BULIMIA

Another method for dealing with the desire to lose or maintain a lower weight may involve "purging," or getting rid of food in some way after it has been taken into your body.

At first, it may seem to be an almost free way to eat and enjoy yourself and at the same time manage your weight. However, after using these purging activities for awhile, you find yourself feeling trapped. You may alternate between restricting and purging, or, you may just "binge" (eating what other people would consider an abnormally large amount of food in a short period of time) and purge.

Over time, you also may find yourself using your eating disorder behaviors to deal with stress or any emotion that is uncomfortable. Your positive feelings about yourself may come to rely almost completely on whether you feel good about the shape of your body and your weight. You may also find the number of binge/purge cycles in your week increasing to the point that they begin to interfere with the rest of your life. If these are happening often enough, you may have difficulty concentrating or you may feel dizzy much of the time or even pass out. You may find yourself taking in larger and larger amounts of food because if feels like it takes that much to fill you up. If you do get rid of the food in some way, you also may find yourself feeling bad about yourself and out of control. Your moods may become more unmanageable, and you may become prone to depression.

You may find yourself thinking constantly about where to find food and what to do with it once you have eaten it. Eventually, this secret life may interfere with your relationships, your feelings of competence, and your self esteem. Since bingeing and purging is typically done secretly, no one may know how you are managing your food or the degree to which you are losing control over your life.

However, as large amounts of food disappear out of the refrigerator at home or from roommates' rooms, you may begin to hear complaints. There may also be complaints about how you have chosen to purge your food if the results are seen by others or affect their sense of cleanliness or neatness.

Sometimes you may find yourself impulsively involved in other actions that are not good for you, such as drinking, using drugs, getting into and out of a number of relationships without thinking of the consequences (sexual or otherwise), or even shoplifting food or purging supplies.

If you have Bulimia, you are more likely to be of normal weight or a bit overweight. It also is possible that you started at a higher weight, but are now in a more normal weight range.

There are two types of bulimia: purging (vomiting or use of diuretics, laxatives, or others to make up for binge) and nonpurging (methods such as overexercising or fasting). Although bingeing is typically thought of as ingesting a large amount of food, some individuals purge after eating just a small amount of food.

Other symptoms of Bulimia may include:

Frequent weight fluctuation

Swollen cheeks due to effect on salivary glands of vomiting; puffy face, red eyes

Scars on the backs of hands from purging

Stomach pain, bloating

Acid reflux

Low potassium or other electrolyte imbalance from purging leads to dizziness, passing out (can be life threatening)

Irregular heartbeat

Purging more automatic, i.e. happens without thought or intent, over time

Irregular menstrual cyles

Tooth decay or erosion of tooth enamel, mouth or throat sores

Dehydration

Fatigue

Increase of depression and/or anxiety

Feelings of shame about overeating and/or purging

Increasing secretiveness about eating, may not eat with others

May hide food or take it without permission; food may start disappearing

Talks frequently about dieting, exercise, appearance; very negative perception of body image

May shoplift food, laxatives, diuretics, or other dieting or purging meds

May make rounds of fast food restaurants

May exercise much more than others of simlar age or lifestyle (hours at a time

If an athlete, may exercise in addition to practice requirements