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[Felyne]

How does it get diagnosed, does anyone know?   Are there any real problems with it?  I've only had a quick look online about it, and it seems to be more of a 'matter of opinion' than anything else. 

If anyone has some information that has a good basis behind it, I would be interested to hear it.

[blackned_wings]

What do you mean any real problems?

Like....longterm bad effects of being bulimic? Here's some info i gathered up...

How it is generally diagnosed and some other info...

http://www.hmc.psu.edu/healthinfo/b/bulimia.htm

Long term effects..

http://www.helpguide.org/mental/bulimia_signs_symptoms_causes_treatment.htm

[Kitten7]

I lost a good friend years ago when she died from bulimia induced heart irregularities.

[abandonedNH]

I personally think -- and here we go with a "matter of opinion" -- that no matter how out-of-control it is, any sort of bingeing and/or purging behavior is automatically a problem. I'm not going to get all self-righteous because I myself have eating disordered behavior, and I know that I definitely wouldn't/won't follow my own advice, but if you're bingeing and purging, you really should seek help as soon as possible before the problem gets worse and you're doing it more frequently. Because -- and I'm sure you know this -- the last thing that eatings disorders are about is food. It's important to identify the underlying issues as to why you're doing what you're doing, so that you can begin down the path to recovery before your long-term health becomes jeopardized. Good luck!

[Barbara]

I know from people who have treated it that there are many negative long-lasting side effects.  Your teeth will rot (made even worse by brushing your teeth right after, because this rubs the stomach acid further into your teeth), ulcers, hair loss, damage to your vocal cords, and some people get to the point will they will be sick if their stomach is just lightly pushed on, which I imagine would cause a lot of problems.

As Kitten mentioned, heart irregularity is also a big issue.

Those are just the physical side effects; some mental ones are depression, anxiety, avoidance, out of control feelings, and so on.

[Radical Ed]

Eat what you want and rejoice in that curvy ass! Some of us likes it!

[Cyber]

As people have said there are a LOT of negative physiological long-term effects of bulimia.

The stomach acid eats away the outer enamel on your teeth eventually leaving only the dentin which will rot.

Ulcers, colitis, a hypersensitive stomach and other GI problems can/will affect the patient.

Heart problems, especially a potassium imbalance from dehydration (usually caused by the purging process), can be fatal and/or cause irreversible damage to the heart.

Other non-physiological problems can arise as well.  I've heard stories of bulimics who hide what they've purged in jars in their closet(s) to avoid anyone finding out, they've driven to other towns to buy copious amounts of food to binge and purge on the side of a road...horrible, horrible stuff.

Karen Carpenter died from heart-related complications after a LONG battle with chronic anorexia nervosa...while she was on the road to recovery at that point, the damage had already been done.  She died 26 days shy of her 33rd birthday, cutting her very successful singing career short.

I worked with a girl who was overweight - not grossly obese but some extra baggage - she went to Weight Watchers and became excited/enthusiastic with how well her progress was coming along.  She started deviating from their balanced diet but would still stay within her allotted points...she lost more weight that way but at a pace faster than her body could keep up with and her skin began to sag.  I can remember her being on a "pumpkin kick" as she called it...for her lunch every day, she'd eat a can of pumpkin, like what we use to bake pies with.  She had such a surplus of beta-carotene, she started to turn orange!   Eventually, Weight Watchers kicked her out of the program for becoming anorexic...in her thought process of "just a couple of pounds more" when she was past her weight goal...and in her eating habits.  (NICE way to support someone, I know!)  She became depressed after that and started binging and purging at an alarming rate and six months later was hospitalized (in a psych unit) after her bulimia was discovered by her parents.  I'm glad she got help before it was too late...it was really frightening to watch this happening to her and any attempts by all of us at work to intervene and help her had failed.  (we couldn't violate her privacy and speak with her parents either since she was an adult)

Long story short, if you know someone who has this problem, please do everything you can to get them help before it's too late and permanent damage has been done.  Be a supportive friend/relative while they go through the healing process.  If, perchance, you're asking for yourself, the same applies...please get help before it's too late.  Tell someone you need help and work with the process.  You'd have a good support network of people here at Opacity.

