Alternative Bulimia Treatments Alternative bulimia treatments can also be essential tools to use alongside your conventional therapy. Some include: Acupuncture – balances energy and creates internal balance.
- Body awareness therapy. A 2019 study suggests that basic body awareness therapy is a therapeutic tool. ...
- Yoga. ...
- Acupuncture. ...
- Relaxation therapy. ...
- Biofeedback.
What medications are used in the treatment of bulimia?
Medications for Bulimia. Antidepressants, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) -- including Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa and Lexapro -- in combination with psychological therapies, are now a mainstay in bulimia therapy. The antidepressant Wellbutrin, popular in part because of its especially low risk for causing weight gain,...
Can bulimia be treated outside of the hospital?
Bulimia can usually be treated outside of the hospital. But if symptoms are severe, with serious health complications, you may need treatment in a hospital. Some eating disorder programs may offer day treatment rather than inpatient hospitalization. Although most people with bulimia do recover, some find that symptoms don't go away entirely.
What is the best diet for bulimia?
Nutrition and Diet's Role in Bulimia Treatment. Eat a balanced diet, supplemented daily with vitamin C (1,000 milligrams), vitamin B complex (50 milligrams), and a multivitamin/multimineral supplement. Remember that treatment probably will include some retraining on how you think about food, eating, and your body.
How can psychotherapy help my bulimia?
Psychotherapy, also known as talk therapy or psychological counseling, involves discussing your bulimia and related issues with a mental health professional. Evidence indicates that these types of psychotherapy help improve symptoms of bulimia:
What are 3 treatments for bulimia?
TreatmentPsychotherapy. Psychotherapy, also known as talk therapy or psychological counseling, involves discussing your bulimia and related issues with a mental health professional. ... Medications. ... Nutrition education. ... Hospitalization. ... Treatment challenges in bulimia. ... Get support. ... Coping advice for parents. ... What you can do.More items...•
What are general methods used to treat bulimia?
The primary treatment for bulimia often combines psychotherapy, antidepressants, and nutritional counseling. It is helpful to find a psychologist or psychiatrist experienced in dealing with eating disorders.
What therapy is most effective for bulimia?
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) remain the most established treatments for bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder, with stepped-care approaches showing promise and new behavioral treatments under study.
What are prevention strategies for bulimia?
Can Bulimia Be Prevented?Have regular family mealtimes as often as possible.Don't talk about weight with your children. Instead, focus on healthy habits.Try to promote a healthy, realistic body image in your kids.Discourage fad dieting.
What is the first line treatment for bulimia?
Although cognitive-behavioral therapy is the first-line treatment of choice for bulimia nervosa, its effectiveness is limited. Approximately 50 percent of patients who receive this therapy stop binge eating and purging. The remaining patients show partial improvement, but a small number do not benefit at all.
How can purging disorder be prevented?
Five Ways to Beat the Binge/Purge UrgeTake time. Clinical evidence shows the longer you can separate the action of purging from the impulse to do so, the more likely it is that the urge will lessen. ... Make a list. ... Find support. ... Take care of yourself. ... Reach out for treatment.
What therapy helps with eating?
Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) IPT is a type of therapy that's used to treat eating disorders like binge eating disorder or bulimia. In IPT, your eating disorder is explored in the context of social and interpersonal relationships.
What types of treatment are evidence based for someone who has bulimia nervosa?
Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Eating Disorders (IPT-ED) is an evidence-based manualised, structured and time-limited treatment for adults with Bulimia Nervosa. IPT-ED is underpinned by the theory that how you relate to others impacts your emotional and mental health, and thus eating disorder symptoms.
What is the most successful type of therapy for individuals with anorexia nervosa?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has been successful in treating several different conditions and is often used for eating disorder recovery. In simplest terms, CBT can be understood as a type of talk therapy.
Can bulimia nervosa be treated if diagnosed early?
Early treatment can break unhealthy eating patterns before they become harder to overcome. You can reduce your risk of bulimia nervosa by getting treatment for other conditions like depression and anxiety disorders.
How might we reduce the risk for eating disorders?
A healthy diet should focus on whole foods (such as produce, lean meats, low-fat dairy, nuts and legumes) but allows room to enjoy all kinds of food in moderation. Stop judging others and yourself based on body weight or shape.
Can a dentist tell if you are bulimic?
