In Case Anyone Else is Suffering...
Discussion
Some of you may have already read that Mrs H18 ENF is suffering with an eating disorder at the moment and is currently an In Patient at the QE in Birmingham.
She has take to writing a blog documenting her journey in a hope to find it in some way cathartic and to help others who are in a similar situation.
If you think this could be of any use to anyone please do pass it on. Thanks
http://www.poundofcheese.blogspot.co.uk/
She has take to writing a blog documenting her journey in a hope to find it in some way cathartic and to help others who are in a similar situation.
If you think this could be of any use to anyone please do pass it on. Thanks
http://www.poundofcheese.blogspot.co.uk/
just read a bit of your blog, and theres one thing I think is quite wrong.
[I think its your wife writing this] she says about bed rest, not being allowed out of bed to go into the lounge or dining room to eat?
how is anyone supposed to stay laying down in bed 24/7 and not be allowed to move, that, combined with eating will just put on fat, and thats the problems with anorexia, that they think they are fat when they are not, so having even a small amount of fat would be bad.
unless they are tying her to the bed, which would be completely barbaric, sorry but from what i have read the hospital is not going around the right way to help her put on weight, she needs to put on a bit of muscle as im sure she is pretty weak from loosing it all.
i know i was when I was 6 stone, and i couldnt walk for more than about 5 mins without sitting down for 10 mins.
[I think its your wife writing this] she says about bed rest, not being allowed out of bed to go into the lounge or dining room to eat?
how is anyone supposed to stay laying down in bed 24/7 and not be allowed to move, that, combined with eating will just put on fat, and thats the problems with anorexia, that they think they are fat when they are not, so having even a small amount of fat would be bad.
unless they are tying her to the bed, which would be completely barbaric, sorry but from what i have read the hospital is not going around the right way to help her put on weight, she needs to put on a bit of muscle as im sure she is pretty weak from loosing it all.
i know i was when I was 6 stone, and i couldnt walk for more than about 5 mins without sitting down for 10 mins.
Slink said:
aah, thought that with less weight your heart would be under less strain as it doesnt have to pump the blood round as much body.
That's certainly true in the difference between, say, morbid obesity and people of typical weight, but is very much not true at the other extreme - someone who is suffering from anorexia and who is very critically underweight is not giving their muscles enough fuel to work properly; the body actually starts to break muscle down to fuel basic respiration and brain function eventually. Heart is a set of muscles. As Mrs H18 mentions in her blog, at one point they were scared that she was in fairly imminent danger of her heart stopping. That's why there are eating disorder-specific intensive care units, which is indeed where Mrs H18 is at the moment if I understand correctly. BlackVanDyke said:
Slink said:
aah, thought that with less weight your heart would be under less strain as it doesnt have to pump the blood round as much body.
That's certainly true in the difference between, say, morbid obesity and people of typical weight, but is very much not true at the other extreme - someone who is suffering from anorexia and who is very critically underweight is not giving their muscles enough fuel to work properly; the body actually starts to break muscle down to fuel basic respiration and brain function eventually. Heart is a set of muscles. As Mrs H18 mentions in her blog, at one point they were scared that she was in fairly imminent danger of her heart stopping. That's why there are eating disorder-specific intensive care units, which is indeed where Mrs H18 is at the moment if I understand correctly. Perhaps I should point out that Bed Rest is not as strict as perhaps it sounds. Mrs H18 is allowed to move whilst on the bed & from time to time move around the room as required. It's a fairly strict regime of staying as still as possible but she is certainly not restrained whilst on the bed, that would be quite barbaric I would imagine!
I must also take a moment to say how fantastically supportive the staff are at The QE. this is a very traumatic time for not just Mrs H18 but also for the rest of the family/Friends and they, whilst occasionally make unpopular decisions and make a very rare mistake, they are doing an exceptionally difficult job very very well in my opinion.
The systems & practices used on the Unit has changed a great deal over the last 12 years and I glad to say that these changes are for the better.
By the way if you want to see how an Eating Disorder affects a person read todays post... it's a tough one!
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