Anorexia where to start?

amother

Scarlet

Sat, Oct 17 2020, 11:12 pm

Dr Jennifer Northridge in Hackensack Hospital is a wonderful adolescent doctor who deals with eating disorders.
Her phone number is 551-996-2237.
She works with many frum patients and advocates FBT.
My daughter came to her mid recovery after her first doctor retired.
My daughter really loved her - while she isn’t even the therapist - she is extremely easy to talk to.
It is a journey but with Hashem’s help - you will be guided to the right Shaliach and Your daughter will have a Refuah Shelaima.

gold21

Sat, Oct 17 2020, 11:20 pm

You had not noticed that she had lost 15 lbs in 2 months? Any other concerning habits?

She should see an adolescent medicine doctor (it's a subspecialty of pediatrics), they are generally knowledgeable about eating disorders. It would be even better if you could get a referral to one who specializes in eating disorders.

Also, a therapist- a good one, recommended by others, not just any random one that takes your insurance- to get to the bottom of her thought process. For many, the disorder develops as a means of control in a world that sometimes feels chaotic to them (the teen years can be overwhelming).

Good Luck.

lauful

Sun, Oct 18 2020, 11:02 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Thank you so much everyone! We have an appointment with devora levinson but it's only in a week from now. Should we take her to a pediatrician first or is it ok to wait that long?

I would think it's okay to wait. But if you're really nervous, take her to PA Gelfand to get checked out in the meantime.

amother

Scarlet

Sun, Oct 18 2020, 11:04 am

We can’t tell you how serious it is as we don’t know your daughter or her weight/height or heart rate or how long this has been going on.
I would try to make an appointment at Dr Northridge as you don’t know how long the wait is. From personal experience - it is worth the shlep.
If Devorah Levinson then recommends someone closer or better for you - you can always cancel the appointment.
We also started with Dr Miriam Wolosh In Morristown 973-540-9943 and While my daughter did not love her - I think that was because she was the ‘enemy’ at that time.
We thought she was excellent at what was needed - which was to guide us through FBT.
FBT is basically a therapy where the parents take control of all eating and load up the child with calories. It is difficult - you need to feed the person about a tremendous amount of calories a day.
Basically the premise is that weight gain Itself kills the eating disorder.
I had to quit my job but it did work.
After the first year - we switched to another therapist who was not a good fit. We ended up with a wonderful therapist - (not Jewish) in Brooklyn/Manhattan named Amanda Pashelinsky- but to be honest my daughter was BH at the end of her recovery so I can’t vouch for how she is at the beginning.

lauful

Sun, Oct 18 2020, 11:08 am

amother [ Scarlet ] wrote:

I second this. You may as well make an appointment and you can always cancel. From personal experience, I would recommend Dr. Michelle Calderoni in CHOP, but Dr. Northridge is good too. I know that Dr. Shaniks office recommends Dr. Calderoni and she is excellent. If you're on Jersey Care, you may want to look into the doctors at Dupont.

And Miriam Wolosh is amazing. You should definitely call her up and hear more information and make a tentative appointment. If she doesn't have availability, try Dr. Amanda Carlin or Daniella Feldman.

amother

Sun, Oct 18 2020, 3:07 pm

lauful wrote:

Do you know if Dr wolosh takes jersey care?