Conditions
Bulimia
Bulimia can affect both men and women but statistically women are more likely to develop Bulimia than men. The condition results in sufferers binging on food, and then purging it from their bodies by being sick or using laxatives. This is usually carried out in private, as the sufferers will frequently feel guilty about their binge eating. Symptoms of the condition can include obsessive behaviour, over eating, scarred knuckles, depression and damage to the tooth enamel (from stomach acid). The causes of bulimia are difficult to pin down, and vary from sufferer to sufferer. Low self-esteem is one contributory factor, as is depression, stress mental health disorders. There is also some evidence of a genetic link. Treatment is long and complicated, normally beginning with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, but also potentially anti-depressants. Going to your GP early allows for the full range of treatments to be explored.
Comments and Questions
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hi!i'm 20 years old(man),i have some problem with my tooth,it have some pyros maybe 3 month.i had try to clean it but it not.so can u tell me what would i do?it develop to cancer or not?
Hi i'v been suffering from both anorexia and bulimia for years now and i'v never wanted help so badly before in my life...if someone can just point me in the right direction and tell me where i need to go and whats the best method of recovery i will do it...it's come to the point where i just dnt want to be here anymore!I'v told my mom and dd and bf and they sympathize but they dnt understand and i dnt expect them to as it is only something on can understand if you have dealt with it...so please any advice is helpful and i think it wud be great if there was an episode dealing with ED's...xxx
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im seventeen and i suffer from ednos which means ive binged and purged many times. id do it up to 8 times in one day and it was.. awful. i wish i could do something to make me feel better about myself. :( im not fat, infact im very much underweight but i cant help but starve myself. and i just hope that one day all of us who suffer from the same time would find a way out of this.
Hi I have read through alot of the comments and so much sounds familiar. I binge and eat huge amounts on the evening vomit and then do it again. In the day I cant Bring myself to even look at food the thought of eating makes me feel sick again. Every few months i go through an extreme phase of starving myself or having a nutrigrain bar a day and exercising for at least 3 and a half hours a day. this phase lasts another couple of months, i usually lose alot of weight and then all of a sudden im back to binging. Its really affecting me and its hard to talk to the people around me as they dont understand. Does anyone have any suggestions on what exactly im doing to myself and what to do about it?
Thank you for visiting our web site and for discussing your problem so openly. If you would like the opportunity to be seen by one of the Embarrassing Bodies Doctors and have your problems assessed and treated by a specialist, then why not apply for the chance to take part in the programme. Please visit the following link and click ‘Apply to be on the show’ where you can fill in an application form: http://www.channel4embarrassingillnesses.com/features/be-on-embarrassing-bodies/
I've never admitted this to anyone, but hopefully it will help. It started off as comfort eating when I was 13. Now I'm 2 1/2 stone overweight, which doesn't sound terribly bad. But, I've been binge eating since 15. I went through a phase before that where I stopped eating more than 1 meal a day. I used to lie to my parents about having school dinners and then have 1 slice of toast for tea (I'd tell them I'd eaten more in the kitchen when they weren't there). Then I started binging. It got worse and I started to plan my binges as a reward. Then my tummy started swelling for a few days after a binge and so I started taking laxatives (I know this isn't the most usual form of bulimia but I now know it's a rare form). It makes me feel disgusting to admit it because it's more gross than throwing up. But I can't make myself throw up. I don't know what to do. I can't seem to stop binging now (3-4 times a week) despite not being a healthy weight for the 1st time in my life. I'm at uni and it's interfering with my degree and my friendships and my relationship (although he's had a year abroad which has worsened the binging). I want to lose weight and quickly. I've heard about treatments but am so worried about what they'll do to me. I hate the thought of admitting the extent of this in person. If anyone can be of reassurance I'd be so deeply grateful, but I suppose this is already a big leap for me...
