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Bulimic recovery issues – need help badly.

08/29/2007

Question:

I am 24 years old and have been bulimic for 9 years. I am 5`4 and weigh about 142, but my weight fluctuates rapidly, even when im not being fully bulimic. I lost about 60 pounds over the past year and a half but have always maintained my bulic binge purge patterns, and now i finally feel like I need to stop. sometimes my hands and feet get numb which im sure are caused by poor circulation from when i was on dieretics and laxatives (which i dont do anymore), and im sure it will normalize once i can stop the binge purge cycle all together. I need to know answers to the following things: 1) how long will it take to stabalize my metabolism again ( i work out a fair amount and drink alot of water) 2) how much weight should I prepare myself to gain by not binging and purging?

Please help me!

Answer:

Thank you for your question.

I’m glad that you are committed to getting this behavior under control. This will likely be very difficult to do without some outside help. One of the problems that people experience once they start to eat more normally and stop purging behaviors (including laxatives) is that they can feel more bloated as their digestive system returns to normal over a number of weeks. Further, fluid retention also occurs as these behaviors normalize. Although they are temporary, people with eating disorders perceive them to be signs that they are gaining weight and that they should return to their problematic behaviors.

Early in recovery, it’s important to focus more on stopping these destructive behaviors than a number on the scale. This is much easier said than done and why the support of a mental health professional can be so valuable. Help from a dietitian with eating disorders experience can also be valuable, as they can help assure you on how much you should be eating to maintain a normal weight.

For more information:

Go to the Eating Disorders health topic.