Does anyone else struggle with compulsive/binge eating disorder like me? I have been binge eating since I was a very young child and the therapy continues at age 46! It is a terrible thing to live with because it keeps you both emotionaly and physicaly bankrupt. Anyway I was just wondering how many others are out there with me?

I think most obese people are compulsive overeaters and have periods of time when they binge eat. For me, everytime I went "off" a diet I would binge on the things I was "deprived" of while dieting.

Portion control has ALWAYS been a problem for me and that's one of the main reasons I decided to get the band surgery.

That's actually the premis of food addiction. Most morbidly obese individuals have food addiction in varying forms. How that presents itself, with compulsive binging, chronic grazing/snacking, overeating, etc depends on the indivual. We all have our demons that we have to continue to fight every day.

Binge eater here!!! It's terrible feeling so out of control. I never knew what a portion was. When I heard about the band, I knew it was for me. With the fill I just received last Monday, it is impossible for me to overeat. Hoping it continues this way. Good luck to you.

Also a binge eater. I have finally determined that I eat to feel ...

NOTHING!

food is my anesthesia. I feel no pain, anxiety, fear, remorse or happiness. I eat to feel emotionless. It's so crazy because I don't even taste food anymore.

I have always said, "oh, I just love food." It's not true. If I did love it, I would savor it more. I would go to places where the food is actually good. Instead, I opt for quantity - large portions and lot's of variety.

I am looking forward to the band so that I can have a little extra help controlling my self medication. :hungry:

It's strange. I binge when I am depressed, but the binging itself makes me more depressed because I view myself as a fat pig, so I binge some more. When I was little, I would stuff myself, go to the bathroom and throw up, and then go stuff myself some more. When you are doing it at the time, especially when you are as young as I was, you don't really recognize that what you are doing isn't correct behavior. You rely on your parents and friends to tell you what is appropriate or not. When they don't notice that something is wrong, that is when you start a really bad habit. Looking back, I know that what I was doing was not normal. But because I was never shown how inappropriate it was, it has now become second-nature and is an incredibly difficult habit to break. I don't do it to the same extent anymore (I don't make myself throw up), but I will eat until I am physically uncomfortable. My most successful weight loss in terms of pounds lost was when I was taking phentermine in a medical weight-loss program, simply because the drug stopped me from feeling hungry and craving food. It made that point where it was uncomfortable to continue eating come sooner. Of course, when I went off of it, I regained all the weight I lost, plus about 10-15 pounds. That is one reason I am trying to get the Lap-Band. My major issue with food is that I don't know when to stop when I start eating. I don't snack or graze, but I can put away an impressive amount of food when I eat.

When I read your reply it really hit home. Your story sounds exactly like my own. I felt like that was me talking. I really hope you get banded, I think it will help. You still have to deal with your issues, just as I am doing, but the band seems to make it a little easier to do!!!

Laurend, I could have written your post from my own experience. Now, being banded nearly 7 months, I've finally broken the binge eating chain. I've been binging since I was 5 years old and I couldn't stop until I got banded.

I love my band!

I am determined to get the band. I think I qualify under my insurance as it is, but if I don't right now, the only thing I will have to do is complete a 3-month physician-supervised weight-loss program. Usually, my insurance makes people do their program within 3 months of trying to have surgery, but I am hoping that they make an exception for me since I completed a year-long program in December of 2005. Been there, done that, I guess you could say.

A lot of the people that I talk to want me to try more of the conservative efforts before I try to have surgery. I keep telling them that I know they won't work. I know my body and I know what I am capable of. I simply do not have the willpower to resist overeating without having something to help me. I succeeded with the phentermine only because it killed my appetite. Every other diet I have done has failed because I don't know when to stop eating. I eat until I feel satisfied. Not doing that makes me more vulnerable to cravings, and if I give in to those, I really binge.

Even Phentermine didn't kill my appetite.

I started this thread so that we could share our secret pain and frustration. I am so glad to have heard from a few of you. What I did not say in my first post is I have not been successful with the lap band due to my eating disorder. I have learned the band is only a tool, only as good as the choices you make. You can still binge eat with the band! That is what surprised me after my banding, is that where there is a will there's a way! I am amazed how much I can still stuff into this empty void! One year after my procedure I am heavier than before I had it.....all because of my binge eating. I am in heavy duty therapy now because I do not want to live another day as a compulsive binge eater! I am on the road for the first time to really helping my lap band have a chance to work. Those of you that share my secret compulsion...please know that the band is not some miracle device that is going to do the work for you.You can and still will binge eat! Even with fills..you find a way! So you have really got to be honest with yourself on weither or not your binge eating is under control before get the band! Otherwise in a year you will be like me...trying really hard to start over.

Major binge eater here too! I think everyone has their vices. I didn't become an alcoholic or drug addict...I became a food addict.

I remember as a child, sneaking a bag of doritos to my room and crying on my bed, eating the entire bag of chips. This would be when my parents were fighting or something like that.

A few years ago I was really stressed about a confrontation with my husbands ex-wife, (who was never very nice to me) and I was so stressed that I called my husband from the McDonald's drive through in tears. That was when I finally admitted that I had a serious eating disorder. I've tried very hard to deal with it since then, but I still manage to fall off the wagon now and then. Thank god the band makes it tougher to fall off completely.

All of these stories are as if someone plucked them from my heart. I can relate to each one of them. I am also a food addict and am able to binge even through the band. I just have to change my food choices and the quantities will go right on through. Unfortunately, the things that will go right through are all the things that are so bad for me.....chips, Cookies, candy. Admittedly, I don't binge near as often as I used to and even though I have not lost much weight with the band, it has not come back. At this rate I can reach my goal when I am 211 yrs old. Yeah!!!!

I know I need some serious therapy, but just knowing that I am not alone with this battle is such a great help. Thanks to all for being here and giving me a place to confide without retribution or further shame. That in itself keeps me on track rather than sending into a deeper abyss.

I love you all. Have a blessed day.

I'm not sure if I am as serious of a binge eater as some, but I've done my fair share! I've always said, "thank goodness, I never picked up the smoking/drinking habit, as I've never would have quit." I feel that I just don't have it in me.

Shawn

You know, I always was proud of myself for never becoming addicted to smoking, drinking or drugs. I always said I just didn't have that "addictive personality", never realizing that my addiction was FOOD! And it's funny too, (well not really funny) that the only time I would be able to stop eating out of control and lose weight was when I would decide to smoke cigarettes in place of eating something. I mean, I would smoke cigarettes for dinner instead of food but I was always able to quit after that. I never became addicted to the cigarettes, but the food was another story. Strange huh?

Sometimes I wonder, Am I a sicko or what? I have thought about getting some type of therepy but I live in a very small town and every time I call to inquire on it they give me a long pause followed by...huh.....You'd think that in todays society people would be more likely to understand our pain & embarrasement..but they are ignorant to it.

Its really hard when your the only one in your immediate family with this problem. I know my parents are always telling me about some new diet or something they saw on TV. I think they're trying to fix me somehow. Maybe someday they'll realize Im just a woman with the same feelings as skinny people. When somebody steps on them it hurts.

I am so glad I got the band. This time I am gonna feel more confident and tell them all to "stick it" ha ha ha ha