I have the same story, and I can relate completely. It started off as anorexia nervosa restrictive subtype and now i'm atypical as well - it sucks.

The only difference is that I started b/p-ing and gained a shit ton, so it makes sense, but it sounds odd in your case imho.

DX's don't mean all that much though, it's just a label to a set of behaviours. If you still have classic anorexia in other areas, it's possible the hospital just looked at it differently

Hope you're okay

 

I don't get that what's the criteria for a-typical? I thought it meant you purged/binged alot or something

 

I have the same story, and I can relate completely. It started off as anorexia nervosa restrictive subtype and now i'm atypical as well - it sucks.

The only difference is that I started b/p-ing and gained a shit ton, so it makes sense, but it sounds odd in your case imho.

DX's don't mean all that much though, it's just a label to a set of behaviours. If you still have classic anorexia in other areas, it's possible the hospital just looked at it differently

Hope you're okay

❤

I was restrictive for the longest time as well, but then I first started "purging" by laxatives, then purging by throwing up, too. And it does suck, yes. I am so sorry to hear you struggling with all that.

I just feel like the label doesn't fit, and so does my therapist, basically because every symptom fits like a T. I've had small binges in the past where I've consumed like 700 kcals in one sitting and then purged it right after. I've been given both diagnoses from restrictive type to purging type but the atypical one just seems to irk me because it just came out of nowhere. And also because they don't seem to check how much or if I've even eaten anymore, it just makes me feel like they think I've beaten the illness, which I haven't, if anything, it's become more and more a part of me. So much I can't even tell what's me and what's the ED most times. I used to get unannounced weigh-ins and now I get there, they weigh me fully clothed with shoes on and end of story. Like, what even?

Hope you're doing okay, too, love. ❤

 

I don't get that what's the criteria for a-typical? I thought it meant you purged/binged alot or something

My knowledge is, is that atypical is "when some criteria for anorexia nervosa is met, yet key symptoms, such as fear of gaining weight or amenorrhoea, are missing" - according to the ICD-10. (ICD-10 code for atypical anorexia is F50.1)

 

My knowledge is, is that atypical is "when some criteria for anorexia nervosa is met, yet key symptoms, such as fear of gaining weight or amenorrhoea, are missing" - according to the ICD-10. (ICD-10 code for atypical anorexia is F50.1)

Oh thank you
I'm still AN then I guess

 

Oh thank you
I'm still AN then I guess

You're welcome.

After looking up the code on my letter I feel even more disheartened. Atypical doesn't sound like me. Like, at all.

 

It could just be that you had more weight fluctuations rather than steady weight loss so they thought that was a bit 'atypical' for an anorexic.

But idk. Doctors have a mind of their own.

 

As for the "atypical" part I've only ever seen it described as when the patients displays signs of anorexia but while still having "weight at or above normal range".

I've never seen the atypical diagnosis used in reference to different behaviors, only for a lack of meeting the weight criteria.

It confuses me as well.

What is Anorexia Nervosa?

Anorexia is not getting enough calories in, which leads to a significantly low body weight. The person with Anorexia will also show an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat. Or if the fear is not shown, there is still persistent behavior that interferes with weight gain, even though weight is significantly low. While suffering from Anorexia Nervosa, a person also has a hard time recognizing the seriousness of their current weight, or is unable to see how thin or underweight they are, or the person is very reliant on their body weight and shape for their self-evaluation

Atypical Anorexia Nervosa: meeting all of the symptoms of Anorexia with weight at or above normal range

http://www.anad.org/get-information/about-eating-disorders/eating-disorder-types-and-symptoms/

Anorexia Nervosa

According to the DSM-5 criteria, to be diagnosed as having Anorexia Nervosa a person must display:

• Persistent restriction of energy intake leading to significantly low body weight (in context of what is minimally expected for age, sex, developmental trajectory, and physical health) .
• Either an intense fear of gaining weight or of becoming fat, or persistent behaviour that interferes with weight gain (even though significantly low weight).
• Disturbance in the way one's body weight or shape is experienced, undue influence of body shape and weight on self-evaluation, or persistent lack of recognition of the seriousness of the current low body weight.

