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Your Recommendation
Based on your Level of Care Self-Assessment results, you may benefit from:
👉A program that offers intensive treatment for an eating disorder
Understanding Your Recommendation
For Treatment of Your Eating Disorder:
We recommend you and your primary care provider consider a referral to an eating disorder program that offers intensive eating disorder services. Intensive eating disorder services are recommended when your medical risk is high. Intensive services offer a thorough medical and psychiatric assessment, medical monitoring, meal support or supervision, and therapy groups in addition to first-line evidence-based therapy for your eating disorder. The eating disorder treatment team will decide with you the level of treatment that is appropriate after your assessment – and they usually start with the least intensive level they believe will be effective.
Working with Your Primary Care Provider
We encourage you to share your LoCSA results with your primary care provider. Your primary care provider plays an important role in helping you understand your care options, review medical considerations, and take the next step toward recovery. It can be scary to start this conversation. Usually, it’s best just to be direct: “I am worried about my eating and was hoping to talk with you about treatment options for an eating disorder”.
If you’ve never had a conversation with your primary care provider about your eating disorder or disordered eating concerns, we recommend you check out the resource below to help you prepare the information you might want to share with your primary care provider:
Follow-Up Questions:
Along with your LoCSA results, there are other important factors that can affect which care options may suit you best.
Here are some possible follow-up questions to ask your primary care provider:
“Will I need to take time off work or school for this type of care?”
“Are there local programs or virtual options available?”
“What happens if there is a long waitlist? What can I do while I wait?”
"I’m not sure I feel ready to recover or commit to this level of care — What supports can help me get started?””
“I’ve tried _____care before — what are my options if that wasn’t a good fit?”
Want to Talk Through Your Options First?
If you’d prefer to speak with someone about your care options before connecting with a primary care provider — or if your provider isn’t familiar with eating disorder supports — the National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC) can help.
Their trained support workers can listen, provide information, and guide you through available resources.
Live Chat: www.nedic.ca
Helpline: 1-866-NEDIC-20 (or 416-340-4156 in Toronto)
What if I Don’t Have a Primary Care Provider?
If you don't currently have a primary care provider (family doctor or nurse practitioner), Health Care Connect is a free program from the Ontario Ministry of Health that can help you find one.
Resources to Explore:
What You Can Do While Waiting for Treatment
Talk To Your Primary Care Provider About Medical Monitoring:
While you're waiting for treatment, it's important that your primary care provider is keeping track of your physical health. This medical monitoring can help keep you safe and supported.
To support your primary care provider in this process, we recommend sharing this resource with them:
Access Community Support:
Community-based support programs are not a replacement for eating disorder treatment, but they can play an important role in your recovery journey. These programs can help you prepare for treatment, support you as you transition back home afterwards, and offer a space to build a sense of community. You can also learn helpful coping strategies and tools to support your well-being along the way.
An example of this kind of support is offered by Body Brave, a Hamilton-based organization offering low-barrier, online eating disorder support.
Ways to Reduce Your Medical Risk
We understand that making the decision to get treatment for your eating disorder can be very anxiety-provoking. We want you to know that the people working in the eating disorder treatment programs across the province would really like to help you, and will explain what is involved in treatment so you can decide if it is right for you. Whether you decide to proceed with treatment or not (and we hope you do!), below are recommendations that can reduce the medical risk associated with an eating disorder. These recommendations are very unlikely to cause weight gain but can help ensure your body is safer and more medically stable.
Steps you can take to improve safety may include:
Follow any medical advice from your primary care provider (and be honest about your symptoms)
Increase food intake enough to stop further weight loss (see link below)
Use harm reduction strategies to reduce the risks associated with purging (see link below)
Decrease vomiting frequency to no more than once a day
Cut laxative use in half each week until eliminated
Reduce over-exercising (ideally to no more than one hour per day)
Eat three times a day — you can choose what and how much, as long as you’re eating consistently
Resources to Explore:
When to Seek Emergency Care
Eating disorders can cause serious medical complications. You should go to the emergency department if you experience:
Very slow, irregular, or racing heartbeat
Chest pain or pressure
Fainting or dizziness upon standing
Severe headache, confusion, or seizures
Severe muscle cramps or weakness
Vomiting blood or severe abdominal pain
Very little or very dark urine
Swelling in limbs
Suicidal thoughts or not feeling safe
For those with Type 1 Diabetes: High blood sugars associated with the presence of ketones; symptoms of DKA such as stomach pain, shortness of breath, feeling sick, feeling tired, sleepy or confused.
When in doubt, go to the emergency room. It's always better to be safe.
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