Eating Disorders and Support
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A very interesting article I came across 2 minutes ago. 
:heeeellll Osteoporosis Fear May End Anorexia Nervosa - 06/21/05 :nurse:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/thin/ Anyone seen this?
No Future
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/thin/ Anyone seen this?
watching now.
No Future
Just posted in case anyone was interested.
*quickly adds to the first post*
it's great. thank you.
complex world of eating disorders
Well meaning family and friends concentrate on the food aspect but I'm afraid this amateur psychology will have little impact.
genetic clues to eating disorders
...variations in the gene for serotonin receptors in anorexic patients...twice as likely to have the variant gene than women without eating disorders.
brain chemicals may cause bulimia
obsession with perfectionism...brain serotonin activity and mood in bulimics are known to alter when they binge and purge....alterations and symptoms persisted after recovery from bulimia nervosa, suggesting that they are not merely a consequence of abnormal eating behaviors.
obsessive compulsive disorder
...very distressing, time consuming, and can significantly interfere with work and social patterns and personal relationships.
male eating disorders "go untreated
Instead of simply starving, they tend to over-exercise and cut down on the amount they eat.
eating disorders "hit men harder
...evidence that eating disorders are as common in men as in women, and are perhaps more severe.
pigs offer anorexic clues
...high level of perfectionism, low self esteem and a strong need to comply...sisters with anorexia were more likely to say things like 'my parents always want me to achieve'...Anorexia nervosa is a complicated disorder and genes aren't everything...genes load the gun but the environment pulls the trigger
psychiatric drug could aid weight loss
...GPs should monitor any prescriptions of anti-depressant drugs carefully...It's a fact that people with anorexia or bulimia will abuse drugs, and so it's important that GPs are very cautious.
Well meaning family and friends concentrate on the food aspect but I'm afraid this amateur psychology will have little impact.
genetic clues to eating disorders
...variations in the gene for serotonin receptors in anorexic patients...twice as likely to have the variant gene than women without eating disorders.
brain chemicals may cause bulimia
obsession with perfectionism...brain serotonin activity and mood in bulimics are known to alter when they binge and purge....alterations and symptoms persisted after recovery from bulimia nervosa, suggesting that they are not merely a consequence of abnormal eating behaviors.
obsessive compulsive disorder
...very distressing, time consuming, and can significantly interfere with work and social patterns and personal relationships.
male eating disorders "go untreated
Instead of simply starving, they tend to over-exercise and cut down on the amount they eat.
eating disorders "hit men harder
...evidence that eating disorders are as common in men as in women, and are perhaps more severe.
pigs offer anorexic clues
...high level of perfectionism, low self esteem and a strong need to comply...sisters with anorexia were more likely to say things like 'my parents always want me to achieve'...Anorexia nervosa is a complicated disorder and genes aren't everything...genes load the gun but the environment pulls the trigger
psychiatric drug could aid weight loss
...GPs should monitor any prescriptions of anti-depressant drugs carefully...It's a fact that people with anorexia or bulimia will abuse drugs, and so it's important that GPs are very cautious.
lessthanthree
You have to have missed three consecutive periods to be diagnosed as having amenorrhea and thus, have a symptom of anorexia.
What about if you don't have periods (say cos of the injection)? They woudln't be able to diagnose it then?
www.webiteback.com
It's a really great recovery/POST pro-ana website and forum.
It's a really great recovery/POST pro-ana website and forum.
Got that right. Mine's all over the joint - tho my purging method has always only been intense exercise. I've always been into fitness, and have never been able to make myself sick anyway, just physically can't do it - I nearly choked myself trying to in hospital once so THAT idea went straight out the window. And it's a real nasty way to do it anyhow, buggers up your insides something chronic. Mind you, no more or less than overexercise I guess! Particularly if you do it on a low/no cal diet, woo Jeez - your body really sucker-punches you then, boy do you pay for it then.
I eat enough to sink the Titanic (nearly 3,000cals/day) but that's coz I'm really into fitness training AND am trying to gain 1lb/week to get back to a "healthier" weight. I know that I look a scrawny mess right now, and have been teased constantly about how I look for a while now. Little boys - aren't they adorable? Hah. "Annie Anorexic" is one of the nicer nicknames I've gained. Sweet little turds.
