, low fat cheese, tilapia, brown rice, tofu ( TRYING to eliminate meat from my diet again), organic flax seed powder in my yogurt......AND I always make sure to eat a few small handfuls of raw almonds throughout the day. NOW if I can just find some Almond Milk that won't cost me $7.00 for 1 litre of it!

I can relate so much to the mirtazapine comments - My appetite has always been pretty high after an ED in my teens - making up for lost time (except it went on for a decade!). But that medication was something else - I literally was constantly hungry and would eat until the point of sickness - it didn't matter that I was full or gaining weight at a rapid pace (I think I gained two stone in three months, and I was already heavy), I just couldn't stop eating. My boyfriend, who never commented about my weight or eating habits knowing my ED history, even felt compelled to call me out on my snacking.

I was put on trazadone and I went the opposite way - I had to force feed myself (I ate rubbish, but I would go a day/two days without eating and then gorge and cycle repeated) in order to not pass out. Ever since I stopped taking Trazadone in January, my approach to food has been so much more proactive - I only ever ate healthy food whilst on a "diet" and rarely craved it, but it was like a light switch popping in my head - suddenly I wanted tonnes of healthy, wholesome foods!

Almonds are brilliant for energy. It might be worth keeping a food diary, not for weight loss or anything, but for monitoring how you feel depending on meals. I did it for a while and was really interesting.

@littlearcher - thank you

poundpavements wrote:
I can relate so much to the mirtazapine comments - My appetite has always been pretty high after an ED in my teens - making up for lost time (except it went on for a decade!). But that medication was something else - I literally was constantly hungry and would eat until the point of sickness - it didn't matter that I was full or gaining weight at a rapid pace (I think I gained two stone in three months, and I was already heavy), I just couldn't stop eating. My boyfriend, who never commented about my weight or eating habits knowing my ED history, even felt compelled to call me out on my snacking.

I was put on trazadone and I went the opposite way - I had to force feed myself (I ate rubbish, but I would go a day/two days without eating and then gorge and cycle repeated) in order to not pass out. Ever since I stopped taking Trazadone in January, my approach to food has been so much more proactive - I only ever ate healthy food whilst on a "diet" and rarely craved it, but it was like a light switch popping in my head - suddenly I wanted tonnes of healthy, wholesome foods!

Almonds are brilliant for energy. It might be worth keeping a food diary, not for weight loss or anything, but for monitoring how you feel depending on meals. I did it for a while and was really interesting.

@littlearcher - thank you

So you can relate..I've had an ED of some kind on and off since my teens (I should note that my grandmother, who also raised me had me enrolled in a weight loss program when I was 14. I don't know how something like that could be allowed but I went along with it like a good little girl; meanwhile I was pretty much just 5 lbs overweight)....my weight constantly fluctuats to this day....my problem right now seems to be finding healthy snack alternatives (there's always a pint of Tiger Tail ice cream in the freezer, but now there's also a bag of frozen berries). I can't live without chocolate. I just can't. So I started freezing chocolate pudding cups. Almost like frozen yogurt. But sometimes that isn't enough. Not craving anything salty..just the dang sweets!!!! Although I'm eating fruit to snack on during the day it's at night when the cravings are the worst. There's been evenings when in my haze I've thought about eating sugar right out of the bag...as grateful as I am it's working with maintaining my moods it's annoying what it does to your appetite. Thanks for the idea of a food diary. It's a brilliant idea.