[Patagonia]

I had a friend recently mention my weight & that I was dropping weight fast etc & said something about an ED. This freaked me out.
I'm in my 40's. Aren't I too old to have an ED? That their mostly for young people? Am I stereotyping?
Sorry if I am. Just curious.

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[Blue_Bird]

Hi Patagonia, I don't have an ED but I wanted to reply. I don't think anyone can be too old to have an ED

[eskielover]

My actual first experience with anorexia was when I was 45. I had always been watchful of my weight but always kept it healthy. When I was working as a computer engineer, I played racquetball with the guys at lunch every day & would only eat one main meal a day or add a snack if I needed energy to give a presentation to the military (we had military contracts).

Aerospace collapsed in the mid 1990's & the bad marriage that I had been dealing with all along took it's toll & I ended up with major depression, medications (Prozac) made me loose my appetite even more than the stress I was feeling had already done & I lost a huge amount of weight. Being that I'm small anyway, it wasn't a good thing....but I was suicidal & had attempted suicide so many times, I really didn't care if I kept loosing weight but pdoc stuck me in an eating disorders treatment facility....it didn't do any good. There were several around my age but most with anorexia were younger.....OverEaters were more my age but there was another lady my pdoc put in at the same time who dealt with bulimia. The first week I was in there they had a nurse in my room 24/7 because of my major depression & suicide issues. I had always been focused on not gaining weight but it was never anything that turned into anorexia until then.......struggled with it for several years after that, then with some other major illness & surgery, I ended up gaining way too much....but lost it all again after going through a trauma with the home care person when my mother was dying of cancer just 10 years ago.....I was back in the medical hospital needing IV nutrition because I had lost so much & was at a dangerous low weight...not as low as the previous time but it was still way below the safe weight for my size.....it took me several years to gain back to a safe weight after that....I was in my 50's by that point......I still struggle with weight loss now when I get stressed....& after leaving my H 7 years ago & moving 2100 miles away where I didn't know anyone, it's been stressful with all the crap that H did damage financially also......I still struggle. It's not a body image issue but it's definitely a control issue & when I feel out of control with the world around me, the control of eating & just not feeling well enough to even want to eat, gets to me....being careful, but there are times where it's difficult....but I work hard never to let my weight go below the safe point any more because living all alone, I can't afford to pass out....or have the inability to think clearly which definitely happens when we starve our brains.

So no, in your 40's is NOT too old to struggle with an ED. Hope you can get some professional help because it really can help if it's the right people/person. My psychologist I have now is NOT an ED specialist, but when we apply DBT skills & mindfulness thinking......ED specialist isn't necessary for my situation.

[Fig4]

Once and for all, there is no such thing as an age limit for Eatig Disorders! This is a mental illness.

I first started having issues with this at 15, and I'm now 68, still struggling with s\restricting, fasting, obsessing about food....

[maddnessreturns]

My mom also has an eating disorder and she in her 40s. She has had since she was a teenager but she had never got help or admitted a problem.

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[thickntired]

I read that there has been an increase in older women developing eating disorders. I also read that it can be triggered by menopause.

http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/e...ng-older-women

[still i rise]

I've been in treatment with women varying in age from 13-70. You aren't alone.

[breakmystride]

I hate the stereotype that only teens get eating disorders. I'm in my 20s, so just barely out of the 'at-risk' demographic, but I'm always struggling with either the thought I'm that I'm too old to have a disorder, or worse, that I'm too old to fully recover and have a meaningful life.

Which is stupid because when I was in group therapy, I was actually one of the youngest. There were others in the group more than twice my age.

[Patagonia]

I didn't mean to offend anyone w/my question. It's just that I've been overweight all my life. I've never struggled w/keeping weight on or always watching what I ate. I didn't know this could sneak up on me but now I understand that when it comes down to it, it's about control & that I definitely have issues with.
Thank you

I remember watching DR. Phil he had a woman on she was in her 80's and suffered my ED so really it can be at any age .

[thickntired]

I started at age 14 so it makes sense that the behavior is ingrained in my forties.