I was a binge eater for a long time, i was also very depressed.
I would eat even when i wasn't hungry. I would also binge out of boredom. I don't ever remember binging out of hunger.

I binge eat every once in a while. more out of worry or anger. I use to eat because I was lonely and felt unlovible and unwanted and then I would feel fat because I ate so much and then I felt guilt for eating and it was a spirial down....
After I started dating my husband I felt pretty and loved so the spirial stoped.
Now I binge when I am [censored] off and I dont or cant talk about it or I am worried about something and cant or wont talk about it. Any emotion that is not lady like to express or talk about I seem to eat.... for the most part I have over come this but Anger is not an emotion that I can express easily and by the time I get to the point that I can express it I express it in a very Clear and Voical way that every one understand that I am [censored] and someone crossed the line and I have had enough! worry is the other one that I have problems with because every one says well stop worrying yeah like that help!

It is a good thing that nothing really bothers me to much and I am very laid back....but by the time I get to the voice talking statage of anger I have a lot to get off my chest and it all comes out at once!

I also eat instead of crying I have never been allowed to cry but i could eat and that was ok so that is my most hidden seceret! or was..... my husband figured it out but thats a different story...

I think as I grow older and I have anylized why I do things the better I have become about not doing those things. I still keep gaining weight but I know it not because of my binge eating or what I eat.... now I just need a dr to understand that and either help me do something about it or move on to the next issue!

I have consetered the lap band thing but I really dont think that it would help me lose weight. I think my problem is because I dont have periods and I am 28 so...

anyways how is binge eating genetic? on my moms side of the family I am the fattest by far of all the women my mom is 63yo and 86 pounds and the heaviest she has ever been was 100 pounds the night I was born! the nest heaviest woman on that side is about 120 pounds and she is 93 and that is the heaviest she has ever been so... Genetic? on my dads side I am adverage at 270-ish but they dont over eat or binge they are like me wacky period if they have them at all! of course getting a dr to believe us is a whole new can of worms!!!

Genetic? ha ha ha

Maybe it is a virus or a disease that is running ramped in the house! lmao

I am sorry but this just makes me think of the if your friend is fat you will be artical they have on the news every week here!

Does anyone know how long to stay on Meridia?

According to Meridia's website: Meridia FAQ

Meridia should not be taken longer than 2 years, but to always follow doctors orders.

I was a binger, and it was definately not genetic. My siblings, parents and grandparents are all thin. I started because my parents forced me to go to Weight Watchers in the 5th grade. I was 92 pounds with a goal weight of 85. My mom beat the [censored] out of me one morning, while saying "You are going to lose weight if it kills me". I became afraid to eat in front of my family and friends and eventually in public so I ate only by myself and usually in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep. Back then, I was forced to eat liver once a week, fish 5 days a week, drink non-fat dry milk, and the only diet pop available was Tab. When I did eat, my dad would say "are you allowed to have that or aren't you on a diet". Everyone was constantly on my back about losing weight, so by 12th grade I was 172 and a size 16. I used to have dreams my teeth were falling out because I was so out of control. I still can't stand in line at the Dairy Queen; I panic. Recovery took a LONG TIME and began by moving out of my parents' house.

yeah nothing makes dieting worse then everyone and there dog barking orders about eat this and dont eat that all the while they offer you your favorit food because they know you cant have it and just want to watch you suffer while making you think they are being nice to you! ha!!!

dmichelle -

What a horrible experience, I am so sorry for what you went through.

Many people have no idea how much forcing will backfire like that, and cause one type of eating disorder or another. It would have been just as bad if you had become an anorexic (although it sounds like your mother would have counted it a success.)

I wonder, though, how they are determining genetics vs environment in that study -- unless they had identical twins separated at birth.

My mom does binge some (though isn't overweight) -- always on candy, though. That incorrigible sweet tooth (though I claim our family doesn't have one, but an entire set of 'em.)

I binge, and it can be initially with hunger, especially if I have gone too long without eating, but I think boredom is probably the biggest factor. If I'm really engrossed in something, I can occasionally forget to eat - and that has bad consequences. Brain fog, loss of coordination, lower frustration tolerance. (Until last year, I thought everyone got like that if they skipped a meal. Apparently, I've always had reactive hypoglycemia, and didn't realize it. And that includes when I was younger, and more an ideal weight.)

I'm most likely to binge on chocolate, or something with chocolate, or at least sugary... ;-)