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please can someone help me. i am 15 i have suffered physical,sexual and emotional abuse from my parents. i used to self harm and overdose as a coping mechanism. but something i never told my therapist is that since i was 12 i have been restricting my food- no chocolate, sweets, carbs, potatoes, dairy, meat or fish, but then about three times a i binge i can eat over 3000 cals in 15mins. then i throw it all up straight after. i throw up everything over 100cals and dont eat for 1 day once a week and a week every 6weeks. my therapist is going on maternity leave in 2months so i dont want to bring it up because i dont want her to leave half way through treatment but i am reall fed up of living this way. please help x
Overeaters Anonymous - I have recovered from Bulimia through the 12 steps of OA. You should try a few meetings at least. Best of luckxx
Hi im 25 (male) and have had a weight problem since i was young. historically I've always been overweight I'd say about 25 stone at my heaviest. about 3 years ago, after everytime i ate, I'd be sick, i honestly don't think i was making myself sick, I wasn't gagging myself, putting fingers down my throat or using laxatives etc but i was being sick, so then i'd eat more, a pack of biscuits a few packets of crisps, a cake and then i'd feel guilty so i guess i'd be sick again. My brother found out by accident (hearing me being sick) and made me go to the doctors. I was given tablets (but i didn't take them as i was slowly losing weight and didn't want this to stop. about 6 months later it all stopped and i felt normal again, kept some of the weight off but i'd say my weight was still 22-23 stone. about 12 - 18 months ago it sort of started happening again, i took up cycling too trying to cycle every day and do 250 miles a week. I was losing weight but excessive eating and excessive being sick started again but alot worse. I moved out so have no-one to spy on me. Im now 15 stone so look very normal and alot more healthier. I like to put all this weight loss down to cycling but deep down i think i've got a problem, i'm excessively cycling but the being sick is more extreme, it happens every time i eat, even if its just a bowl of weetabix. At work (professional engineer) after eating even a small lunch (a sandwitch for egample) i'll be sick. however i'll only be sick into my mouth and keep it there and swallow it, this may happen 10 times or so untill i'm no longer sick into my mouth and i keep down what i've eaten. Its worse on the evenings i'll make meals for a few days in one go (a pasta bake etc) eat quite fast so don't feel like im full, subsequently be sick 4 - 5 times, then feel hungry and eat some more, (this goes on for about an hour) more eating and more being sick. Then i feel guilty and eat some crisps, a pack of biscuits, chocolate crackers, which makes me feel worse and the whole thing starts again (this time i think i'm making myself sick because i know what i've eaten is unhealthy) Part of me feels this is normal, part of me is 'sick of this' happening and part of me worries if it does stop i'll put all the weight back on so do not know what to do and would like some advice.
totally understand what you mean, im 17 and have been bulimic since 11 its like you feel no one else gets you, and no one will understand. honest get to your doctors i have been going to CAMHS for a couple months now which have really helped, even though thats child mental heealth thing however i would suggest you read bite by bite, or get counselling which is free at your doctors. and plan out your meals like have 3 meals a day and few snacks in between it really helps i no this may seem weird as im younger then you but every opinion is better then none i guess : ) talk to your family everyone cares, for me i thought when im dead i dont want people to say oh she died because of bulimia, and i hate putting my mum and dad through this as its bad enough for me but for them to watch me do this is even worse. its about controlling your feelings in a different way.
Thank you for visiting our web site and for discussing your problem so openly. If you would like the opportunity to be seen by one of the Embarrassing Bodies Doctors and have your problems assessed and treated by a specialist, then why not apply for the chance to take part in the programme. Please visit the following link and click ‘Apply to be on the show’ where you can fill in an application form: http://www.channel4embarrassingillnesses.com/features/be-on-embarrassing-bodies/
I'm 19 and i've been suffering from eating disorders since i was 11. It started with anorexia. At 13 I developed bulimia. From then on i haven't been able to choose one of them I've been veering back and forwards between the two. I've been into recovery twice.
I know its hard people but you can beat it, I have recovered so never give up hope. I suffered with Bulimia from my early teens right up till I was 20, mainly caused from work stress and bullying about the way I looked at school. By time I was 20 I was 8st and 6ft tall. This ended in me collapsing into a seizure and almost dying from low pottasium levels (my heart almost stopped). I spent a week in hospital having 3 endoscopy's, finding out that I had torn all my stomach lining from repetetive vomiting (which explained the blood). I had also damaged my kindneys and teeth. Experiencing near death really is scary. This really bought home the situation to me, not only the impact it was having on me but the distress it bought to my family. I needed to fight it. Recovery is a long process, it has taken me 2 years to get back to something resembling normality. My best advice is to talk about it with someone and really concentrate on your diet and exercise, only eat foods you are comfortable with (healthy/non fattening) and restrict the portions (do not binge). You have to be really strict with your diet, do not be tempted into food you know will make you feel bad. Exercise was crucial with my recovery and I strongly suggest taking it up, feel proud of your body/fitness. I cant guarantee it will be easy, but take it day by day, meal by meal and really keep up that determination to get better ! The very best of luck people.
hi its nice to hear that so many people are in the same boat as me,im coping quite well,but i would,nt say i was recovered,my teeth are a mess and if i could sort them out i would be a much happier person,my kids understand what i,m going through and would love to see me smile again,is there any dentist out there that could help me,that would be one big step to my recovery also.i just want to say,its not easy living like this but with help i find life is manageable.
Its so comforting to know that other people are feeling the same way! Bulimia has been something I have struggled with for over 5years now, & has really started to affect my physical & mental health. I have been lucky in the fact that I haven't yet sunk underweight (currently entirely thanks to my wonderful boyfriend looking after me every weekend) but literally come within a lb of being so every week & am almost always ill. You are never alone! Doctors are often more understanding that you would expect, & trust me it is better to be happy than a living skeleton. Set yourself goals, ask another person to keep an eye on you after you eat to make sure you don't have a "silly episode", but above all, discover you own beauty, inside & out! Is it really worth years of hell to acheive a stick-figure & all the medical, social & mental complications that go with it? I am speaking to myself as well as you! DON'T be the person that an eating disorder makes you, you are worth so much more. ALWAYS believe you deserve the best! BE YOUR TRUE SELF, BEAUTIFUL, AND HAPPY! love to you all, & good luck! xxxxx
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