As I understand it, you are seriously messing with your blood sugar levels if you don't eat regularly. If you are diabetic, this can be deadly. Your body cannot adjust it easily like non diabetics.
While doctors might not be as worried about the average overweight person with anorexic behaviors compared to someone who is already underweight, being diabetic puts you even at higher risk of serious damage or sudden death than an anorexic is mildly underweight. You need to work with a dietician to formulate a diet that will be healthy for your diabetes and that you can live with. If your attitudes are strong and you feel bad about sticking to a regular healthy diet or cannot do it, you might need some therapy.
You are putting yourself in danger if you don't eat regularly even though you are not underweight because you have diabetes.

I realize now that I am a diabetic I have to be very careful with watching my sugar, however since I have been on medication my sugars have come down. They are still up and down and I know that I have eat because not only am I diabetic, I am on medication, but when I tried to eat three meals a day when I was first diagnosed I became extremely overwhelmed and felt like I was loosing control and I thought it was better to stop eating and deal with the issues from my diabetes than feel like I am loosing control. It is really difficult because if I don't eat I feel terrible physically, however if I do eat, I feel terrible mentally.

I have started seeing someone about my eating habits, which is where my original question came from. She stated I have anorexia and I don't believe I am. When I think of someone struggling with anorexia I don't see me. Like I said before, I just don't eat. I don't over exercise or use laxatives or other medications to loose weight. I am just having a really hard time believing that I have an eating disorder anorexia.

When I seen this cite I thought someone would be able to help me understand what is happening and letting me know if they are right with their diagnosis.


Thanks.

Hey hun, people who suffer from eating distress do not have to exercise or take laxatives etc. There are people who simply do not eat and some people do but very little. There are so many behaviours involved in eating distress that just because you do one thing and not the other doesn't mean you are not in distress.
You are not anorexic, that is not who you are its what you do. Labels are terrible because you begin to think of yourself as a certain label and you are so much more then that. Eating distress is not being anorexic or bulimic etc, its about how you think and feel, its about who you are and finding yourself, the positive self. People who suffer from eating distress usually think very negativily about themselves, its like their negative mind over powers their positive mind and one of the things that you do when you are in recovery is shrink the negative and make the positive bigger.
I know you said you are finding it hard to think of yourself as anorexic but you don't have to think of yourself like that, you can think of yourself as a beautiful human being, who is very intellegent and very sensitive but who along the way got a little lost along her path and is now going to get on track again. Although the food part is there and can be overwhelming at times, sure that is what we use to cope with life, food be it eating it or not eating it. We use food as a coping mechanism for life and through recovery we learn how to use other coping mechanisms which are less destructive to ourselves.
You deserve to be happy with life and yourself, you are worth it. Wouldn't it be great for you to be able to go out and enjoy yourself, enjoy life without feeling bad about yourself? I think it would be so much better then living in such a lonely place.
Remember there is always hope and you will get there, even if it does take awhile, there is hope.
I wish you the best of luck in life and I know you will one day be living a life you have always dreamt of.

Take care!

Thank you both for your reply.

I completely agree with your statements about labels and I also feel they are used way too often, however once you are labeled by medical professionals, it is stuck with you forever.

I wish I could be more positive about who I am, however because my entire childhood has been focused on my weight, it is hard not to do the same myself. I know I am a very intelligent person, however I have been told constantly by my parents how fat, ugly and stupid I was and therefore it is extremely difficult to not continue the negative thoughts around my body image. I am successful both professionally and academically and have continued to look for "things" to succeed in life to try and feel better about myself, however it always comes back to my weight. Which is likely why I feel I cannot eat and when I do I get so stressed out.

I am just so frustrated because I know intellectually I have to eat because of my diabetes, however in my heart I can't get past that guilt and overwhelming feeling of loosing control. The biggest thing I get angry and frustrated with is when I don't eat I feel terrible, however when I do eat, I feel just as terrible. So how to I balance that? I will certianly continue to work with my social worker on trying to work through this, however it is extremely overwhelming and very frustrating. I guess I thought when I seen this cite I would be able to get guidance from others who may be in this situation, or can help with their knowledge about this topic.

Therefore, anything people can tell me to help would be greatly appreciated.


Sincerely,

stich

Hey Stich,
It’s kinda weird but true that self-starvation and skipping meals are in no way helpful in controlling weight. It just makes your body weak and unhealthy. It is very important to understand the vitality of a balanced diet. And, since you’re a diabetic, it is very important to seek a doctor’s advice on your diet regime. Good Luck!

Hey Stich,

It’s kinda weird but true that self-starvation and skipping meals are in no way helpful in controlling weight. It just makes your body weak and unhealthy. It is very important to understand the vitality of a balanced diet. And, since you’re a diabetic, it is very important to seek a doctor’s advice on your diet regime. Good Luck!

Hi
I am a type one diabetic who uses food restricting as a means of feeling more in control. I don't advocate this sort of behaviour for anyone and unfortunately it's quite common amoung diabetics. Do you know what your BMI is because it can be a good indicator if you are actually a healthy weight or not? There are plenty of bmi calculators online.
Please don't listen when people give you a hard time about being a diabetic with an eating difficulty, you won't just die, especially if your sugars are kept low (highs are more dangerous). What you need is support and to be informed of the real facts (research is plentiful on the net). Most people don't really understand the complexity of diabetes so you need to find out for yourself as well as be supported by your diabetes team.
Good luck

When I was diagnosed witha anorexia I felt exactly the same as you, deep down I didn't and often still don't believe that I ever had anorexia, like you I just thought that I had some issues with food. But that was the voice of anorexia telling me that. I think its the voice of anorexia telling you that you don't really have it too. That is the worst and most difficult part of anorexia, it is how it gets inside your head and makes you blind to the seriousness of your situation, it becomes an obsession and takes you over like an evil spirit it changes the way you think and feel and clouds your judgement. It does that so that it can get more and more control of you and make you do what it wants. It lies. It tells people that they are fat or ugly or bad or worthless or that they have nothing that they can control in their lives or themselves and that restricting their food intake is the only thing that they can control. It makes people feel that they would be nothing if they didn;t have anorexia and that thye would be beign weak and letting themselves down if they did eat and enjoy food. All of the things it tells people are lies. You must not listen to it because if you do it could consume you completely and eventually kill you. It is so dangerous and I know it doesn't seem to you that it is dangerous or that you really do have it but you have got to resist that feeling and get help before it is too late. Please please go to your doctor or counsellor or any professional and tell them that you think you might have an eating disorder and need help. Please do iy before it is too late.