Posted by CareBear04 on February 3, 2005, at 21:04:41
In reply to Anorexic and forced hospitalization, posted by chaaya on February 3, 2005, at 18:41:56
chaaya, how old are you? if you're over 18, in the US, and not in immediate danger of killing yourslef or hurting anyone else, i would guess that you can ask for privacy so that your family doesn't get contacted. if you live away from your family, then you can probably keep this to yourself unless you have a really long hospitalization that interferes with school or work or runs up payments that you can't handle without help. my experience is that with young adults, most drs prefer to risk privacy violations rather than not notify and get sued by shocked parents. my cases were different, though, because i had made serious suicide attempts and was in medical danger. i think if you cooperate with your doctor and show progress or willingness to progress, you should get to choose whether or not to involve your family. parents can be supportive, or they can inhibit your recovery. you know best, and i would make this clear.
as for forced hospitalization, i don't know what the threshholds are. i think it depends on the person. in the fall, my BMI dropped into the 14's and my labs showed malnutrition. i was in the hospital for awhile, but not directly for the weight. i did have nutrition consults and nurses pushing food on me, but mostly they just told me to drink ensure and boost and protein. i just couldn't swallow b/c of throat pain or keep anything down, so a feeding tube might've actually made things easier, but they said it would aggravate my throat injury. i think that if you're willing to cooperate and try to eat, they like to avoid IV nutrition and tube feeding as much as possible. like you, my weight by itself wasn't that concerning. it was really low, especially for my height, but i've heard of girls with anorexia weighing 70 or 80 pounds, and i wasn't approaching that. i can't imagine being alive at that weight!
i think you can even avoid the hospital if you see your doctor regularly, even weekly, and gain a pound or so a week. when i started seeing a new doctor in december, he said he was worried that i would need hospitalization for nutrition, but i saw him every week so they could track my BP, weight, and heart stuff. in total, i've gained only 3 or so pounds, but i haven't had big dropoffs and any red flags.
anyway, my biggest advice is to cooperate or at least pretend. if you are young and female and in denial, the drs like to stick every derogatory label on you-- anorexic, borderline, somatic, attention seeking, histrionic, making yourself sick, and more. the less you're willing to help yourself and the more dangerous your situation is, the more likely it is that your family be become involved. for me, anyway, my parents have been more of an obstacle for me to overcome in the hospital and not support that i could rely on. i talk a lot and ask too many questions and am really indepedent, so i haven't fared well with most doctors. with most, you have to go along with their plan to get treated. if you're lucky, you can find a good doctor who's not intimidated by smart and aggressive women, who likes questions and intellectual challenges. these are also the drs who listen to reasonable explanations and opinions, so if there is a reason for your weight loss other than restricting, this type of doctor will listen. i think i would've had better treatment if i'd been docile, but that's not in my nature. it's like being caught between a rock and a hard spot, but if you can't really trust or give up control, i'd at least try to try. does that makes sense?
hoping you're well, cb
poster:CareBear04
thread:452625
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/eating/20041128/msgs/452771.html