To Natalie00 or anyone else who might know:

I noticed that Natalie said that a BMI that is too low is a way people have heart attacks. Is that really true? Mine is 15.7 right now, and I have chest pains every now and then, and I do exercise a lot. I always assume the pains are just psychological since people have said that heart attacks are possible with ED's, so I always just write them off as my brain playing tricks on me, but that BMI comment really concerned me.

Health Risk According to Body Mass Index (BMI) BMI Health Risk
below 17.00 Very High (Probably Anorexic)
17.00 to 18.49 High (Possibly Anorexic)
18.50 to 19.99 Moderate
20.00 to 24.99 Low
25.00 to 29.99 Moderate
30.00 to 34.99 High (Possibly Obese)
35.00 or above Very High (Probably Obese)


People with ED's can have heart attacks and arrhythmias for many reasons.

Being severely underweight can cause heart failure. Starvation can cause damage to vital organs such as the heart and brain. Your pulse rate and blood pressure drop and you could experience irregular heart rhythms or heart failure.

Low potassim and sodium can cause heart attacks. We lose both those things when we purge,and lack them when we starve ourselves. Those and other essentail electrolytes are depleted when we starve ourselves or vomit.

Having a BMI under 16 is in the danger zone.
If you are having chest pains, see your doctor immediately.You need to have an EKG done. You low BMI and you excessive exercising could easily lead to a heart attack or stroke.

Please seek help tomorrow morning!

After reading your response, I got pretty scared. I had totally gone back to restricting, telling myself it was just temporary until I got back to a certain point. But it is so addicting once I get started, it's very difficult to get out of that "mode" again. I'm going to call my dr. today and make and appt. for an EKG, that is something my therapist had written for me to have done anyway a while back, I just never make the appt with my GP.

Also, after reading your post, I sat down last night and wrote in my journal to figure out some things about my recovery, mainly about what my biggest obstacles are right now. So, one of the biggest things I came up with that I don't know how to get past is: How do you deal with it when your clothes start getting tighter? I mean, I can get past the number on the scale by just not getting on it, that's what I was doing for a while, and it was totally working. I also learned to deal with the bloating which I freaked out over at first. But when my pants started getting tighter, that freaked me out, then I made the mistake of weighing, and it was downhill from there.

For Natalie or anyone else who is having more success than me in recovering, what do you do about the "clothes fitting tighter" thing? I mean, obviously the clothes are going to get tighter if you gain weight, which is the whole point in all of this, but that's not something I can figure out how to deal with mentally or emotionally.

Please help, that's a major obstacle for me. I feel like if I could just get past that one, I could maybe get over this big bump in the recovery road.

hey dawgfan, i don't know as i'm not there yet, but i think i know my plan. I GO SHOPPING. immediately. and i buy pants that FIT and that i think look CUTE and that i LOVE. i don't buy cheapy pants that are just "okay," i buy awesome pants that i REALLY like. then i take the others and throw them away.

i think that's the only way to do it. you've gotta shop, girl! i'm on a budget, but i am fully ready to devote a good amount of money to pants, etc. if it helps me recover more easily (WAY more worth it to be un-anorexic than to save x amount for the month, you know?) so, go shopping! you gotta get those clothes that make you feel bad OUT of your closet asap. get clothes that make you feel good IN!

I'm 5'5 and 115 pounds.. i got bloodwork about a week ago, and my potassium is fine? I dont have an ED...and im healthy, so im at moderate risk for a heart attack?

Hi Jonistyle!

That was such a great reply. I think I was really hoping there was some way around it, but you pretty much laid it on the line, no BS or anything, and that's what I needed to hear. I guess I really knew deep down that buying new clothes was the only logical answer, but I didn't want to admit that--I guess partly b/c I had already bought new clothes when I lost all the weight in the first place, and even those got too big, but I wasn't about to go out and buy even smaller ones. Obviously, if I want to recover, I am going to have to gain weight, which means the smaller clothes HAVE to go!!

It will be fun to buy new clothes, although like you, I am definitely on a budget. But, the hardest part for me is going to be trying not to feel bad about moving up to bigger sizes rather than down to smaller ones. I guess maybe that goes back to convincing yourself that gaining weight is a good thing, not the other way around. I just find that sooo hard!!

