Am I Bulimic?
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A bulimic is a person who suffers from an eating disorder known as bulimia nervosa, or simply bulimia. It can be difficult for individuals to recognize that they have an eating disorder and often it falls to close friends and family members to bring up the possibility of an eating disorder. A person might be bulimic if they exhibit certain signs, but it can be difficult to determine because many bulimic individuals successfully hide their condition.
If a person is bulimic, they tend to eat a great deal of food in a short period of time. Sometimes referred to as 'binges,' these eating episodes are generally followed by feelings of guilt, which result in the sufferer immediately and forcibly expelling the food to prevent weight gain. Someone suffering from bulimia may induce vomiting almost immediately after eating or abuse laxatives. This behavior pattern becomes a vicious cycle that is extremely difficult to break.
When a person is bulimic, they suffer from both emotional and physical distresses. Like many other eating disorders, bulimia is often triggered by negative emotions including sadness, depression, loneliness, and feelings of inadequacy. These particular feelings may trigger a binge, but then guilt takes over causing an individual to have intense fears of weight gain.
Physically, if a person is bulimic, they can suffer internal damage of the esophagus, stomach, and digestive tract. Externally, they may suffer from swelling and the enamel on the teeth become damaged from frequent vomiting. Dehydration, anemia, and heart problems are all conditions that can result from bulimia. Bulimia can also have very negative effects on reproductive health.
Telltale signs that a person is bulimic include excessive weight loss measures that do not seem to include diet such as pills and excessive exercise. A bulimic will often have eating behaviors which seem strange, frequent visits to the bathroom, and a change in mood and vitality. While some bulimic individuals show no weight loss, many become too thin very quickly.
If you suspect you are bulimic or you believe someone you know is suffering from an eating disorder, there is help. Professional intervention is needed to break both the psychological and physical habits that trigger bulimic behavior. A doctor or psychologist who specializes in eating disorders can help break the sufferings that bulimics endure. However, recognizing the problem is the first step towards triumph over any eating disorder. A doctor will keep your condition private and work with you to regain healthy control of your eating habits and your body.
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I am 20 years old. I have been binging and purging for more than six months. While reading this i have happily binged away and know that i am about to purge, and even after reading all these comments, i am not fazed by it all. I wouldn't call myself bulimic, even though medically i suppose i am. But that's not how i feel. I have a habit of self destructive behaviour such as self harming and suicide attempts, and although i have recovered from this in the past few years, i feel as though i am in another cycle of self harm. I spent most of my teenage years being over weight and then exercised and ate sensibly and got down to 11 stone, which for me was good. But then i put it all back on and then some and was 14.7 stone. Since becoming bulimic i have lost more than 5 stone and now weigh 9.4 and everyone's telling me how well i'm doing. Though some people have started to ask questions and say i don't look well. I still want to lose weight and get down to around 8 stone (I'm 5ft5). But am i going to be able to stop when i get to that weight? That's what worries me. I don't know what i think i am going to gain from this post, because i can't see things changing. But this is the closest i have ever come to telling anyone. Even if no one ever reads this, it helped. - anon51368
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I am currently in second year university. 19 years old. I've had bulimic tendencies since grade 8, but it's spiralled out of control since grade 10. This past summer was the worst. i would binge and purge six times in a day some days. I know that I should get help, but I feel like if I don't look like I need help, like an anorexic person does, then I am not worthy of it. I weigh 145 pounds at 5'8. This weight disgusts me, and I am afraid that getting help will make me even bigger. Bulimia has gotten me nowhere. I hate myself, my body, I have mood swings and feel guilty whenever I eat anything, and uncomfortable when I eat around people. Throwing up is a high, I'm addicted, and I'm afraid of the person I am without it. - anon49692
Editor's reply: Is there a counselor on campus you could talk to? Please consider getting help with your self-image and self-esteem issues.
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I am sixteen years old and have had eating issues since i can remember.
I remember throwing my drawers around the room and crying all day because i thought i was too fat. I've been on and off dieting forever. I have started to purge, a lot. It started just because i was fasting, and overate, but it's sort of becoming an obsession. If I'm eating something bad, i wont be ashamed to overeat anymore (even if I'm full) because i know i can get rid of most of it. Then i feel repulsive and it usually leads to self harm. I've been doing this constantly for the last three months. I'm promising myself it will stop, but i don't want to. I don't think I'm bulimic. i don't feel like i deserve to call myself that. i just feel pathetic. - anon49661
Editor's reply: You're not pathetic. Please talk to your mom or another trusted adult about this. You're starting on a road that has a bad end. Show someone this post and tell them you wrote it. Please, talk to someone.
