Welcome to PC,

I was having eating problems when I first came here 2 1/2 years ago. I have been hospitalized several times.....actually more times that I can even remember. I have several posts on this forum about my experiences, so will just summarize.

First time, I was on prozac & it made me feel so sick, I quit eating....& then it became a good thing in my mind to not eat.....no one noticed until I had really lost alot of weight....& I am only 5'2", so that was very low. It was at that point when the pdoc I had had contacts with the rader institute & they had money for people who were very ill but couldn't afford their treatment.....guess I qualified cause I was there for over 1 month (right at Thanksgiving & Christmas). It didn't do any good & when I got out, I continued to just blow it all off & not eat any more that just getting by, so I was continually passing out & landed in the medical hospital....about once a month for about 1 year. My GP would put in a central line for the IV nutrition.....about 1 week....I'd get out & do the same thing over & over.

I honestly don't know that the turning point was, but it just seemed to go away until just about 2 1/2 years ago when I had gotten sick from the smoke from a forest fire & landed in the hospital for 10 days with an asthma attack. That was right after my Mothers cancer surgery & my mare had her foal & my foal got injured & I had the stress of taking care of the wound for about 2 months....at the same time, my mothers cancer condition was getting much worse. That stress along with the asthma made me feel horrible, so I didn't feel like eating (something stress has always done to me). Then I went through a horrible trauma with the home care person...the ID theft, the abuse to my Mother by her, & stress with no one being honest about my mothers condition. I was so exhausted & couldn't eat, to the point where I was medically hospitalized right after Christmas 2 years ago. I just couldn't eat, & then my Mother died while I was in the same hospital she had been in, so my stress just got worse. My GP had a psychologist come in & talk with me daily & had the hospital's pdoc there too (since my own pdoc & psychologist didn't have privilidges in that hospital). My GP had tried to do something other than the central line to get nutrition into my body, but I had a horrible reaction in my arm to that & they had to take that out......the Pdoc told me I couldn't leave the hospital to go to my Mothers funeral or he would put me on a hold.....I got around that, but promised my GP to come back after the funeral & let him put in the central line if I still couldn't eat. I was in & out of the hospital for several months then.....& exhaustion was part of my not eating.

Treatment centers for anorexia can be beneficial if it is the right kind of treatment for your situation, but sometimes, they are hooked on their reasonings behind why people don't eat, & it isn't personalized like it should be....so it doesn't always work. The last time, they wanted me to go into an ED treatment center, but the centers all agreed that I was going through PTSD as the cause for my ED & they couldn't help me......unfortunately, no one could help & no one knew how to help, so I find that sometimes, I have to find my own answers.

Hope this helps a bit, but it is best if you can find a treatment team including a pdoc, psychologist, nutritionist, & a good GP to help you with your situation.....that way, it is more personal to your needs.

Debbie