What will happen at the appointment?
At the appointment, your GP may look at your weight for your age and monitor significant weight changes, ask about concerns you have over your weight or body shape, talk about eating disorder behaviours, and might also take some blood for testing. They should look at the psychological factors of your illness, not just focus on physical signs. If you’re supporting someone else as they get treatment, the GP should listen to your concerns as well. This might include how the eating disorder is impacting your mental health, and the support that you might need.
It can be frightening, but try to be as open with the doctor about how you are feeling and the impact your eating difficulties are having on you. If you feel nervous about what might happen during the appointment you can talk to your doctor about this at the start. You might find it helpful to write down the points you would like to talk about before your appointment, and any questions that you might have.
You can also ask someone you trust to come along with you to the appointment. You can still ask to speak to the GP alone for parts of the appointment. Anything a patient tells their doctor remains confidential, unless:
- They are under 16 and not considered able to make decisions about their own treatment.
- They refuse treatment for a life-threatening illness.
Remember, you should get treatment as quickly as possible. You might find it useful to take a look at the NICE guidelines, which provide clinical information about eating disorders and how they should be treated. They outline the best practice that healthcare professionals should follow when treating eating disorders.
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