Subtypes:
Restricting type
Binge-eating/purging type

Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder (OSFED)

According to the DSM-5 criteria, to be diagnosed as having OSFED a person must present with a feeding or eating behaviours that cause clinically significant distress and impairment in areas of functioning, but do not meet the full criteria for any of the other feeding and eating disorders.

A diagnosis might then be allocated that specifies a specific reason why the presentation does not meet the specifics of another disorder (e.g. Bulimia Nervosa- low frequency). The following are further examples for OSFED:

• Atypical Anorexia Nervosa: All criteria are met, except despite significant weight loss, the individual's weight is within or above the normal range.
  
  https://www.eatingdisorders.org.au/eating-disorders/what-is-an-eating-disorder/classifying-eating-disorders/dsm-5
  

Doctors are really inconsistent when determining what is and is not "low weight".

 

I interviewed a professional at Stanford and he said that he has a strict criteria for AN
-fear of gaining weight
-high achievers
-OCD
Etc.

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Honestly they make those diagnoses seem so "official" but they are so subjective. Typical doctors really don't analyze you to the extend that you think they do (I'm a nursing student) and they most DEFINTITELY don't understand how "important" or at least how impactful diagnoses are to people with eating disorders.

I am not sure what your doctor's thought process was. I would label you as AN-R, but with the lax I know that there are some doctors who count even the slightest bit of overexercise/lax/purging as being different from AN-R

 

❤

I was restrictive for the longest time as well, but then I first started "purging" by laxatives, then purging by throwing up, too. And it does suck, yes. I am so sorry to hear you struggling with all that.

I just feel like the label doesn't fit, and so does my therapist, basically because every symptom fits like a T. I've had small binges in the past where I've consumed like 700 kcals in one sitting and then purged it right after. I've been given both diagnoses from restrictive type to purging type but the atypical one just seems to irk me because it just came out of nowhere. And also because they don't seem to check how much or if I've even eaten anymore, it just makes me feel like they think I've beaten the illness, which I haven't, if anything, it's become more and more a part of me. So much I can't even tell what's me and what's the ED most times. I used to get unannounced weigh-ins and now I get there, they weigh me fully clothed with shoes on and end of story. Like, what even?

Hope you're doing okay, too, love. ❤

Hm, I see...

Maybe it's worth talking to them about it and being open and honest with your therapist about how much it bugs you? That's what I'd do if it were me. That way, she can maybe talk to them or give you strategies to deal with it?

 

There's a lot of debate over an anorexia nervosa diagnosis. I identify as anorexic but I am officially EDNOS due to my bmi. Doctors struggle to make these diagnoses because of the variability of the disease but atypical does not make you any less sick- it just means that there is something (e.g. Binge purging) which means that your diagnosis is slightly different. Also DSM-5 made a lot of changes to diagnosis which may be why

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There's a lot of debate over an anorexia nervosa diagnosis. I identify as anorexic but I am officially EDNOS due to my bmi. Doctors struggle to make these diagnoses because of the variability of the disease but atypical does not make you any less sick- it just means that there is something (e.g. Binge purging) which means that your diagnosis is slightly different. Also DSM-5 made a lot of changes to diagnosis which may be why

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DSM-5 isn't used here. ^^ But yeah...I guess I just need to hear what my psychiatrist and therapist tell me, they say I have classical anorexia nervosa and that's what they basically "document". What the hospital does when they primarily focus on my schizoaffective disorder during an inpatient stay should probably not make me feel any less sick. Especially after the talk I just had with my caregiver at the group home I live at.

 

Hm, I see...

Maybe it's worth talking to them about it and being open and honest with your therapist about how much it bugs you? That's what I'd do if it were me. That way, she can maybe talk to them or give you strategies to deal with it?

That's a good idea. I will definitely bring it up in my next session with her. Thank you. <3