Excessive tooth erosion is one way your dentist could tell if a patient may be bulimic. Frequent vomiting can lead to sensitive teeth, dry mouth and red, cracked lips. All signs that your dentist is trained to recognize as side effects of bulimia.
What is the best treatment for bulimia?
Psychotherapy, also known as talk therapy or psychological counseling, involves discussing your bulimia and related issues with a mental health professional. Evidence indicates that these types of psychotherapy help improve symptoms of bulimia:
How can a dietitian help with bulimia?
Dietitians can design an eating plan to help you achieve healthy eating habits to avoid hunger and cravings and to provide good nutrition. Eating regularly and not restricting your food intake is important in overcoming bulimia.
What is the DSM-5?
Use the criteria for bulimia listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), published by the American Psychiatric Association.
How do I get over bulimia?
Treatment. When you have bulimia, you may need several types of treatment, although combining psychotherapy with antidepressants may be the most effective for overcoming the disorder.
How to prevent relapse of eating disorder?
Learning positive ways to cope, creating healthy relationships and managing stress can help prevent a relapse. If you've had an eating disorder in the past and you notice your symptoms returning, seek help from your medical team immediately.
How to diagnose bulimia?
If your primary care provider suspects you have bulimia, he or she will typically: Talk to you about your eating habits, weight-loss methods and physical symptoms. Do a physical exam. Request blood and urine tests. Request a test that can identify problems with your heart (electrocardiogram)
What to do if you have bulimia?
If you have bulimia, you and your family may find support groups helpful for encouragement, hope and advice on coping. Group members can truly understand what you're going through because they've been there. Ask your doctor if he or she knows of a group in your area.
Finding Your Bulimia Treatment
It is not difficult to locate the right bulimia treatment for you, but it may take a little work before you find just the right thing that will work for you.
Eating Disorder Treatment Centers
In- patient or outpatient treatment centers are excellent ways to put your bulimia nervosa treatment in the hands of caring professionals who can tailor a comprehensive program to suit your needs.
Eating Disorder Support Groups & 12 Step Programs
Hundreds of support groups exist across the country and around the world. The largest group, Overeaters Anonymous, is based upon the 12 step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous.
Bulimia Self Help Treatments
There are several self-help treatments that can be powerful adjuncts to conventional therapy. Here are a few:
Alternative Bulimia Treatments
Alternative bulimia treatments can also be essential tools to use alongside your conventional therapy. Some include:
You can overcome your eating disorder
Whatever methods you chose as your bulimia treatment, with compassionate and nurturing professional guidance you will absolutely be able to overcome your eating disorder.
Meditation Therapy
For centuries, meditation has been thought to help people achieve a calmer state of being in which they can achieve mental clarity, find renewed energy, and focus on overcoming personal emotional obstacles.
Body Awareness Therapy
Body awareness therapy can come in many different forms, and some form of this therapy type is usually used as a bulimia treatment option. Body awareness therapy is designed with a focus on recognizing the body’s feelings and movements.
Yoga Therapy
Yoga is a form of physical exercise, but it involves slow and calculated movements, focused breathing, and absolute concentration on the body’s movements. Therefore, yoga as part of a bulimia treatment plan can be a highly useful tool.
Animal Assisted Therapy
Animals have a profound effect on humans; they can project calmness and empathy without using words. Many different kinds of mental health treatment programs have begun using animal-assisted therapy to help their patients reconnect with purely emotional understanding.
How to treat bulimia with aromatherapy?
As with all alternative bulimia treatments, aromatherapy deals with the triggers of the problem. Using essential oils that have been extracted from specific plants, bulimia aromatherapy is accomplished by rubbing these oils into the skin or inhaling or ingesting them as a treatment for pain, anxiety, and improved digestion. Because certain oils help to change our emotional connection to food, they can also be used to balance an emotional cravings as in the case of citrus oils like lemon, which help stimulate digestive juices.
How to heal bulimia?
More people are using alternative bulimia treatments to supplement traditional therapies than ever before. Techniques like yoga, meditation, and acupuncture can help you heal from the inside out and provide you with a lifetime practice that is healthful, heart-centered and connected to Source.
What herbs help with eating disorders?
Herbs such as ashwagandha are used to promote general health and to remove stress; holy basil also helps with stress; milk thistle helps to strengthen liver function; and grape seed works to strengthen the heart and the blood vessels.
What is luxury treatment for bulimia?
Luxury and executive treatment facilities for bulimia and other eating disorders are similar to other residential treatment programs. The person lives at the facility, and there is 24/7 medical supervision and support.
