Non teenage first time ED advice *possibly triggering?*

Hello. This is my first post here, though I've been looking up posts on this forum for a while.
Essentially, I feel I could do with a little support/advice from anyone who's been in a position they feel is similar. Also, from anyone who has recovered further than I have.

I'm currently 26 years old. I am 5'5 . I have a lifelong history of depression. For the first time at the age of 24, and a weight of roughly 10st 5lbs (145lbs, and I now believe this to be my 'set-point'), I began to seriously restrict my eating, and began to lose weight. The rate of loss seemed to be exponential, and by christmas of that year (6 months into restriction), people were telling me I looked 'better'. I was probably around 9st 4lbs at that point. I was still having periods, but generally lacked energy, due to over-restriction.

By my 25th birthday in the spring, I had lost roughly another 10lbs. I had also been on the mini pill for a month. My periods had been irregular for about 3 months, and dwindled for a couple more months, then stopped. This did not deter me from losing weight. I assumed it was entirely down to the birth control (which I was only on for a month - I had to stop due to the hormones affecting my state of mind) and so kept on restricting. At this point I was walking several miles each day, obsessively, and playing sport twice a week, for an hour or two at a time.

Around July, I recognised that something was wrong with my mental state, and at around 8st, sought help. This took several attempts, as three different doctors were astoundingly dismissive as I was not YET in the high risk weight range, and am quite bulky in appearance. The one doctor who took me seriously referred me for therapy (though I didn't get access to this until around christmas just gone).

By November, I had dropped to around 7st, and just before christmas, dropped to about 6st 12lbs. I had made a couple of fairly pathetic attempts at recovery, but clearly this was not yet happening.

To cut the rest short. I began therapy around christmas time, and now, 6 months later, have gained up to around 9st. I still have no period. I still struggle a great deal, and restrict a little on some days. I'm having a lot of trouble adjusting to my body the way it is now. I've been at or around my current weight for about 2 months.

If anyone has any experience of people who have developed eating disorders for the first time this late in life, and then if anyone has recovered menstruation subsequently.

Thank you, and sorry about the length of the post.

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