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i am 17,almost 18. i have been bulimic for the last four years at least. i am trying to push the problem away. it was in remission for a short short while. i have gained some weight recently after a near fatal car accident i went through not too long ago. i feel so lost and i feel as though this disease has spiraled out of control. i thought always that it was no big deal but now i am finding myself struggling and not being able to put the obsessive thoughts to rest that i have. no one knows about this except for my ex. that was long ago and he believes that i don't do this anymore. we don't have anything to do with each other now but that's beside the point. i have found myself in love with my current boyfriend and i feel as though i can't give him the unconditional love he gives me unless i bury skeletons that i have been keeping in the closet. i found this web site and i feel so much better by saying it but not saying it. - anon49021
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I am 13 years old, and i'm 5'2'' and i weigh about 120 pounds. I have been making myself throw up for a little over three months now. I feel better when I purge and i feel lighter too. But i also have become more tired, lazy, and dizzy. I have found that my weight won't stay at one place, it goes anywhere from 110-120 pounds. I have tried to exercise and eat less but it is harder than just puking and it gives me the same results. Am i bulimic? Should i stop this method and try something else? Any ideas? Please help.
P.S. I was thinking of trying an all-water diet for a while. Do you think this would work better? - anon48739
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i am 17 years old, and often feel upset and ashamed after eating. i also have been having extreme pain in my stomach all the time and it is worse after eating. so last night i made myself throw up, and i liked it. i don't know if that means i am bulimic or on the way to becoming one? i can't tell anyone about this, i'm supposed to have it all together when in reality, i don't. i don't come close. i'm a first year college student and i have lost 10 pounds in the first month. - anon48376
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Hi im a male and i am 22 years of age. Now i think i might be bulimic. I never eat but that's because i never think i feel hungry but when i do eat i eat heaps. However when my stomach rumbles, is it that it just rumbles because it rumbles or because i'm hungry?
When i'm not eating i indulge in a hell of a lot of coffee and i weigh at this moment a whole 61.25 kgs. So am i bulimic? - anon46609
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i'm using the atkins diet, and normally when i cheated on my diet, i'd gain 5-8 pounds, if i cheated for two days straight. So now i've been purging my cheats and found that i'm not gaining and if i do it's only a pound. Definitely a relief but I don't want to end up bulimic. That force people talk about that makes you want to throw up is definitely a force i don't want to face. - anon45454
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i.m 16 and i play softball and bball and i am very active. ive been bulimic since last summer in june. i eat normal-sized meals and throw them up. i throw up four or five times a day, depending on my mood. im 5'3 and 133 pounds. i've been gradually losing weight since bball season. i was at 155 in the winter and in the spring 145 and i weighed myself today at 133. am i going to gain weight? that's what i hear but my weight never fluctuates or levels. - anon43134
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I have been bulimic since I was about 12 years old and I am 17 going on 18 now. It has turned into a habit with me. I purge almost everytime I eat and if I don't I get this feeling of insecurity and sadness. I also have bad mood swings. I would like to get help for it but it is so embarrassing and something that I have also kept a secret for a long time. I am 5'4 and 200 pounds. My weight goes up and down. I just want it to stop. - anon42937
Editor's reply: Please see the reply below. There is nothing embarrassing or shameful about having an eating disorder. Please talk with a trusted adult --they will be more compassionate than you realize --and get some help with this soon.
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I'm 17 years old, and I've been a bulimic for about 5 months. i really want to stop right now. i hate binging to throw up after i eat every meal. every time i eat i lose control and then overeat. i am extremely afraid of gaining weight, but i am also afraid that if i continue to throw up it can kill me. Even though I'm 5'0 and weigh 96 pounds, which is considered normal weight, but i just want to lose 10 pounds. i think i am too fat for an Asian girl. My weight has been going up and down. if i don't throw up for a day i would gain at least 1 pound even though i eat very little. I really need help, but it's too embarrassing to tell anyone. - anon38938
Editor's reply: Please do not be embarrassed. There is nothing shameful about having an eating disorder. Please talk with your mom, a school counselor, or another trusted adult. Eating disorders certainly can kill you. Please talk to someone about this soon.
