Ever been to a support group for EDs?

What were your experiences?

Eye opening ... Educational ... Enlightening ...

Same with other groups I've attended.

While it can be overwhelming at times, I think it's good to hear the experiences of others and to share our own.

There are many "aha" moments that have certainly helped me, and I feel that I have probably shared some things that have helped others too.

I am thinking of going to an anorexia and bulimia support group. T says I need more support in my life, but I'm nervous to go.

Try it ones and see.

I tried CEA-HOW for a while, and while I think the idea of it looks good on paper, they're just not realistic. I did lose weight but I lost too much too fast; my doctor wanted me to stop losing weight, but my cea-how sponsor wanted me to lose more. And there's no room for error.

A lot of the women in it were always grouchy and irritable because they were starving, and there were very few that could actually stick with the program for more than a few months at a time. I barely made it thru 5 1/2 months, and my blood pressure started getting way too low, I really looked bad, people thought I had a disease of some sort. Yet my sponsor wanted me to lose more weight.It was awful and I would not recommend to anyone!

I've had mixed success - a lot of it depends on how good the facilitator is. I've been to OA (overeaters anonymous) since there were no ED specific groups, and that was an epic fail. They were much too rigid - no sugar, no white flour, practically no carbs - and all it did was set me up to fail. But I've since found an ED group that caters to people with all three forms of ED and I really like it a lot. We do talk about food behaviors and offer each other suggestions, but more than that - for me it's a place where I don't have to hide my ED. I can say that I ate lunch and it terrified me because they put cheese on my food, and everyone looks sympathetic, instead of looking at me like I suddenly became a bug.

As everyone says, try it for a bit and see if you click with the group. It might be very helpful.

Bub

I'm going to an ED clinic, an ED psychiatrist, and I go to OA for support. Within the next month or two I will begin a psychotherapy group specifically for people recovering from EDs. I find that it all helps in different ways. And I think that it's helpful to have a multidimensional approach. For me it's not enough to just have one of these things without the others. Usually you have to take what you like and leave the rest. But it's worth it to investigate all your options, I think.