FOOD RULES IN EATING DISORDER INPATIENT HOSPITAL

[@paternalfigure643]

I was in the acute psych wards (not for an ED) and they were awful with intolerances. A nurse lied to me once and told me that they didn't provide Soya Milk and I regularly had to hear nurses and staff mocking me and ridiculing me bc I "wasn't vegan". I cannot digest dairy, but I was expected to bc they were dumb and don't understand how painful it is for me

[@Hannahhclare]

I’m so so sorry to hear that!

[@shrxxmboy9854]

just imagine being like gluten , lactose, fructose intolerant and not being able to eat sugar due to health issues. the people in the hospital would hate you so much because you literalla wouldn't be able to eat any of the stuff there

[@Hannahhclare]

Dumb Fluffy at the hospital I was at it was very hard for people with ‘intolerances’ to not be able to eat stuff. The staff think they’re most likely ED rules and not actual intolerances

[@Layla-wg2wm]

I am lactose intolerant and going to impatient tomorrow. Really scared they won’t give me alternatives and I’ll lose weight because it makes me throw up. I don’t want to be gone for too long 😢

[@ChronicallyCassidy]

Dumb Fluffy I cant eat gluten dairy or refined sugar and I dont eat beef or pork.

[@BlanchestarlightUwU]

@@Hannahhclare So, if they see them having a reaction such as breathing issues, skin bloat... do they still think they're making it up? 😅

[@BlanchestarlightUwU]

As a both vegan and anorexic girl (what a combo! 😅), maybe from the point of view of the fact that they wouldn't "eat", yes, I would be jealous, but I would also understand it would be for medical reasons, rather than "just because they don't want to eat". But maybe they'd have other ways to be fed: the tube, insulin forcibly injected... And that's actually even worsened because it hurts a lot. 😅

[@evelynreid2880]

They feed anorexics a mixture of everything (unless you have allergies) because some people, like me, will go vegetarian, then vegan as a way to limit food intake in the beginning of the disorder. Being vegetarian or vegan is a choice, having allergies is different and they have to offer alternatives if you have an actual allergy.

[@Hannahhclare]

Evelyn Reid I totally understand this! It’s just hard for people like me that are vegan for 100% ethical reasons

[@chaerihwi5117]

yeah but like some people grew up vegetarian and never had meat in their whole lives. it would cause more issues for them (mentally and physically) to eat that meat bc their body isn't accustomed to it.

[@kathleengivant-taylor2277]

@@chaerihwi5117 I would think it would make them sick cause there body has never digested meat

[@briarrose5208]

Dear Hannah, thank you so much for sharing your story. Someone in my life has an ED and you’re helping me understand their illness. I wish that inpatient places had a vegan option instead of a vegetarian one. Omnivores could still choose the vegan option for variety, and vegans wouldn’t have to eat animal products which I understand could be distressing for some people. I commend you for soldiering through that challenge ❤️I wonder if the reason why they don’t offer vegan is that some vegetable proteins are I more expensive (nuts) and/or more labor intensive to prepare (lentil loaf, bean soup, hummus, tempeh) than eggs, cheese etc? I wish you all the best on your recovery journey!

[@talyaavia3378]

I'm scared my mom will take me to impatient and I am vegan for the same reasons as well. The thought of having animal products in the ward makes me panic.

[@blurxyy3908]

Talya Avia in some hospitals they let you be vegetarian just not vegan

[@BlanchestarlightUwU]

That's one of the reasons I can't be taken there either! I'm vegan too, and just imagining myself in front of a plate with a dead corpse on it makes me throw up, and not because of the calories! 😅

[@Hannahhclare]

Blanca Rodríguez Martínez most places will account for vegetarianism. But yes even then it still so hard to have the animal products. I am very grateful I didn’t have to consume an actual animals. Eggs were nasty though

[@talyaavia3378]

Hannah Banana thank you for replying. Still heavily going through the ed and I might be admitted to treatment after the pandemic regulations start opening up. Hopefully there will be options for vegetarians at least.

