I'm disabled with chronic pain, restricting is painful, getting out of bed is painful. Now try and live that for four years waking up at 5 am on 3 or 4 houra of sleep from the insomnia from restricting or homework you had too much brainfog to do quickly so it took you all night. Now do playing the violin on top of that. Good luck. I'm doing it. It's pure evil.

 

( p.s. WOW I sound bitter! Didn't mean to come off that way. But good luck. Find a way around the pain. <3 )

 

I am at the best university in my country and one of the top students in my year. Well, I have had an ED for two years so I kinda got used to this all and I can normally function at 500-800cals. Sometimes I allow myself 1200-1500 when I have exams or tests coming.

 

I've been b/p-ing when I need to, especially when there are exams, it keeps me more focused. There are days when I get so stressed out that I could barely eat and I lose weight. I'm glad to say that there is no freshmen's 15 for me thank God, my psychological stability is more off than it has ever been though, but I still manage to not do any serious harm to myself. Oh and another thing, I noticed that I do a lot of time budgeting between schoolwork and ED related stuff, if you don't plan on recovering anytime soon and also don't want to sacrifice your grades, be prepared to do so (managing time, i mean).

 

I get depressed and my grades go down when I try to act and eat "normally". I have much more success when full-on restricting etc.Food is always on my mind, but at least I feel better when I am controlling my intake.

 

I am at the best university in my country and one of the top students in my year. Well, I have had an ED for two years so I kinda got used to this all and I can normally function at 500-800cals. Sometimes I allow myself 1200-1500 when I have exams or tests coming.

That's exactly what I did during high school! Haha.

 

I'm on top off class and I restrict heavily, if you can learn to study with an empty stomache, it's all good

 

I went to a near ivy (lol) and I guess I could tell you that, from what I've seen, the people w/ eating disorders who actually graduate do so by sacrificing parts of their social/academic/eating disordered lives. If you end up spending a chunk of your time thinking about food, those grades will be a bit lower. Or if you want to get an A on an exam while keeping up a demanding exercise schedule, you'll begin to isolate and feel estranged in a new place.

I really don't want to sound discouraging and annoying and I do realize I'm on MPA right now, but I have to say this because I wish someone said it to me: Being able to attend an Ivy League school is incredibly, incredibly cool. Go. Seek help and support for your eating disorder and work your ass off in every possible way...learn as much as you can (including how to love yourself, no matter how long it takes), seriously fill yourself up with new information and absorb your new surroundings and meet the people you have always wanted to meet and you will begin to grow into this sort of amazing person without even realizing it.

Listen I know that's way easier said than done and it's also cheesy af, but I've seen so many people get into this mindset where they think they will be the one person who can pull off the great grades and have a useful college experience while still pleasing their eating disorder, and somehow this will add up to their ideal version of themselves. This does not happen.

 

My grades have stayed somewhat the same, maybe dipped a little. Sometimes i lack all motivation though and just sleep or smoke and lay around instead of doing work though which i'm trying to control how often I do that.

 

Not even close. Used to go to UMich and maintain a 4.0.

Since my ED deteriorated, I've been failing everything at my new, easier school (transferred for many reasons). I feel like shit for it. I used to cry over Bs, and now I can't seem to get a D.

 

I have a really tough time focusing because all I think about is food, really.

I went from being a straight A student in college to… well, grades aren't out yet. Let's hope A's but I have a feeling there will be a B or two mixed in

How I balance:

-Never eat less than 500 calories on a school day. I just cannot do anything productive on that amount.

-If I have a huge assignment, I plan a binge the day before. For me a binge is like 1200-2200 calories. I usually binge by going out to eat.

-Lots of coffee

-Avoid diet pills… they make you really jittery and do help your focus. Just drink coffee because you can control the number of cups you drink. Buy a keurig. It is my favorite object.

-Treat your school with the same respect as your eating disorder.

I sacrifice by sometimes eating more than I should for school. But I'm a perfectionist and if I get a B I'll feel so sick all over. So the sacrifice is worth it.

 

Yes. Restricting makes me so dizzy and unfocused, I cannot think about anything else during lectures other than food. My average has gone down which kills me, so as a sacrifice I'm planning to up my calorie intake because I didn't come to university to graduate with a crap grade.

 

Well I'm skipping class right now. I can barley talk to anybody in person, I can't seem to pay attention and my grades are plummeting. I fucking hate myself so much I can't even bare going to class, how pathetic.