What is bulimia nervosa?
Bulimia nervosa, more commonly referred to as bulimia, is a serious and potentially life-threatening eating disorder. Professional treatment is often necessary to overcome the disorder. Those with bulimia may receive a combination of therapeutic approaches, such as psychotherapy (individual or group counseling), family therapy, ...
What is nutrition counseling?
Nutrition counseling. Those with more severe or long-term struggles with bulimia, as well as those with comorbid psychiatric disorders, may benefit from the additional support and supervision provided in a residential, inpatient recovery program.
What is the best treatment for eating disorders?
Antidepressants, antipsychotics, and/or mood stabilizers can help treat both the eating disorder and any co-occurring mental illnesses, such as anxiety and depression. 6 Medications are usually combined with some form of therapy.
What is family based treatment?
Family-based treatment – This approach helps parents learn how to monitor their adolescent’s eating until the child demonstrates improvement. The goal is for the parents to take responsibility for their child’s eating disorder. 5.
What is outpatient rehab?
Outpatient rehab centers typically offer psychotherapy (either individual or group), nutrition counseling, family therapy, support groups, and/or medication. They are part-time programs in which you attend a treatment center according to a set schedule.
What are the health issues that can be treated in a hospital setting?
A hospital treatment setting can treat health issues such as abnormal heart rate or blood pressure, inability to regulate temperature, electrolyte imbalance, and malnutrition. 4 A doctor will help you decide the most appropriate treatment for your health needs.
What is the best treatment for bulimia?
The primary treatment for bulimia often combines psychotherapy, anti depressants, and nutritional counseling. It is helpful to find a psychologist or psychiatrist experienced in dealing with eating disorders.
How to help bulimics?
Body exercises such as yoga, tai chi, qigong, and dance can help bulimics with their problems of body image. Reprogramming mental processes to gain control over the binge-and-purge cycles is another approach. Either hypnotherapy or EEG biofeedback may help.
Can hypnotherapy help with bulimia?
Either hypnotherapy or EEG biofeedback may help. If you seek help here, be sure to ask hypnotherapists or biofeedback practitioners about their experience in treating eating disorders. And again, tell your doctor and other therapists about the care you get. Nutrition and Diet's Role in Bulimia Treatment.
What is the best treatment for bulimia?
Therapy, particularly cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), is the leading evidence-based treatment for bulimia. 2. Multiple therapies can be used concurrently, such as CBT and nutrition therapy, and may be combined with medication if necessary. Team members that might be involved in treatment for bulimia may include a: 3.
How is bulimia treated?
Bulimia is primarily treated with nutrition therapy, psychotherapy (talk therapy), and in some cases medications. This article covers the various treatment options for bulimia. KatarzynaBialasiewicz / Getty Images.
What is CBT BN?
In 2004, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended that an adaptation of CBT—called CBT-BN—be used for the treatment of bulimia. This treatment targeted bulimia specifically. 8.
What is bulimia characterized by?
It is characterized by repeated episodes of binge eating (eating a large amount of food in a relatively short amount of time) followed by purging (compensatory) behaviors such as self-induced vomiting, fasting, misuse of medications (laxatives, diuretics, diet pills, etc.), or excessive exercise. Bulimia is primarily treated with nutrition therapy, ...
How does FBT affect adolescent eating?
FBT takes the control and responsibility of the adolescent’s eating from the adolescent and transfers it to their parents. With this approach, parents are seen as attacking the disorder itself without being critical of the adolescent. As the treatment progresses, control is gradually shifted back to the adolescent.
What is the Maudsley approach?
FBT (also called the Maudsley Approach) is used mostly with adolescents and children. It involves the whole family, especially the parents, in the treatment plan. 9. The premise of FBT is that the adolescent with bulimia is not in control of their behavior, but rather the condition controls them.
Why do people with bulimia need hospitalization?
Reasons a person with an eating disorder such as bulimia may need hospitalization include: 1. Their weight is less than 75% of the estimated healthy weight for their age and height. A persistent, rapid decline in food intake or weight despite exercising all available outpatient treatments. An individual history of needing medical attention ...
What is the best treatment for eating disorders?
In most cases, your doctor will recommend a combination of treatments, including one-on-on or group counseling, and medications.
Why do people use alternative therapies?
Some people find alternative treatments as a helpful boost to more traditional therapies that their doctor recommends. Many people with eating disorders find these treatments helpful in improving their condition. Read on to learn what alternative therapies people have used in their recovery journey.