Anyhoo, been on this weight-gain diet thingy for over 2years now, but the more the dietitian tells me to eat, the more energy I get = more exercise. So more food has to go in. I'm like a flippin' hamster on a treadmill ('scuse the pun) but have only recently managed to keep the cals static AND the exercise with it, coz I know I need to be healthier to cope with Uni. See, the more underweight you are, the more buggered-up your head gets - malnutrition interferes with thought patterns, rational thinking goes right up the spout...OCD is a real pain in the backside for me, it goes hand in hand with anorexia alot of the time.
I'm no way as bad as I used to be, but I still suffer very irrational thoughts, and like an autistic person, rely entirely on keeping very rigid routines every single day in order to cope with life. It's a coping mechanism, the only way I know how to keep control in my life when all else goes down the pan. I'm not kidding - at the weight I'm at now, my brain physically can't process change. Little ones, I'm getting better at handling - eating a few minutes later than my normal times, sitting down while eating, trying to eat in public, using a different cross-trainer in the gym rather than the same one every workout.
No I'm not having you on - these are the things that torment my daily life, every day. This is how low it is possible to sink when suffering malnutrition from anorexia, or any eating disorder for that matter. It's not just your body that wastes away - bang goes your personality, and mentality, as well. I used to be one of the laziest, most laid-back people in my year group (apparently) - well, that was me on the surface. All my life, all I've ever wanted to do is fit in and earn respect, yet at the same time I've got an angry burn inside to be individual, respected, appreciated, to really buck the system. I read when I'm walking, had my hair cut real short (I resemble a boy even more now, especially while lacking breasts), climbed trees and walked for miles alone in the countryside, burped the alphabet and ate whatever I liked. I laughed at the girls who HAD to go in groups to the school toilets - WTF?! I was a tomboy, and stuck out, but at the same time all I ever wanted was for people to like and respect me.
So I started using THIS as a way to stay individual, seperate, more determined/disciplined. Started out as a game - how long can I go without this meal, or that one? How hard can I push my body in exercise before I collapse? That game, it was hidden under the excuse of dieting to lose weight for the year 11 prom. Yeah I had some puppy fat - I was 16. I hit 8st and everyone said, God Rai, you look amazing! So I think - great, I must've looked like real **** before. So the dieting goes on, and on, and people are saying to me, That's enough now Rai - don't get anorexic! And I can still hear my own reply, laughing in their faces - "I'll never get anorexic, I love my food too much."
5years, 3hospital admissions and a lot of very lonely times later, here I am. About to start Uni, scared to death of the changes that'll entail, and at the same time LONGING for these changes to happen, coz I'm so sick and tired of doing the same damn things, every day. I always wanted to write and travel the world. Let's just see how I cope with the next 3years, first, huh?
Apologies to OP for the VERY long post, didnt mean it to be quite so rambling! But I wanted to get my point across, to any so-called anorexic wannabe's who might read this. THIS IS NO GAME. If you want to spend your time chopping tiny pieces of apple and weighing every food item out and counting how many times you MUST touch a door handle before getting into bed, go right ahead and become underweight. Otherwise, lead as full a life as you possibly can. I've already flunked 5 of mine. I'd really like to make the most of what's left to me, coz my Mom's convinced this illness will kill me in the end. Happy thoughts! I'm gonna try not to let that happen.
I eat enough to sink the Titanic (nearly 3,000cals/day) but that's coz I'm really into fitness training AND am trying to gain 1lb/week to get back to a "healthier" weight. I know that I look a scrawny mess right now, and have been teased constantly about how I look for a while now. Little boys - aren't they adorable? Hah. "Annie Anorexic" is one of the nicer nicknames I've gained. Sweet little turds.
Anyhoo, been on this weight-gain diet thingy for over 2years now, but the more the dietitian tells me to eat, the more energy I get = more exercise. So more food has to go in. I'm like a flippin' hamster on a treadmill ('scuse the pun) but have only recently managed to keep the cals static AND the exercise with it, coz I know I need to be healthier to cope with Uni. See, the more underweight you are, the more buggered-up your head gets - malnutrition interferes with thought patterns, rational thinking goes right up the spout...OCD is a real pain in the backside for me, it goes hand in hand with anorexia alot of the time.
