Re: Bulimia

Re: Bulimia

going to FM you.

Re: Bulimia

If you need help, please send me FM, i work very closely with the Eating Disorder Association, as well as the program through North Shore Hospital, I see 3 girls with SEVERE eating disorders in my private practice, I have had to hospitalize 2 of them becasue of physical decompensation due to bulimia and anorexia, so don't wait too long to intervene, the body can start shutting down and some of the damage is irreversible ( i don't mean to scare you), but eating disorders are just as dangerous as a severe drug addiction, and IMO even worse.

Re: Bulimia

Bulimia can be very confusing. It can be about weight but usually you won't lose THAT much weight unless you are also anorexic. In that case, you are binging out of hunger and purging out of fear of weight loss.

HOWEVER -- the scariest thing about bulimia is that you can look TOTALLY NORMAL and still have it - you can be overweight and still puking. Because for some people bulimia is almost a way of coping with stress. I know this is hard to understand for people who have never been there. But sometimes binging and purging is a reaction and coping mechanism and has very little if anyting to do with weight loss. It is almost like being an alcoholic.

I don't think a bulimic is ever CURED because, like an alcoholic, when the second type of bulimic becomes stressed it is a hard reaction to undo and for the first bulimic, it becomes a comfort to the anorexic to know they can eat and still not become fat.

I am not writing this because I have any book knowledge so those of you out there that are therapists may disagree with me. I am writing this out of my own experiences - with friends and myself. This disease is out there - ALOT more than you think. And it is a constant struggle for those of us that deal with it in our lives. For me - it has almost gone away - mostly out of my desire to have children soon - so I think your friend may be ok! I'm not saying the thought is never there I'm just saying it almost never actually happens.

I also want to say that NO ONE but my DH knows this about me. So don't be hurt that she wouldn't share it with you. NO ONE i know would ever suspect this about me.

Hope this helps

Re: Bulimia

That's a good point about being PG. Post=partum depression is very common and it's more common in people who have a history of mental illness. I would really be worried and concerned about that time of her life