u/Beneficial_Try_1864

At the age of 14, I started to starve myself but it very quickly turned into binging and purging instead. That lasted for 25 years.

I tried getting help many times. I couldn't afford treatment and when young, my parents told me to just get over it and that it was disgusting. They never brought it up again. I learned to be more secretive about it. I married and told my husband. He never once asked me about it and when I started eating disorder therapy, he wouldn't participate. When he had an affair, he shamed me with it in front of the lawyer and judge, with his hope being he would get custody of our child.

My eating disorder has always been just that....something to be ashamed of, something to hide and something others wouldn't help me with. Truthfully, therapy and Prozac did nothing for me. I assumed I would die from this, just awaiting heart issues.

It has now been just over six months since I purged. Before this, I had never gone more than a week.

I'm doing it by myself. I get the urges, but less and less, and they're manageable. I recognize now that my body was in so much physical and emotional pain from this horrible disorder. I constantly had to fight it, all day long and every day. Now, it's on the back burner. When the urges come, I remember how awful it feels to make myself sick. The longer you engage in your eating disorder, the more it physically hurts and the harder the recovery period. Headaches, palpitations, dizziness, acid reflux, anxiety, shakiness, hands and feet going numb, shortness of breath...all that can go on and on.

Truth is, I want to live. I'm sad that I am alone in this recovery process but proud that I'm finally doing it. I'm recovering.

I hope this brings hope to others who are struggling with an eating disorder or other addiction. You can do this, you can get better.

I'm 5'7" with long legs and 115 lbs. I love my AE skinny jeggings in tall with a low rise. But mine are really losing their shape. Every dang time I look online or in store to buy a couple of new pairs, they're sold out.

Are there really solid alternatives to these? I need a similar price point and must come in tall/longs. No high rise, can't stand them.

I've had ZERO luck and it irritates me that AE doesn't keep stuff stocked.

My 21 year old is now Stage 3. His biggest struggles are eating enough/weight loss and he is so often very sleepy. The sleepiness really kicked in a couple months ago. Vet said it's just his new normal.

He's on subcutaneous fluids three times a week, started Royal Canin prescription dry renal food (won't eat canned) a couple weeks ago and takes mirataz every other day. He's on pred as well for IBD. Today he started a phosphate binder because his level was 7.6 when I did blood work about three weeks ago.

Since starting Roal Canin, he poops a few smaller poops a day, versus one bigger one. I'm not sure how to take that? Is that normal? It's not diarrhea or constipation.

Also, because he likes to graze and only ever eats a few bites of something at a time, I'm concerned about getting the binder in him, him taking it all AND him taking it with food. I've also read stories of binders causing horrible harm to cats if not eaten with a meal!

Vet said it's crucial he takes it with a meal. Is this going to harm him if he is only eating about 75 percent of a churro with it? I asked the vet and she just said give him another churro or can of food, completely missing the point that he won't eat it.

Also, I read NOT to give it with prednisolone (given for IBD) but vet said it's fine. Any opinion here on that?

Worst veterinary care experience I have ever had. This is coming from someone who works in rescue and deals a LOT with local vets.

I scheduled an appointment and explained that my pet was in a lot of pain, hence bringing them in.

1. They waited FIVE hours AFTER the appointment time to begin working on my pet. Their excuse? "We only have two techs." Mind you, there were only two people ahead of me. I asked to leave and have them call me when closer to a time where he could be seen.

They told me no. Despite this, they were mopping, chatting about food and laughing together, apparently unaware I could hear them during their downtime.

2. At NO POINT was my hurting pet offered a litterbox OR water without my related asking. I had to ask numerous times and it took hours. By the time he was given a litterbox, he had urinated in his carrier. The tech then continued to tell me to "hang on", allowing him to SIT IN HIS OWN URINE and stool because she didn't want to get around to getting a towel or box. Then finally, hours in, brings a litterbox, after he urinated and pooped and is covered in it. Mind you, it was painful for him to stand up so he was left like this. This is apparently their idea of proper animal care!? I cannot imagine how they treat animals without the owner watching. This is animal cruelty.

3. This cat has kidney disease but again, I had to ask over and over for water. It took hours to receive this. HOURS. Again, this is their idea of proper animal care? Once she finally brought a bowl, she only put JUST enough water to cover the bottom so one drink and he was again out. Unreal.

4. I was told that this place offers NO PAIN MEDS for an animal that you can take home, despite injuries. So, they treat broken bones (I confirmed this) but will not give them pain medicine to take home. I was told to try asking my regular vet for it in TWO DAYS and despite having made the appointment due to his injury and specifying his pain level, no one informed me of this until five or so hours in. They did NOT tell me this until I was there for almost six hours. I repeatedly spoke about his pain.

5. A woman came in, after HOURS, to give me a run down on pricing. Said if the vet couldn't properly read the x-ray, they would have to send the x-ray results out, adding more than $260 to the bill. I asked why this vet couldn't read an X-ray. The response? "I really have no idea. I'm just here to tell you this." I told her that I did not want to have this sent out and if the vet isn't able to understand the x-ray herself, I will take it elsewhere if need be. However, again, why can't the vet do this basic operation?

6. They decided to send out the x-ray results after all, without my permission and charged me in full.

7. I was at this place for SIX HOURS, despite an appointment, despite a mere two people ahead of me.

8. I was charged OVER $1000.00 for the X-rays (and fees they added on that I said no to), the consult, an antibiotic and just the pain med they gave to do the X-ray, where they acknowledged he was in too much pain to do an X-ray without that pain med injection. However, again, NO PAIN MEDS to go home. So a FULL GRAND for the X-ray and consult. No joke. They tried to excuse this by stating part of the expense was having me there on a Saturday evening. Mind you, this was after they kept me for six hours. This would cost around $200.00 at my regular vet.

9. While there, the tech walked around with her coat rolled around on her body, totally twisted up. The woman who gave me the estimate? She forget to lock the bathroom door so I walked in seeing her butt naked on the toilet. So professional. While I waited, I watched a beetle in the exam room.

10. I was told by the vet that if I had ANY questions I could call the next day and assured me the tech WOULD contact the vet. Guess what? I reached out FOUR TIMES now. No response.

I have never witnessed such poor animal care in a "professional" setting. Please, don't leave your animal at a place who believes it's acceptable to lie to clients, not offer bare minimum care for animals and who allow animals to painfully be forced to lay in their own urine. And don't be lied to into believing this place is better or cheaper than Blue Pearl or Metro. I have never been treated or had my pets treated so horribly anywhere and certainly not at Metro or Bluepearl. And to charge over a thousand dollars for an X-ray and consult, leaving an animal no better than they started? Pathetic. But they DID take my money with NO hesitation and absolutely no attempt to make anything right.