What is body awareness therapy?
Body awareness therapy is a program that focuses on quality movement awareness. After going through treatment, people with anorexia, bulimia, and unspecified eating disorders reported reduced body and self-awareness. Many of the treatments listed below also help with body awareness.
How to recover from eating disorder?
An important part of recovering from an eating disorder is learning how to maintain better overall health. Incorporating healthy lifestyle habits and choices may help with managing an eating disorder. These steps can include: practicing self-care such as regular exercise, maintaining meals, and sleep.
Does acupuncture help with eating disorders?
Research shows that incorporating several sessions of acupuncture alongside existing eating disorder treatments can significantly improve: symptoms of depression. physical health. mental health. sense of control and social support. Some people prefer acupuncture because it’s a drug-free treatment.
Who can help you with meal planning?
A doctor, therapist, or other health professionals can help you or someone you know establish new routines. They can also refer other resources and community services for information and support. If you can’t find the right dietitian, online resources can help with developing a healthy meal plan.
Is alternative therapy effective for eating disorders?
The takeaway. No alternative therapies are as effective as traditional treatments, when it comes to eating disorders. But some people do find alternative therapies helpful. Alternative treatments such as body awareness therapy can improve a person’s overall sense of self-esteem.
What is the best medication for bulimia?
That medication is fluoxetine, sold under the brand name Prozac. This medication is a type of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor ...
Why do clinicians use medications?
But some clinicians do use medications as a way to augment the work their clients are doing in therapy. Some people find that the medications they take while in therapy help them to feel calm, collected, and in control. That could help these people to really recover from bulimia.
Is bulimia a good choice?
A Good Choice. People with bulimia have a great deal of choice when it comes to treatment and recovery. They could choose a program that includes medications, or they could look for programs that do not rely on any pharmaceutical support. Either option is valid. The real key is to get help.
Can bulimia be purged?
Some people with bulimia create very elaborate rituals involving what they can eat, how they can eat, and how they can purge. They may feel as though they should handle every one of these steps in the same way, or something terrible will happen.
Is bulimia a mental illness?
That relief could be due, in part, to the fact that bulimia is often tied to undiagnosed mental illness. An article in Current Psychiatry suggests that depression, especially major depression, is considered a common co-occurring mental health disorder in people who have bulimia.
Does therapy help with bulimia?
Researchers found that therapy did a much better job. Studies like this demonstrate the real power of enrolling in a therapy program for bulimia. It is here that people can pick up skills they need in order to control bulimia for good. But some clinicians do use medications as a way to augment the work their clients are doing in therapy.
Can you switch to a different medication?
If side effects are an issue, switching to a different medication or a different dose might help. If the medications do not provide relief after a set period of time, using a different medication formulation might also be a useful step.
Diagnosis
Treatment
- When you have bulimia, you may need several types of treatment, although combining psychotherapy with antidepressants may be the most effective for overcoming the disorder. Treatment generally involves a team approach that includes you, your family, your primary care provider, a mental health professional and a dietitian experienced in treating eat...
Clinical Trials
- Explore Mayo Clinic studiestesting new treatments, interventions and tests as a means to prevent, detect, treat or manage this condition.
Lifestyle and Home Remedies
- In addition to professional treatment, follow these self-care tips: 1. Stick to your treatment plan.Don't skip therapy sessions and try not to stray from meal plans, even if they make you uncomfortable. 2. Learn about bulimia.Education about your condition can empower you and motivate you to stick to your treatment plan. 3. Get the right nutrition.If you aren't eating well or y…
Alternative Medicine
- Dietary supplements and herbal products designed to suppress the appetite or aid in weight loss may be abused by people with eating disorders. Weight-loss supplements or herbs can have serious side effects and dangerously interact with other medications. Weight-loss and other dietary supplements don't need approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to go on th…
Coping and Support
- You may find it difficult to cope with bulimia when you're hit with mixed messages by the media, culture, coaches, family, and maybe your own friends or peers. So how do you cope with a disease that can be deadly when you're also getting messages that being thin is a sign of success? 1. Remind yourself what a healthy weight is for your body. 2. Resist the urge to diet or skip meals, …
Preparing For Your Appointment
- Here's some information to help you get ready for your appointment, and what to expect from your health care team. Ask a family member or friend to go with you, if possible, to help you remember key points and give a fuller picture of the situation.