I have found that most bulimic want to be anoerxic and most anoerxics want to be bulimic. I will be doing one post on anoerxia and one on bulimia for I have fought with both:
So, if you're reading this you probably are anorexic or you are thinking about trying to become anorexic. Either way, if you like it or not, please read this post to the very end.

I have fought with both anorexia and bulimia for many years and can't express how unsatisfying both of them are. It's no fun when you're trying to take a bath and it kills your back because there's nothing there to cushion your bones from the tube itself. It's no fun when you're cold all the time while everyone else says it's comfortable. It's no fun when all your family and friends can eat what they want and be okay with it and you just can sit and stare at the fun and you probably were the one that prepared it. It's no fun when the room spins, or you feel your heart miss a few beats here and than and your tired constantly so trying to hold down a job or making it through the school day is about all you can accomplish. It also isn't much fun when you start to isolate from your friends and they from you because of your behavior with and around food. It's not any fun when you do give in and go out to eat and that you feel guilty and wonder how much you have to do to burn the calories off. It's also not any fun when you do go out that you worry about how the food was made, if the cooks purposely put extra fat into the fun, and wonder if you use enough napkins to get some grease off of the food if it truly will be enough. It's not fun to walk up and down the grocery isles, checking each package of food and trying to find the one less likely to make you gain weight.

Now, I'm going to give you some facts I got off different websites on eating disorders:

Between 5-20% of individuals struggling with anorexia nervosa will die. The probabilities of death increases within that range depending on the length of the condition (Zerbe, 1995).
Anorexia nervosa has one of the highest death rates of any mental health condition.
Swelling in the feet and hands.
Hair loss, brittle nails, and dry skin.
Difficulty concentrating and solving problems or poor judgment.
Fainting spells, low blood pressure, and slow heartbeat.
Frequent colds and other infections.
Yellow-orange skin, especially on the palms of the hands, or a purplish skin color on the arms and legs.
and there are many more.

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As long as there is life, there is hope

I totally could identify with this post. When I was anorexic, I experienced most all of this. It is strange how even my family memebers really didnt notice until I turned Bright Orange. I was walking around looking like a had severe liver cancer, and I was so shrunken that people probably believed it! It was not fun.

Hi there, well I totally identified with your post, and although i'm six months into recovery i still have many of the symptoms I wonder when they leave?? Also I wonder if it's possible to totally recover from eds, or if the thinking about food and calories is always there.
well bye guys

Hi and thanks for reading this Katrina and Legally_brunette and thanks for adding your comments and exepriencess.
It is possible to recover from an eating disorder. It's not easy and it's a long hard road, but one that is well worth it. Keep up with the recovery process you two. Take Care.

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As long as there is life, there is hope

I can't trust food anymore that others make, even in restraunts. At home I wash all my fruit before eating for I am afraid that somehow my family added "fat" to them. If I leave an open can of soda out of my sight, I can't finish it in fear somoene added something to it.

Wow, I can relate to some of the things that were written.....like walking down the aisles and reading the Nutrition Facts on the back of the box....and afraid of eating with others. And being cold when everyone else isn't. That was a great post.

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"Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you respond to it." ~Charles Swindoll

I'm sorry you can relate, but I am glad that you read this and I hope to see more of your posts hon.
Take Care

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As long as there is life, there is hope

Wow, I'm a 15 female and I just recently became Bulimic and on the verge of being an Anorexic. I was searching through here hoping to find out just the effects of what could happen over a long term time of doing this and I have. I've been bulimic for about 4 days now and I was just wondering what the pain in my ribs could meen? I do throw up everything I eat on purpose adn I know thats WHY my ribs hurt but what's causing it? Thanks for all your help and I think I'm goign to reconsider my whole Bulimic thing.

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~*PrincezzPain16*~

oh PLEASE reconsider it!! You don't want this pain! You don't want the pain of an eating disorder! You don't want the weak states that your body will go through! You don't want any of this!! If you can stop this after 4 days, then please do! You deserve better than an eating disorder!

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--katie--
When it hurts to look back and
you are scared to look ahead,
look beside you and I will be there

you also do not want to keep throwing up because eventually your throat will start to bleed and you are more at risk for cancer of the esophagus.
Teeth falling out is really a bad thing but dying is a totally different story. And I've heard that dying from cancer of the esphagus is not fun....

I've been doing this for about 16 years or so and does not get better.

The best thing to do is to get your mind off of it and get busy with something else in your life. Exercise or do what ever else you can think of to lose weight, but do not throw up or take laxatives.

The problem with laxatives is that your body becomes totally dependant on them and you won't ever be able to go to the bathroom on your own again and you will always feel bloated and uncomfortable.


Good luck...

I hope I word this correctly. For those looking at this discussion hoping to find tips on being anorexic- if you think it's such a good way to lose weight, count the number of posts from people wanting to get out of eating disorders.... for them it's no longer a simple choice.... Nobody plans on being one of the ones who dies. Nobody plans on being one of the ones who develops permanent complications. Nobody plans on the eating disorder taking control when that's what they wanted in the first place (at least of their weight). Eating disorders are not weight loss methods- they are illnesses that kill (either physically, socially, or mentally). As the eating disorder gets stronger, the real person goes farther away. As a friend of mine used to ask, "so, ya wanna be skinny for your funeral???"

I want to move this to the top for the those that are new.

