Depression Learning

Bulimic for a long time

Question:

I am about to turn 30 and have been bulimic for 17 years. I am intelligent and successful in a professional career but cannot for the life of me get a handle on this.  i finally went to a therapist through work and they say I have depression and that it’s all inter-related, and are talking about putting me on Prozac.  I don’t feel depressed or symptomatic of what they are talkign about, just cannot handle this one aspect of my life.. But then again – what came first — the chicken or the egg — am I bulimic and that is depressing me or am I masking depression and it’s prompting the really bad binges?  i have been up and down on this coaster several times… and right now I’m down.  I don’t remember life without this problem.  Now finally had the guts to make followup appointments with another therapist and a psychiatrist for meds… but chickening out… help.. tell me this is the right thing to do. I keep telling myself that i have done this for so long, and not had any serious health problems due to it, and am still on the overweight side of normal, and know it’s a proble and just too lazy to quit, so why go throguh the professional route where they are just going to try to relate this back to some fault of my parents or some phobia or who knows what… yet if that’s the case (and the devil on my shoulder says it is) then if I am anything but lazy in the other parts of my life why oh why can’t i get better on this on my own? I am at a stage when things are supposed to be worked out in my life, right??? The big 3-0?  And I can’t even cook a dinner and keep the leftovers for more than an hour. I know there are a lot of these requests… but please help me if you can. – sb

Response:

I am about to turn 30 and have been bulimic for 17 years. I am intelligent and successful in a professional career but cannot for the life of me get a handle on this.  i finally went to a therapist through work and they say I have depression and that it’s all inter-related, and are talking about putting me on Prozac.

Hey SB,   The meds help.  I felt just like you before I got on them.  I’m on Zoloft which is in the same family as prozac.  It doesn’t stop you from your day to day stuff.  You’re thinking process is clear.  I find I can work even BETTER.  I am on it due to stress and bulimia.  I think it helps you not to dwell on one thing for long.  For instance, you think of something that is a problem in your life and without the meds you may dwell on it all day or hours or whatever.  On the meds, you think about it, deal with it, put it in the back of your head, then concentrate on other important day to day needs.   Hope this helps.   Let us know how things go.    Johnny

Response:

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