[@MusikGirl23]

@@HannahhclareI sooooooooo wish my home hospital had allowed me to be vegetarian. I was even forced to eat VEAL.

[@ByelRo97]

Welcome back!!!! I’m so sorryyy u went thruu eatin disorder 😭😭 I hope things goes well❤️ stay strong love💯

[@pinksugarbird9789]

Hope things are going a lot better for you now. ❤💜

[@Alyssa-rv1ty]

Mine won't cater to my health conditions let alone vegetarian or lactose intolerance ugh, even with medical proof

[@beyond.the.blackdog.]

Are you Australian? I don't hear from many people sharing their experiences, which I think is quite different from the US or UK. Thank you.

[@Hannahhclare]

JaiRujira Jaru yeah, I’m Aussie! What are the main ways it compares to US/UK?

[@beyond.the.blackdog.]

@@Hannahhclare oh, I'm Aussie too! I just notice that access sounds so much harder and people tend to stay in programs quite a long time, as they have residential and PHP aswell as in patient, day and out patients. When I was inpatient I was able to have gluten and lactose free. But they always served us, had our meals plated and set out on the table before we arrived. At another hospital where I was in the general program you could work up to self serve and sit anywhere on the designated table. Still had all the strict food rules.

[@summermorgan7603]

This would be hard for me as I'm lactose and vegan and my body doesn't cope with rich foods so what would they do xx

[@silent_amy]

They would serve you a standard vegetarian meal plan and then just monitor you for safety

[@Alyssa-rv1ty]

@@silent_amy Not all places offer that, where I live they don't cater to vegetarians or vegans as they consider it disordered eating still sigh

[@kathleengivant-taylor2277]

Seems if you can prove ur vegan or have diet intolerance’s they would need to acomidate those needs. Like a life long vegan would not be forced to eat products with meat or items made by such items. Ofcourse the treatment center would need to be notified ahead of time

[@MusikGirl23]

At my home hospital. I had been a healthy vegetarian for ten years, without eating disorder behaviours. I was forced to eat meat almost every day, including VEAL. And there is NO other option for treatment in my province in Canada. So you have no choice. But honestly, having treatment there made me worse, because they wouldn’t help me relearn how to be a healthy vegetarian. Instead I was crying and self harming in private with every meat meal. It was horrible.

[@ababy6074]

I'm also in Australia and they actually DON'T care if you are vegan. They only carer to vegetarian diets.

[@avivig7204]

Super helpful!! Thx so much!!

[@goodra999]

i hope more ED treatment places can let you be vegan because people do it for ethical reasons i do it for the love of animals, i couldn't hurt an animal but soy milk is yucky i prefer oat milk or almond milk or cashew milk

[@ShantelleHadfield]

Well, I'll take the fact that I'm Vegan, lactose & gluten intolerant, as well as being allergic to strawberries, kiwi fruit, apples, artificial colouring & flavourings and having an underdeveloped bowel disorder meaning I can't consume a lot of things like peanut butter, potato & bananas, as a good incentive to never need to go to hospital or have an ed XD thanks body

[@Hannahhclare]

x Shantelle x if you have actual allergies or a diagnosed condition, they wouldn’t force you to eat these foods x

[@squidyoga]

i was just wondering, what is the youngest you can do inpatient treatment?

[@BwitTheShit]

What if there's food you genuinely don't like,, eg I genuinely hate bread, potatoes, tomatoes, cerial and dairy?? Would they force feed you or something

[@Hannahhclare]

Unfortunately that’s not something they take into account

[@BwitTheShit]

@@Hannahhclare no way- and what if your asd? What do they do about sensory issues with food and stuff

[@Hannahhclare]

@@BwitTheShit I’m not sure. That’s something you’d have to talk to staff at specific places for