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I have never been a very thin person but I had never been so big. I went from 120 lbs to 170lbs. I've been taking dieting pills for 3 weeks now and lost about 12 lbs, but it didn't seem like it was enough, therefore I started to vomit about 2 times daily every time I ate. now I have daily headaches and dizzines. What can I do to make this impulsive feeling of vomiting so often go away? Is there any consequences to what I have been doing this three weeks? Help me please.... - anon35582
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If you are asking the question "am I bulimic", you probably are. - petrova
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I'm 19 and I have been struggling with my eating since I was 14. When it started I starved myself for nearly a month n I lost over 50 pounds and to maintain that weight of fear I'd gain it back I started throwing up. I consumed on average 20,000 calories a day and threw up about 6 times to assess it. Now my body feels so weak n tired I only can allow myself to throw up 2 a day n I'm an average weight.I can honestly say I want help because I am unsure how much more my body can handle. It is comforting to kno every time u eat u won't gain a pound though. What do u think the best treatment for someone like me is, outpatient or in- patient?
- anon34296
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I only purge sometimes when I over eat. So a few times a month. Is that considered bulimic? - anon31840
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I'm 22 years old and have been binging and purging for nearly four years. For a long time I didn't think there was anything wrong with me and that I could stop. I'd lost a lot of weight the year after high school and was happy, but I soon realized throwing up brought me down to a much lower and more 'respectable' weight. I didn't want to lose the attention I'd gained. I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place now. I know this is so wrong but I get some sort of twisted pleasure out of doing it too. I can eat whatever I want and it doesn't have any affect on me anymore. I'm too terrified of what will happen to my body if I stop. - anon29548
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hey i only purge if i eat too much and that doesn't happen so often. am i bulimic or not? - anon28738
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I am 27 and I have been bingeing and purging 4-5 times a week *minimum* for 10 years. I am 5'10'' and weigh 280. You don't have to be thin to be bulimic. I *do* get a high when I purge, and if I eat, sometimes it is just like some unknown force is pushing me to go throw up. I have also used laxatives and diuretics, and every type of diet pill imaginable. I can stop, but only for a week or two at a time. - anon28305
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I've been bulimic since I was 13, I'm now 19. I played soccer, basketball and ran track and I also abused adderall. It (purging) doesn't help you lose weight at all. When you quit, believe me, you gain everything back. Just try to find a healthy filling food you like and exercise.. - anon26023
5
Not all Bulimics are thin Some do not even have the luck of ever being thin. Like me. I am 5'6 and weigh 225lbs. I am bulimic. Don't use bulimia as weight loss! It does not always work and then you just find yourself addicted to the highs of vomiting. I now binge...just to purge.It is the only pleasure in my Fat, grossly obese...empty life. - anon22547
4
I'm 26 years old my worst fear in life is to gain to my weight today i feel really depressed because i've been trying so hard to lose weight and i haven't lose a pound yet my boyfriend said to me today that i look like i'm pregnant in one of my pictures oh my god why would he say that now i feel like i need to go hard i don't want a thing to eat i don't care if it's a grape i'm not eating until i lose a least 10 pounds and the sad thing is i love food so much when i 'm eating i'm happy and nothing else matters but as soon as i'm dome i feel so guilty i don't know what to so - anon17975
3
My psychologist says that throwing up food messes with the electrolytes in your body. I have to have my blood tested in one week. Who could resist being able to eat what you want and not having any of the weight. I look at myself and see someone who is disgusting. I am 10lbs overweight. Even when I was at a size 7, 3yrs ago, I was considered Obese on this chart in the Army. Its because I have a lot of muscle but just to see that.... - anon10817
2
I am 27 years old and have dieted and not dieted for many years, in fact for as long as I can remember. I am not underweight, in fact I'm at the higher end of the ideal weight for my height. I find myself going through extreme periods of guilt and depression and therefore eat for comfort and then vomit out of guilt. I have done this for years and can't seem to kick this habit for more than a couple of weeks. I try and eat healthily, but then I lose control and end up binging and vomiting again. I just feel so weak all the time. I wonder if being a normal weight doesn't make me bulimic but something else, can you help me? - anon9386
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Written by
J. Beam
Last Modified: 05 November 2009
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