My name is Brittany, and I am recovering from an eating disorder.
My Story
I was fifteen the day that I first purged. I had just eaten a large meal and felt "too full", so I went to the bathroom and got rid of the food I had eaten. After I did that, I felt better. This started a horrible existence which I would have no control over.
I created a daily routine for myself. I would wake up each morning, eat my breakfast, purge, do the exercise plan I had created for myself, go to school and restrict during the day, come home, binge & purge, do my exercise plan again, and repeat the cycle the next day. I was not only losing weight, but I was losing touch of who I was.
After many months of living this way, I finally told a friend about what was going on. I was treated by a doctor and a nutritionist, but I never really got the help I truly needed. Thus, my eating disorder continued.
In college, I really wanted to recover. I tried so many times, but I could not do it! I would spend entire days bingeing, purging, and running. I would skip classes and meetings to do these things. I would isolate and ignore friends who might get in the way of my eating disorder. I would lie on my bathroom floor wishing I would die as my heart beat irregularly and I suffered from extreme hydration. I had an obsessive fear of falling asleep because I was scared my heart was going to stop beating if my heart rate got low enough during sleep. My whole life was slipping.
In the summer of 2009, I went from my home in Huntsville, Alabama to Tucson, Arizona in order to take classes at the University of Arizona. While there, my eating disorder only got worse. I began restricting again and overexercising, and I became very weak. I left Tucson to fly to Saint Paul, Minnesota, and there I also spent most of my days restricting and running. Eventually I turned to other methods to compensate for what I did eat, including diet pills and laxatives. I finally came back home because I seriously needed help.
In February 2010, I began treatment at the EDCA (Eating Disorders Center of Alabama) in Birmingham, Alabama. I gained new insight, I stabilized my eating patterns, and I made friends whom I am still in touch with today. I spent thirteen weeks putting myself back together, and today I am mentally and physically healthier
. I do still have times where I feel hopeless and alone. I still have days during which I engage in behaviors, but I try to turn them around as quickly as I can. I have realized that recovery is a long process, but once you truly put your heart into the journey, you can make it.
My Story
I was fifteen the day that I first purged. I had just eaten a large meal and felt "too full", so I went to the bathroom and got rid of the food I had eaten. After I did that, I felt better. This started a horrible existence which I would have no control over.
I created a daily routine for myself. I would wake up each morning, eat my breakfast, purge, do the exercise plan I had created for myself, go to school and restrict during the day, come home, binge & purge, do my exercise plan again, and repeat the cycle the next day. I was not only losing weight, but I was losing touch of who I was.
After many months of living this way, I finally told a friend about what was going on. I was treated by a doctor and a nutritionist, but I never really got the help I truly needed. Thus, my eating disorder continued.
In college, I really wanted to recover. I tried so many times, but I could not do it! I would spend entire days bingeing, purging, and running. I would skip classes and meetings to do these things. I would isolate and ignore friends who might get in the way of my eating disorder. I would lie on my bathroom floor wishing I would die as my heart beat irregularly and I suffered from extreme hydration. I had an obsessive fear of falling asleep because I was scared my heart was going to stop beating if my heart rate got low enough during sleep. My whole life was slipping.
In the summer of 2009, I went from my home in Huntsville, Alabama to Tucson, Arizona in order to take classes at the University of Arizona. While there, my eating disorder only got worse. I began restricting again and overexercising, and I became very weak. I left Tucson to fly to Saint Paul, Minnesota, and there I also spent most of my days restricting and running. Eventually I turned to other methods to compensate for what I did eat, including diet pills and laxatives. I finally came back home because I seriously needed help.
In February 2010, I began treatment at the EDCA (Eating Disorders Center of Alabama) in Birmingham, Alabama. I gained new insight, I stabilized my eating patterns, and I made friends whom I am still in touch with today. I spent thirteen weeks putting myself back together, and today I am mentally and physically healthier
. I do still have times where I feel hopeless and alone. I still have days during which I engage in behaviors, but I try to turn them around as quickly as I can. I have realized that recovery is a long process, but once you truly put your heart into the journey, you can make it.