[RacheyBachey]

Hey Feylne.  I want to give you my two cents.  Bulimia being bad for you is not just a matter of opinion, it is a natural fact.  It's not normal for a person to throw up their food, upon gorging themselves.  Our bodies become traumatized by doing this.  What cyber said!  Anyhoo, I was bulimic for a while as a teen.  Bulimia is a symptom, not just a disease all by itself.  For me, I found it as a way out.  A way out of being myself.  A way to be something to everyone else I thought would be amazed by.  I didn't like myself very much.  It started out as a way to control what I looked like on the outside, but became my secret obsession.  I felt ashamed cuz I was hiding it. 
I was always a physically healthy, more on the chunky side, a tom boy. Being the pretty girl was always hard for me.  I had alot more emotionally and mentally going on at that time to make such a drastic choice- to change who I was, or portrayed myself to be.  Pretty chaotic emotionally. I was sad, angry and confused. I didn't have much support at home either. I had friends who cared, but we go on making our own choices.   
I got so thin, I could wear a dress my mom made for me at nine years old, when I laid in bed my heart would skip beats, I stopped menstruating for 3 months, my ribs stuck out and you could see my spine, I had to read pages over and over again; because I couldn't remember what I just read and I was weak and dizzy all the time, my hair thinned out too.  I hurt myself.  This was not who I was, I wasn't being myself and I decided to stop.  It took me a year to never do it again, I think about it sometimes, it's addicting behavior- but I don't want to go through that again.  I found a counselour who really understood me, listened to me and my questions about life.  Then I went on my own. I did some meditating and yoga too.
I gained a new perspective on my life.

Here's my soapbox: We people, female, male and whatever, are beautiful just as we are.  There is tons of pressure on young girls from our society and media to be sexy, pretty. We are objects from the time we watch Snow White as kids. Little girls are exploited for thier looks before they have the chance to know who they are, and battle this idea of what "everyone else" (who are they any way?) thinks is desirable.  Men get the macho-play with trucks- thing.  Part of the way you process this information also depends on how you were brought up.
I was emotionally abused by a sociapathic-unaware step dad.  From an early age my self concept was dented, I wasn't good enough.   
I wish women could stop focusing on how skinny they are and be allowed to be their natural, womanly selves. Or however any person (male, female, whatever) sees themselves, to be. We all are human, there are no tidy boxes to put us into.  You are beautiful.  Bulimia is a psychological symptom. I wish you the best. Rachey. 

[Kitten7]

That was an excellent reply Rachey.
Control is a huge issue with both bulimia and anorexia. If a person feels they can't control anything in their environment, they attempt to control what goes in (or out) of them.
The self image is so very easily "dented"; mine is still nonexistant and I'm not a young kid any more.

[Cyber]

 
I wish women could stop focusing on how skinny they are and be allowed to be their natural, womanly selves. Or however any person (male, female, whatever) sees themselves, to be. We all are human, there are no tidy boxes to put us into.

AMEN!!  I'm so tired of people carrying around this false "theory" that THIN IS IN.  UGH!!  Ok, so some of you have seen my HS photo of me as a Varsity cheerleader.  I had lost 20lbs and had to regain it back in order to fit a healthy criteria according to IL regulations.  (I'd had a tonsillectomy and couldn't eat much.)  I didn't LIKE being bony/thin.  (well, ok fitting into some cute outfits was cool)

Twelve years ago when I first started having back troubles, my MD gave me a choice: keep working out hard and run a great risk of suffering irreversible nerve damage OR slow down to just walking and not much more and deal with the inevitable weight gain later.  It wasn't a hard choice...I'd rather lose weight than be in pain and disabled for the rest of my life.

Now that my back troubles are returning/evolving, I'm now hearing that I should be losing weight and doing what I can to strengthen my back and abdominal muscles to force my lower spine back into better alignment to give me a better long-term outlook.

I know I have a LONG way to go to achieve my goal but my end desired weight is certainly NOT the weight I was in high school...in spite of the IHSA's parameters, it is underweight and unhealthy.  I hope that they've since revised their parameters and increase their weight ranges.

Whatever Twiggy-obsessed fabric-saving buttmunch in the fashion industry that decided that "6 is the new 14" (from The Devil Wears Prada but true nonetheless the way clothing is made lately) has serious perspective problems and really needs to get a clue by four.

I also feel bad for the movie stars who put on a ton of weight for one movie then crash-diet to be skinny for the next.  What terrible things they're doing to their bodies!!!