I'm no way as bad as I used to be, but I still suffer very irrational thoughts, and like an autistic person, rely entirely on keeping very rigid routines every single day in order to cope with life. It's a coping mechanism, the only way I know how to keep control in my life when all else goes down the pan. I'm not kidding - at the weight I'm at now, my brain physically can't process change. Little ones, I'm getting better at handling - eating a few minutes later than my normal times, sitting down while eating, trying to eat in public, using a different cross-trainer in the gym rather than the same one every workout.
No I'm not having you on - these are the things that torment my daily life, every day. This is how low it is possible to sink when suffering malnutrition from anorexia, or any eating disorder for that matter. It's not just your body that wastes away - bang goes your personality, and mentality, as well. I used to be one of the laziest, most laid-back people in my year group (apparently) - well, that was me on the surface. All my life, all I've ever wanted to do is fit in and earn respect, yet at the same time I've got an angry burn inside to be individual, respected, appreciated, to really buck the system. I read when I'm walking, had my hair cut real short (I resemble a boy even more now, especially while lacking breasts), climbed trees and walked for miles alone in the countryside, burped the alphabet and ate whatever I liked. I laughed at the girls who HAD to go in groups to the school toilets - WTF?! I was a tomboy, and stuck out, but at the same time all I ever wanted was for people to like and respect me.
So I started using THIS as a way to stay individual, seperate, more determined/disciplined. Started out as a game - how long can I go without this meal, or that one? How hard can I push my body in exercise before I collapse? That game, it was hidden under the excuse of dieting to lose weight for the year 11 prom. Yeah I had some puppy fat - I was 16. I hit 8st and everyone said, God Rai, you look amazing! So I think - great, I must've looked like real **** before. So the dieting goes on, and on, and people are saying to me, That's enough now Rai - don't get anorexic! And I can still hear my own reply, laughing in their faces - "I'll never get anorexic, I love my food too much."
5years, 3hospital admissions and a lot of very lonely times later, here I am. About to start Uni, scared to death of the changes that'll entail, and at the same time LONGING for these changes to happen, coz I'm so sick and tired of doing the same damn things, every day. I always wanted to write and travel the world. Let's just see how I cope with the next 3years, first, huh?
Apologies to OP for the VERY long post, didnt mean it to be quite so rambling! But I wanted to get my point across, to any so-called anorexic wannabe's who might read this. THIS IS NO GAME. If you want to spend your time chopping tiny pieces of apple and weighing every food item out and counting how many times you MUST touch a door handle before getting into bed, go right ahead and become underweight. Otherwise, lead as full a life as you possibly can. I've already flunked 5 of mine. I'd really like to make the most of what's left to me, coz my Mom's convinced this illness will kill me in the end. Happy thoughts! I'm gonna try not to let that happen.
I would take somethingfishy off those links btw, that site is a cult, it is not helpful at all. You can't even write your age without tthe number coming up as ****. How can you learn to face reality if all triggers are 'banned'? Sorry, just ranting, that site brought down a lot of my online friends and it makes me mad.
I need help, I was bulemic n my bf managed to get me over it dead well. But I've just started uni in catered halls and a combination of not being in control of my food (and life in general) and not being near my bf anymore means I have become bulemic again. Atm mentally I'm all over the place. I think I need help, but I am not skinny and will feel judged or like a failure if I go to the doctors (she wants to be skinny but she can't, shes of normal weight so she is just attention seeking...that kinda thing 
). So rite now I really don't know what to do, I feel weak and pathetic and am crying even at writing this 
). So rite now I really don't know what to do, I feel weak and pathetic and am crying even at writing this 
To Anonymous #2: Seek help! Does your Uni have counsellors you can see, or are counsellors covered under your insurance?
Any half-decent doctor or counsellor won't think of you as a failure or as an attention-seeker. I'm sure they have dealt with this many times before, especially in a University setting, and would be happy to help you through the recovery process.
MOST Bulemics are not underweight, and often, the source is something other than a yearning for weight loss (you mention control issues here)....so you are not out-of-the-norm for this disorder, nor are you a failure in any way!