Dawg-
I am so happy you are going to call your doc for an EKG. You shoud have complete blood workup also. I am glad my post got you pretty scared, because I think it is really dangerous when people with ED's are NOT scared about their health. So many girls with ED know about the risks of heart attack, stroke, major organ failure, ect. but those things don't scare them and it should. Fear of a heart attack was a major reason I stopped purging. It finally hit me one day, "My god, I could die in my sleep" and I didn't want my parents to find me dead in my bed. Being scared to death is good, really. Having a blase attitude about the health risks is a very dangerous thing.

About the clothes...I'd do what Joni said and go shopping. Buy some pants (not expensive ones if you can't afford them..you can get cut jeans at Kohls and Macys and places like that for $20-$25) in 1 size larger.

Don't freak yourself out into thinking you are going to go up 3 or 4 pant sizes in a a couple months because you won't. You might not even go up more than 1 size once you start eating normally and your metabolism gets running again. The sizes on clothes are so subjective anyways...I can wear THREE different pant sizes in Jr's jeans.

Hey Natalie--

You're right, I have had a really blase attitude about all of the health risks. You know, it's always easier to think the bad stuff will never happen to you. I still find it hard to believe that I'm really in danger, but I'm not going to let that stop me from making sure I'm ok. My kids and husband need me too much for me to let something horrible happen.

It's good to get reassurance that the pants size won't increase drastically, and all at once too. The only thing that will suck is I just bought some new summer stuff that I took on my trip to Cancun b/c all my stuff from last summer was too big; well now if I gain weight before this summer gets here, I will have wasted money on all these new clothes I just bought. Oh well, I guess that's a small price to pay for recovery and the freedom that will hopefully come along with it, right? I really can't wait for that day. One thing that I am absolutely dying to eat is PIZZA--I would love to be able to order a pizza, and just sit down and eat it and LOVE it!! It's been soooo long since I've allowed myself to even go near it.

Anyway, I'm rambling, and my mouth is watering, so I better stop.

Thanks for being here for me!!

Hey dawg-

Yes...a little wasted money on clothes is nothing in comparision to the price you would have to pay if something really happened to you as a result of your ED. Take the clothes to a secondhand store, maybe?? Sell them on ebay?? Just don't save them if you don't fit into them anymore.


I know what you're saying about the pizza...since I stopped b/p I haven't ordered a pizza because that is a major trigger for me..I used to order pizzas and breaksticks and stuff and binge and purge for hours, so I don't want to put myself in a vulnerable situation. Hopefully, someday I will be able to sit with a pizza in front of me like a normal person.

We WILL get to the point where we can eat stuff like normal people do, we just have to remind ourselves to take it all one day at a time, be patient, and not expect immediate results. But we will get there! :)

anyone one know what my bmi works out at and what is ideal . I am 5 ft 4 and i am 91 lbs 6st 7 ish . i am currently trying to beat anorexia and bulimia the bulimia i can succeed but only by restricting so i am finding this battle hard but i am really trying.

I'm 5'5 and 115 pounds.. i got bloodwork about a week ago, and my potassium is fine? I dont have an ED...and im healthy, so im at moderate risk for a heart attack?

I think they may be off a little, your BMI is 19.1 and according to the NHLBI, underwieght starts a BMI 18.5. Your are most likely fine.

anyone one know what my bmi works out at and what is ideal . I am 5 ft 4 and i am 91 lbs 6st 7 ish . i am currently trying to beat anorexia and bulimia the bulimia i can succeed but only by restricting so i am finding this battle hard but i am really trying.

16.1

Ideal BMI 19-25 should be 110 to 145, get some help, best of luck.

anyone one know what my bmi works out at and what is ideal . I am 5 ft 4 and i am 91 lbs 6st 7 ish . i am currently trying to beat anorexia and bulimia the bulimia i can succeed but only by restricting so i am finding this battle hard but i am really trying.


Your BMI is 15.6. That is very dangerous. Please seek out help if you haven't already.