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As long as there is life, there is hope

i am 16 yrs old and i have anorexia/bulimia.. i can so relate to everything here...i hate being caught in this cycle yet powerless to do anything bout it. i feel that i can't recieve help for some reason...that i deserve this..very depressing..and to all the teens out there who think losing weight is the answer to all ur probs..think bout how it'll be when u lose so much that ur bones creak everytime u stand up and move..or u heart pounds real hard and irregular when u exert urself and u dont have the energy to get out of bed in the morning...u look in the mirror and see dark eyes,hollow cheeks,pale skin and wnat to die...now is it worth it?

to the top once again

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As long as there is life, there is hope

I can relate to most of these things too. It scares me to know that so many other people are feeling and going through the same exact thing as me. I am bulimic/anorexic and have been for about 1/2 a year. I started when my boyfriend, whom I was truly in love with, broke up with me for no apparent reason. After that I was just so depressed and I thought that maybe if I lost some weight I would look better and then he would want me back. Well that was defnitely the wrong answer. Now I have eating disorders that I can't control. Im even isolating myself from the people I care about the most. I barely hang out with my friends or go out anymore because I know that food will be involved. I just want to live a normal life...can someone please help me or give me some good advice?? Or can someone that knows what I'm going through e-mail me at foxy_87chick@hotmail.com thanks

how is it that we can all discuss the atrocities associated with ed's, and we can all vouch for the way it ruins our lives and yet none of us can get out of it???
something to think about.
luv and luck, http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/heart.gif
Rachel

My ED has been my best friend, my savior, my worst enemy and my silent killer...all in the same time period of my life. We disillusion ourselves into thinking that this way of life is good...that if we can sustain it and deal with the pain for "just one more day" then life will be better. It's an addiction we can't always control...it's a horrible monster that scares us at night when we think we're tucked away safe in dreams....

hi im 14... i'll be 15 oct. 18....um.. i have been bulimic for 3-4 months now.. and i am gunna be anorexic starting tomorrow....um....my main thing i wanna know is, how long can you go without eating b4 u die?
~*~Lisha~*~
please some1 write me back

i can relate to almost everything here. an ed is not glamorous. its the living hell of living w/someone, yourself, that u hate.

lisha, its not too late to stop what youve started cuz it only gets harder the longer u wait. if u totally stop eating u will find yourself w/a distended abdomen, your hair & teeth falling out, heart attack, probs doing EVERYTHING--thinking, walking, sitting, sleeping. & many more probs. i cannot tell u how long it will be b4 u die but your body is dying every day that u have the ed. i have an ed & i know this myself.

eds are especially dangerous for teens like u who arent done developing. if u do not feed yourself u will look prepubescent 4ever. do u want to look 8? do guys want to date a girl w/a child's body?

ive been where u are, i am a couple years older then u, & am I basically everything that i am warning u against. please get help so u dont destroy your life.

lisha~
first of all i have struggled with bulimia/anorexia for 8 years...it is not fun. i don't understand how someone can just say..ok, im going to be anorexic tomorrow...i don't know maybe everyone is differnt but i know when i developed an eating disorder i considered it first, played around with the behaviors for awhile and it just got worse and worse. i am recovering as of now...i have been restricting, vomiting, diet pill etc. free for 6 months now. believe me you don't want this...or need this. get out of it now while you can....the longer you wait the harder it is, believe me. you know, but its really sad how i finally woke up....i had to lose one of my best friends to anorexia for me to fully wake up. the night before she died she had my promise her i wouldn't let the same thing happen to me. so, think about it and i hope you make a smart decision. let me know how you are doing.

It is very sad to read that young people are actually PLANNING to bring on this disease. It is like planning to get cancer or aids, planning to be involved in a tragic car accident, or planning to put yourself in a wheelchair for the rest of your life. Why would someone want to plan something so horrible?

I know how the disease works since I have lived with it for many years. I have improved dramatically, but not 100%. My last active period was from March to July of this year. The great thing about it was that I could finally look in the mirror and say, "You look really gross." I didn't think I looked gross because I still felt fat, but because I was way too thin. That is the first time that has ever happened!

I think the saddest part of my whole disease was when I was pregnant. I just couldn't allow my self to gain weight, and I only gained 4 pounds my whole pregnancy. My doctor kept telling me that I was hurting my child, but I couldn't even stop for the health of my baby. How sad is that???!!!

After years of starving myself, I am left with the hands of a 90 year old, problem teeth from lack of nutrition, and a body thermostat that registers freezing 24/7. For those of you considering this way of life, ask yourself if it's worth it!!!!

lisha hello i am a newbie to this but not to eds. i have been in theraphy/recovery for about 2 months but i have suffered with anorexia and bulimia for 16 yrs. i am 31 and am 5'5". at my lowest weight i was 86 lbs and i still thought i was fat. right now i am about 105 and i still today have those same feelings that i am fat even though i'm really not. i have relapsed a few times in my recovery but i just picked myself up and kept on going because eds is a horrible disorder to live with and most important a deadly one. i have awsome support and i am so happy that i finally admitted that i had a problem even though everyone new something was wrong just by looking at me. i want to live and have a family and marry my awsome supportive boyfriend. i don't want you to have to go through what i have been through. plz get some help. just plz talk to someone. i am one of the lucky ones even though the battle still isn't over yet. georgia

Hi Amya.

I am so sorry to here about your eating disorder I can relate to your story. I to think that i am fat and i am very scared of being fat. Weight is the only thing we can contorl.When i was 19 i was so down that i would isolat my self from my family and friends. I got to were i would skip meals and take diet pills.I was so weak that one day i passed out. I was taken to the hosptial it was there were i got help. they had a support group it helped me out alot.I don't know of the singer by the name of Karen Carpenter She was
Anorexic.By the time she wan't to stop it was to late. She died of a heart attack. I think there is a web site on Karen carpenter were you can read about her eating disorder. I hope you can get the help you need. And about your boyfriend that broke up with you he's not worth dieing over. There is always some else out there for you.Please get the help. you will feel better about your self.

God bless you .:round
Josephine