Am I bulimic? help please!?!
Question: I am 20, nearly 21 and have always struggled with my weight and self-esteem, i am not overweight but am at the higher end of what should be healthy for my height ( 12stone 2, 5ft11, size 14) but usually i am 10stone 7 and have put on alot of weight over the last year, anyway i have recentley started to make myself sick after eating again and haven't done this for a year but when i start i can't stop, i binge on chocolate and bread and then make myself sick maybe 15 times a couple of times a day, but not every day maybe 4 days out of the week..i used to do this also when I was a teenager but stopped and would only do it occasionaly if i felt too full, i keep saying right i am going to stop this but then find myself in the shop buying a load of junk to binge on and throw up knowing what i am going to do, i tried going to the docs as i am depressed also but i couldn't tell him that, no-one knows, i am not sure if this is a problem or not? but i hate the way it controls me
Answers: I am 20, nearly 21 and have always struggled with my weight and self-esteem, i am not overweight but am at the higher end of what should be healthy for my height ( 12stone 2, 5ft11, size 14) but usually i am 10stone 7 and have put on alot of weight over the last year, anyway i have recentley started to make myself sick after eating again and haven't done this for a year but when i start i can't stop, i binge on chocolate and bread and then make myself sick maybe 15 times a couple of times a day, but not every day maybe 4 days out of the week..i used to do this also when I was a teenager but stopped and would only do it occasionaly if i felt too full, i keep saying right i am going to stop this but then find myself in the shop buying a load of junk to binge on and throw up knowing what i am going to do, i tried going to the docs as i am depressed also but i couldn't tell him that, no-one knows, i am not sure if this is a problem or not? but i hate the way it controls me
tell your doctor what you jsut told us, if its hard, write down what you want to say on a piece of paper and give it to your doctor to read and ask for help, admiting you need help is the first step, as soon as you go get help it will stop you puking as much as you will realise how silly it is and how little it actauly helps in losing weight and actualy leads to weight gain, i gaind 9lbs being bulimic as i would try so hard to diet (eat very little) then bindge like crazy, my confidence went down further and i jsut ended up binging late at night, you never get all the calories up, never, and teeth end up a state
get help from your doctor, with eating disorders they provide counceling for free, im in my 3rd week,its really wierd talknig about myself to someone face to face, but its made me snap out of that state i was in, yes ive still puked alittle since taken the odd laxative, but no way as bad as before, the counceling is helping and my binging has reduced. so i think that it could help you. its hard to go and ask for help, i tried to for about 4months but kept canceling opointments, but in the end i got help and feel better for it. get help hun
yes you are.
yes, i think it's bulimia
esspecially if it controls your life like that
ya nasty - i hate this topic-
making yourself throw up has a lot of consequences. eventually you could suffer severe malnutrition but also some really gross things! your teeth will start to rot because of all the acid in your puke [especially for 15 times!!!] no matter how much you brush them, they will start to decay.
you'll get permanently bad breath no matter how many mints you pop.
nobody ever thinksof the word "sick" as a good thing so why would you put your body through that on purpose? you really really need to talk to a doctor if it controls you like you say. any psychiatrist will help, or school counselor or anything. you need to start making better choices because
being skinny with rotting teeth at 21 is not worth lying on your death bed at 30.
i would call this bulimia.
get help, girly. before you really mess urself up.
dont let this control you. its unnatural....you should be in control of you.
Yes, if you make yourself sick after eating you are bulimic. You must go to your doctor and tell him the truth, and you will get help. Please do this immediately. It is certainly a problem and you need help. Good luck.
You KNOW you have a problem, you're looking for validation on yahoo answers of all places. See a doctor, not a bunch of online 'experts'.
I think you already know the answer to your question.
You know you're no longer in control and you've had the symptoms before, so now it's time to do something about it.
You're not in your teens anymore, so no-one can force you to get the help you obviously need, only you can make this choice, but make it soon before it gets so out of hand... it kills you.
a sincere friend
Caramac x
it is very difficult i know. been there. yes i think youre definitely bulimic and it has gotten a hold of you cause as you say, you find yourself suddenly in the shop buying stuff. it is obsessional and very hard to stop when you are at this point.
what i found is that you have to be so strict with yourself in order to stop that part of the cycle. also the cravings are a blood sugar thing so important to never starve yourself - always have a food on hand that is not binge making to eat a bit of (ie nuts, plain food)
but it is also psychological. and very much like alcoholism - you can think your feeling ok, then all of a sudden your on a binge. i think depression is part of it certainly. its all about feelings overwhelming you and you know the perfect fix. but the strange thing is how it just seems to happen. like something outside you is leading you.
counselling would help. possibly acupuncture as well - good for obsessional things. medication maybe but be careful. but you also need to learn to gain control over the parts of your life that feel out of control or at least learn to live with them, get a new perspective.
a lot of times, bulimia is about feelings that you dont know what to do with, things from when you were a child - things that werent resolved. i dont think you need to go thru your whole life with a counsellor, just to learn what to do with feelings (something schools and parents never bother to teach people)
i would get help from a psychologist (not a psychiatrist - they will just confuse you). and take one day at a time.
if you are feeling brave before what you see is a potential binge, instead of going for it - letting it control you - challenge yourself to sit for 5 minutes beforehand. and then do it. you may learn in those 5 minutes just one thing that will give you a clue about what you percieve as its control over you. just 5 minutes, then continue your binge. What did you learn?
good luck anyways
Bulimia just like depression is a mental problem, you should def speak to someone especially your doctor as what you have said is def bulimia, alot of people think you have to be super thin like anorexia to be bulimic but most bulimics are actually normal or even a bit overweight, to begin with, until it can get really out of hand, so my advice is yes go to your doctor and they will get you some help
It definitely sounds like you are bulimic.
As hard as it is, I would recommend telling your doctor--bulimia does affect your body, and it is good to have them check out the things that get messed up and can lead to you dying (such as your electrolytes).
Antidepressants at high dosages can *really* help with bulimia. So can Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)--you could see a psychologist for that. Remember, bulimia is a medical problem, and it is really hard to beat on your own. As hard as it is to tell professionals, don't be afraid to ask for help. If your doctor makes you feel badly or is rude to you if you tell him/her, find a new doctor.
The websites www.something-fishy.org and www.nationaleatingdisorders.org are good websites for learning more about eating disorders and ways to treat them. I think they also have treatment referral finders.
Yes. You need to break the grip it has over your life. Talk to someone and tell someone you trust and who cares about you. Let them be there to encourage you and keep tabs on your diet.
Do you live alone? If you do, you might want to find someone to live-in with you. I find you are much less likely to binge when you are not alone.
These are some helps
Yoga, meditation, Pilate
Breathing exercises
Tapping technique and EFT
Affirmations and Self Hypnosis or Self Talk.
Reading good books like