[RacheyBachey]

Hey Kitten7.  I feel for you about having lost your friend to bulimia and for having similar issues in regards to your view of your self. You must be doing something right though, cuz yer still here. Is it ok to ask about your friend? Were you guys young?

Cyber, having back/nerve issues like that deciding how active you can be must be irritating to say the least. Have you ever tried Tai Chi?  It's a slow exercise, good for your brain and all the rest.  I took a class years ago.
I'm sure you'll meet your goal in good time.

I hear that about the weight guidelines.  I checked em for me a few years ago and the BMI says I'm supposed to be 104lbs, when I was at my worst with bulimia I was 110.  They are INSANE.  I'm not supposed to be that small.  My mom has been over 200lbs her whole adult life, active and healthy.  Fat does not = sick. Just lookit the women in the 50's and before that...

What Radical Ed said!  Hurrah!  We'll eat what we want, and THEY can rejoice in our curvy asses!  (I don't mean they can throw parties in our bums.) Heh.

Ok talkatchoo later.  Take care guys, thankyou, Rachey.

[Kitten7]

Hey Kitten7.  I feel for you about having lost your friend to bulimia and for having similar issues in regards to your view of your self. You must be doing something right though, cuz yer still here. Is it ok to ask about your friend? Were you guys young?

Cyber, having back/nerve issues like that deciding how active you can be must be irritating to say the least. Have you ever tried Tai Chi?  It's a slow exercise, good for your brain and all the rest.  I took a class years ago.
I'm sure you'll meet your goal in good time.

I hear that about the weight guidelines.  I checked em for me a few years ago and the BMI says I'm supposed to be 104lbs, when I was at my worst with bulimia I was 110.  They are INSANE.  I'm not supposed to be that small.  My mom has been over 200lbs her whole adult life, active and healthy.  Fat does not = sick. Just lookit the women in the 50's and before that...

What Radical Ed said!  Hurrah!  We'll eat what we want, and THEY can rejoice in our curvy asses!  (I don't mean they can throw parties in our bums.) Heh.

Ok talkatchoo later.  Take care guys, thankyou, Rachey.

Rachey my friend was in her 30's when she died. Her heart developed an irregular beat because of electrolyte (sp?) imbalances from binging and purging.
My own weight goes all over the place. I don't have an eating disorder, but sometimes I eat (or not eat) for the wrong reasons.
My self esteem has been in the crapper for a while now; it's hard sometimes, you know?

[Indigo]

Ongoing binging and purging has a LONG term effect on your entire body, especially your heart. Vomitting puts insane pressure on your heart (it is a muscle) and weakens it. That is why many people who suffer long term with bulemia end up with various heart dieases.
It is a dangerous and vicious disorder that desperately needs psychiatric help.
I didnt get help and binged and purged to lose weight through high school and at 25 (and 30 pounds overweight still) I was diagnosed with Dialated Cardio Myopathy... my left ventricle is double the size it should be and the only way to fix it is a heart transplant. I am now 31, single mom with 3 kids, who is "healthy" but could lose the fight anyday by catching a virus and it attacks my heart. People with my blood type tend to NOT sign their organ donor cards.

My best advice...to lose weight, change your lifestyle!
I have lost 30 pounds the healthy way in 6 months!
Exercise a bit more (trust me I hate to sweat! get a job that requires you to move like in retail or a gas station... it worked for me) and eat greens, fruits, low fat and cut out the mayo and ketchup! Drink water and take vitamins!
It is WAY better than losing your life and health over a bit of pudge in the butt or belly!
There is a great group of folks here who will be supportive and helpful... I dont know why you asked about this but if you are asking then  someone needs help. You now know how to help them.

Good luck.

[Cyber]

People with my blood type tend to NOT sign their organ donor cards.

Curiously, what's your blood type?

[Cyber]

Cyber, having back/nerve issues like that deciding how active you can be must be irritating to say the least. Have you ever tried Tai Chi?  It's a slow exercise, good for your brain and all the rest.  I took a class years ago.
I'm sure you'll meet your goal in good time.

RB, thanks for the vote of confidence!  Yeah, with back issues it is tough being active.  When I go exploring, I don't just "wander around" for an hour then leave, I poke around, climb stairs and spend hours checking out cool places.  I also work in retail pharmacy which means I'm on my feet ALL DAY (which is both a blessing and sheer torture at the same time).

I haven't tried Tai Chi but I'm very open to new experiences so I'll take a look around for classes that aren't outrageously expensive.