Omg, I don't know much about eating disorders but have you just not got the desire to eat or are you deliberatly not eating? Alcohol supresses the appetite so i guess it would be more likely that you would eat for after stopping drinking. Obviously your eating problems are more complex and it ties into emotion and control. The main thing is that you have aknowledged that this is not right, now you need to see your doctor and get to the root cause. It's good that you have stopped drinking whether u are dependant on alcohol or not because alcohol makes mental health problems worse so concentrate now on tackling your eating disorder hunni. Xxx

This happens to me too. When I don't drink, I don't eat. I would not eat for days at a time. However, the way I found around it was to make something from scratch, a meal that you enjoy. I am not sure what it is, but I can say that it brings me pleasure to know that I worked hard to make something and while doing so makes me hungry. Not to mention it is much healthier than wolfing down an entire pizza while drunk. Sort of what I did last night :/

I think its important to nip this in the bud, maybe see a doctor/counsellor? From my personal experience when I have stopped drinking I will subsustute it with something else that meets the same need which sounds like what you are doing. Learning to find other ways to manage the emotions etc that drove you to drink would help too, wish you well,
M

Oh sweetie......First you are NOT alone. So many women I know (and probably men??) struggle with dual addictions with food and alcohol. In fact, two women in my home group I'm close with are in FA, and several have had bulemia. You know of course that an eating disorder + alcoholism is very very dangerous? Please get help. What is your plan for recovery? For me, I had stopped my active eating disorder 12+ years ago. But to recover from both alcoholism and my ED I needed AA> Its helped me to get at, and continue to shine a light on, the core issues that drove me to want to numb things.
Hang in there. It can get better and you WILL recover if you reach out for help.

I spent way too much time knowing the girls in psych ward who were anorexia victims...get yourself help now before ending in psych ward

I'm opposite, I quit drinking I eat, I drink, I don't eat until later. Vicous cycle none the less.

Good luck

It seems to me that quitting drinking is something you do to be good to yourself. To live in a healthy way. To not let internal struggles run your life.

If you are having eating problems now that you've quit drinking -- well something is not right with that. You should be celebrating your commitment to be healthier, not depriving yourself of needed nutrition. Please get this figured out -- maybe counseling if you can't do it on your own.

Perhaps when you quit drinking and feel all of those "feelings" you are reminded painfully that you have no control over those feelings. So, you grab onto what you know or think you know you can control: your eating. Then you just stuff the emotions more. I have seen this up close and personal with my child. Then when the eating disorder is "buried" and the painful feelings are not dealt with, other coping mechanisms pop up - like cutting?
I don't know if this is how you feel, but I do know that dual diagnoses surrounding addiction are so common. This is heartbreaking and I hope you get yourself into a therapist as soon as you can! If you were able to manage your eating disorder in the past, then that speaks volumes about your desire to get healthy. How is your pain level managed by not eating?

After I got sober I also had problems with eating. I was diagnosed with bulimia a few years into my recovery. For me I think it was a lot to do with control. I had to accept I couldnt control my drinking and couldnt control a lot of things in life and that was really hard for me. So I hung on to the one thing that I thought I did have control over - eating. For a long time I couldnt let go of that. I still felt like I needed the sense of power that it gave me and it felt like something that belonged to me that I didnt want anyone to take away from me.

I started to get very ill and my therapist told me that she couldnt continue to work with me unless I went to an eating disorders specialist which I did. Maybe that is something you need to consider doing? I came to realise that food was just like alcohol and that the idea that i was in control was an illusion. I had a very unhealthy relationship with food and that was what was controlling the situation. Again I had to let go.

Things are different now and I still have some problems in this area which are getting dealt with as part of other treatment for mental health problems. But everything is better than it was. I strongly suggest you get some help from someone who specialises in eating problems. It is very easy to think we are in control when we are not and we often need help with this.

I spoke with my therapist and bought "safe foods" so I'm more likely to eat more calories throughout the day. I've been referred to either a week detox program, a month in an impatient clinic, meetings for people with substance abuse problems, and an eating disorder clinic. I just don't know which way to turn right now. This is all so out of my control.

But really, thank you all so much for supporting me. It's great to know that I'm not alone right now.