Sent from Wonderland

 

My classes are not really affected. I keep myself up with caffeine and just work. As long as it's something you're good at I think it's fine. What I had the most trouble with were core classes that weren't in what I was good at - then that made it harder.

 

I'm on the top of my class. At the end of the semester I may not be. I just get too unmotivated and depressed and school just isn't my #1 priority anymore. I don't even know what is lol. I used to be able to just force myself to do it but nope. If you can try to find it within yourself to just power through it and not let this stuff affect the future too badly, then you should try. Not trying (kinda what I'm doing) is the worst solution unless you truly don't want to be in school (which it sounds like you do want to be there).

 

It did years ago when I was at school, but now I am at uni it's not so bad, in fact I do really well! I think it helps that living alone I can spread my limited calories throughout the day and I know exactly what I'm eating, whereas before my mum would make dinner and that would be all I eat so I had no energy in the day. My ED does distract me though, I feel I have to work harder to concentrate as my mind is always on food, weight, calories ...

 

Think mine have dipped slightly just because last year I did nearly not enough work due to deciding that my social life was more of a priority. Still kinda that way this year, although I have tried to focus more on school and feel a bit more prepared for exams this summer. Tbh, I think I just got burn out from all the years of being a perfectionist and trying to get into the uni and course I'm on now. I'm better when I eat less, just enough for me to be able to focus and not be hungry all the time, but still little enough that I can lose weight without having to think that much about it. I've noticed I don't have as much time for exercise, or sleep (or anything fucking else) so if I don't have to stress about if I'm gaining then I have all my time to spend focusing on uni.

 

Thank you so much for starting this post. I am in my 3rd year doing two separate degrees (and yes straight A's) I am a typical anorexic: perfectionist.

Having an ED will get in your way. I spend my time trying to keep my ED in a small box so that it doesnt kill me. If I eat I cant concentrate because I hate myself but then I get so ill I cant concentrate for more than an hour. Cant sleep so although I do lots of work in small bits how much of it sticks in my brain is doubtful and I forget how to spell or cant even think of the right word

(for example it just took me 2 minutes to think of the word doubtful and i not sure it even the right word!!)

If you have a choice choose uni life and happiness but thats so easy to say and it feels impossible to do. I have just got so stressed over 2 assignments i had to hand in I have lost even more weight and I am scared for the first time that I might actually die because of my illness. I can hardly walk and My heart feels like it is about to stop

I wish you the best of luck at uni because it is the greatest thing in the world

xxxx

 

It's horrendously distracting.

Post-graduate level, at the number 2 world-wide university for my subject area. However, I just don't think that I will get top marks. That internal ED voice is so present, it's sometimes impossible to concentrate on anything else. I hate it, as I perceive that it's bringing me down, curbing my potential in the field. Impossible to do both "well."

Sometimes, however, it feels as though the prestige of my programme is a consequence of my ED ; that I pushed myself so hard in my studies, and need so much distraction and external pressure, to distract from that constant internal pressure.

 

I go to a Russell group uni in the UK (Ivy League) but I find my MH issues and ED push me to work harder and get my grades.

I get 2:1s and firsts in everything.

But the ED cripples my social life.

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I'm basically flunking out of college, but it's more because of depression than my ED. Still though, I don't think I'd be so depressed if I was thinner.

 

I was severely underweight and actively starving as well as purging for the last 2 years of my accounting (CPA) designation. It was really hard, but somehow I managed to focus and get the work done successfully.

I remember b/p when when I was studying.

It was a really rough time and I honestly don't know how I did it.

 

I'm only a freshman high school but I'm very obsessive about my grades. I aim to maintain as close to a 4.0 gpa (or higher with honors and AP classes)so I can get into a good college, and become an English teacher. Once in college I think I'll try to sacrifice some of my ED behaviors and get help if possible, I don't want to ever ruin the opportunity of a college education for my ED. Even if I don't go to a great school, being accepted to a college is an opportunity I don't want to throw away, ya know? Plus I'm planning to get a scholarship if I'm lucky, I don't want to waste all that money. Education is so so important, and I'm honestly willing to gain 20 or 30 pounds if it would allow for me to keep my grades up and do well through high school, go to a great college, and then excel in college too.

 

I'm in one of the top universities in my country (v proud if you see hhaha) and gradewise, it doesn't affect me. I have coffee to energize me throughout the day and preplan my meals so I won't stress over it. I make schedules so I have time to study and workout. So far, so good.

 

It's effected almost every part of my life, including my grades. Idk, if they make them worse or better. Totally depends on whether I've binged or not.