Aspies and Eating Disorders

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Hello everyone. I'm new and this is my first post. I'm a female Aspie and was formally diagnosed 18 months ago at age 49. Since I was about 14, I've also had an eating disorder, specifically bulimia. Although I've never forced myself to vomit, I will go on eating binges and then "purge" by fasting or eating very little for a couple of days. In retrospect, I believe this all began as an attempt at self medication for the extreme anxiety I experienced as a young teen due to the undiagnosed Asperger's. I was initially borderline anorexic when this began. It eventually evolved into bulimia by the time I was 15 and has continued more or less unabated to the present day. I've just begun an intensive outpatient program for eating disorders which includes group and individual therapy. While the group therapy is a real challenge for me, the other participants were very accepting and empathetic when I disclosed that I had Asperger's. However, no one else in the group is actually on the spectrum nor do they seem to have the difficulties I experience with articulating thoughts and feelings. I'd like to know if there's anyone else out there who's coping with an eating disorder along with Asperger's who could share their experiences.

Hey siameseaspie welcome.

I was suffering terribly with a severe eating disorder in the summer of last year. It all began when I foolishly decided to try Shaun T's "Insanity workout" in a bid to tone my slender yet saggy frame. My daily routine included performing two of the programme's vigorous workouts and meticulously writing down everything I had eaten, which was accompanied with an estimation of their calorie content. This obsession eventually blew up spectacularly in my face when I binged late one night and subsequently purged all that I possibly could into my toilet. Shamefully this was not an isolated incident as the bingeing/purging pattern continued for close to a year. Consequently, my weight and body fat percentage would fluctuate wildly to the point where I contemplated suicide - for what was not the first time. Thankfully, I eventually lost interest in being excessively healthy and now consider myself to be much happier as a result.

But regrettably I do still weigh myself more than I should.

N.B. I am autistic, not an aspie.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

I have Asperger's and have struggled with bad body image and eating disorders on and off since high school, though I've never seen the two as related. I used to go extended periods without eating because I always felt gross when I did for reasons I've still yet to comprehend (as I've always been consistently underweight). It started wearing off when I got into my 20s, but I still sometimes forget to eat every now and then.

This is an interesting topic. I also have an eating disorder in addition to my ASD, specifically EDNOS. I go through phases of different eating disordered behavior, and have since I was 15 years old. Right now I'm currently in a phase of barely eating and fasting with occasional binging. I was overweight (150 at 5' 3") a few months ago, and I'm currently 118 pounds and dropping. I never really connected the two at all, although I feel my ED is caused by my OCD tendencies that are a part of the ASD. I am also on an eating disorder forum, and I have talked to a lot of fellow aspies on there, so I do wonder if the two are more common than I thought as comorbids.

Hello, siameseaspie!

I am bulimic also, 39, female, and an Autie.

My eating disorder reared its ugly head in my early 20s. A year, almost to the day, after I had my first kid, I had my first grand mal seizure, and the neurologist put me on Tegretol (his name was/is Dr. Trimble LoL!) Within six months, I gained 150 lbs., going from a size 8/10 to a size 28/30 on a 5'2" frame. Months after that is when I began binging and purging, desparate to lose the weight--in part due to the pain it put me in (my knees couldn't hold the 320 lbs. I was at), and also due to western society's utterly misguided ideas as to what "beauty" is.

I continued this behavior through my early 30s with my current spouse, and we've had several discussions about it (something my ex-husband never cared to do--talk to me about it). In the last five years or so, I think I've been triggered once or twice, but it hasn't been as bad as when it was in my 20s: what has changed in my life is my self-esteem, and my belief system about Life, The Universe, And Everything. I assume that is what has pulled me through to the other side of this issue.

If you ever want to talk about it, please feel free to message me privately.

Sekhmet

Hello and welcome. I am a senior female aspie. I do NOT have eating issues, but I do have a few food issues, like
many aspies. I eat a very healthy diet, and cannot stand fast food or junk food. When we dine out, I am an expert
at throwing my food under the table or wrapping it in a napkin and leaving on the table. I do not eat potatoes, rice,
pasta, bread, fried foods, meat, (except for seafood), any kind of sauce or goop. I rarely eat cooked food at home,
prefer raw, room temperature food. That said, if you have any issues that you think are harming, rather than
benefitting, your body, I would urge you to see your physician, as no matter what twists our food issues take,
we do not want to damage our bods. Best to you, Alice

I believe I have an eating disorder, of some type. Below is my story.

When I was about 8, I started to gain weight (probably due to anxiety) and almost instantly developed body image issues. I remember being quite embarrassed going swimming without wearing a shirt. I started to diet and count calories probably when I was about 10. I remember buying a food scale at a garage so I could measure my food intake. While I tried to lose the extra weight, it never quite worked. I would even weigh myself multiple times per day. To no avail. I remained heavy until about age 19.

At the age of 19, I found my grandfather’s exercise bicycle in a storage locker. I began to ride that old exercise bicycle for 20 minutes a day. I would continue to track my weight, by weighing myself multiple times per day. I would also control my food intake -- only eating when my weight was acceptable. If I gained even a pound, I would eat less the next day to eliminate that extra pound. I learned to enjoy the gurgling feeling that occurs when having an empty stomach.

This regimen (of daily exercise, food control and weighing myself multiple times per day) is still with me to this day. I feel stressed if I miss my daily exercise. I feel stressed if my weight is above the limit I established. Fortunately, all of this is under my control. So, as long as I exercise and keep my weight constant, that stress is gone. Then again, it quickly is replaced by some other stress (as simply put, I worry way too much).