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Worried about my girlfriend I think she may be bulimic

th20051992

Hi my girlfriend is always going on about her weight and suffers from depression. She has stopped eaten well and takes laxatives.I stupidly never thought about it til last weekend. She was aggravated all day and I was told by my mum that she was up all night using the toilet.

Any advice?

Reply 1

mmmpie

Don't go jumping to conclusions, or getting confrontational about it. Perhaps just start by saying you've noticed she's not eating much, and you're worried about her?

Maybe someone else can be a bit more helpful here; my point is that while it's reasonable for you to be worried about her, it's probably not helpful for you to make too much fuss about it. If it is a real problem then you're going to have to take your time and try to work through it together.

Reply 2

Anonymous #1

I have suffered from bulimia for the last couple of years. For me, it got triggered by upsetting events (eg. my bf breaking up with me), and would go on for a few months, then I'd think I'd got over it and suddenly something else would happen and it would start all over again.

Just so you know about some warning signs, I got scars on the back of the knuckle of my middle finger, headed straight to the bathroom after meals, and my weight fluctuated a LOT (I would put on/lose 10kg in a month).

I've never used laxatives, but that is definitely a bad sign, as is the depression. Does she eat a lot in one go/eat in secret? Have you noticed a lot of food disappearing/wrappers in the bin? Bulimia includes binging as well as purging - if she doesn't have binges then it could be some other kind of eating disorder.

Just so you know, I would never want to admit it to anyone, let alone to a bf that I wanted to love/respect me. If you do bring this up with her (and she is bulimic), she'll probably be really embarrassed and ashamed, so you'll have to be reallyyy sensitive. Once you get past that, she'll probably be grateful that she has someone to support her, and you should make sure that she gets help from a doctor, because bulimia is really dangerous for your health in the long term.