Please go seek help! You are only going to hurt yourself if you don't, and if you wait until you lose weight, the realistic outcome is that you may never lose enough to feel 'valid' enough to get help, and once you do get help, you will just climb back up to where you are now and maybe even past it....so sooner is definitely better!
Any half-decent doctor or counsellor won't think of you as a failure or as an attention-seeker. I'm sure they have dealt with this many times before, especially in a University setting, and would be happy to help you through the recovery process.
MOST Bulemics are not underweight, and often, the source is something other than a yearning for weight loss (you mention control issues here)....so you are not out-of-the-norm for this disorder, nor are you a failure in any way!
Please go seek help! You are only going to hurt yourself if you don't, and if you wait until you lose weight, the realistic outcome is that you may never lose enough to feel 'valid' enough to get help, and once you do get help, you will just climb back up to where you are now and maybe even past it....so sooner is definitely better!
srslysweets
great site. thank you.
Thank-you this thread has been so helpful! In the past I have suffered from bilimia - purging and laxatives. I've also been very heavy on restricting - was fasting as long as I could without fainting and then I would have some broth to tide me over. Then I went overexcessive on exercise - would skip college and go to the gym for four hours a day - it got to the point when the staff took me aside cos they where worried about me! I've never had any treatment and I although my parents rock- they don't know that this torments me every day- and my friends don't know the seriousness, so they just make jokes about my obsession with weight!
I guess it's one of those things you have to take one day at a time, its hard and I doubt I will ever be completely happy with my body but hopefully one day I can lead a normal life.
I guess it's one of those things you have to take one day at a time, its hard and I doubt I will ever be completely happy with my body but hopefully one day I can lead a normal life.
What medical effects to laxatves have? (apart from obviously giving you diahorrea)
Apparently they don't do what bullimics take them for- youe body processes all the food before it comes out again so one thing they ceratinly don't do is help you lose weight.
If you take them constantly then they ruin your bowels in the end. If you're not passing stools properly then the muscles in your bowels become useless. I think they also stop you being able to process food properly in the end if you're always flushing it through you artificially.
Basically they're bad news- they ruin your bowel function and don't even help you lose weight in the process.
If you take them constantly then they ruin your bowels in the end. If you're not passing stools properly then the muscles in your bowels become useless. I think they also stop you being able to process food properly in the end if you're always flushing it through you artificially.
Basically they're bad news- they ruin your bowel function and don't even help you lose weight in the process.
Also, I haven't read through the rest of the thread so sorry if I repeat something. I know I've posted this somewhere on here before (might have been this thread), but there are a whole series of videos on YouTube from the same woman who talks about her experiences with anorexia. She's now recovered but she talks about all the physical problems she had (a heart attack in her early twenties for example).
Here's a link to one of the more shocking videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stH-LRTjEC0
But there are loads and loads of them that people with EDs might find helpful. They're pretty hard hitting and are all from the perspective of someone who knows what she's talking about.
Here's a link to one of the more shocking videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stH-LRTjEC0
But there are loads and loads of them that people with EDs might find helpful. They're pretty hard hitting and are all from the perspective of someone who knows what she's talking about.
becky xxx
Thank-you this thread has been so helpful!
I doubt I will ever be completely happy with my body but hopefully one day I can lead a normal life.
I doubt I will ever be completely happy with my body but hopefully one day I can lead a normal life.
I'm glad you've found the thread helpful. I remember staying up almost the whole night making it, trying to get the definitions and the facts right, and the process actually made me understand more about the scientific facts behind eating disorders too.
Bulimia is probably the worst ED I've had and which I still have. Well more like EDNOS biased towards bulimia. I have to admit that sadly, I've relapsed, and I knew I would from all the stress I face in uni esp. during exams. My mom has often tried to hint that maybe vet school isn't the best choice for me because of the amount of stress it would be sure to bring about and she'd said time and time again if i really can't cope mb i could transfer for med school which is an easier way out. But knowing me, I'm too stubborn to give up and I prefer vet med much more. Some of my friends in vetschool constantly tell me off for pushing myself too hard - and I often wish I'm not such a perfectionist.
And puppy - thx for the video link. It made me cry.
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