Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia Nervosa

“I felt like it could well be a part of my life forever. Until something changed inside me…”

“Rewind to a few years ago. On the surface, I was a happy 26-year-old who seemed to have her life all worked out. I was a successful secondary school teacher. I had been living in my lovely new home for six months with my wonderful boyfriend. I had a loving, caring mum who I adored. I had a strong network of friends that I could rely on for anything. I trained regularly in the gym and seemed, to others, to eat well. Yet underneath, I was coming up to my tenth year battling bulimia. I wasn’t meant to suffer from a mental illness… people who seemingly have their lives together don’t suffer with their mental health, right? Wrong.

I spent ten years living with bulimia, mostly alone, too scared and ashamed to talk to anyone. I hated myself for having the illness. I hated myself for not being strong enough to overcome it. I hated the fact that the love I had for my friends and family wasn’t enough to pull me out of the hole that I was in. I tried countless times to stop but every time, it would creep back in and I would feel like I was back to square one. The task of overcoming bulimia seemed too mammoth and I had resigned myself to the fact that this could well be a part of my life forever.

Then in November 2018, something inside me changed. I told myself that it was finally time for me to overcome this illness. To this day, I cannot quite put my finger on what changed but whatever it was, it saved me. In the early stages of my recovery, I doubted myself every day, but I just tried to make it to one week without purging. After one “clean” week, I tried to make it to two weeks. Then I hit my month milestone. Then it was full steam ahead to six months. Then it was the big “one year anniversary”. And now here I sit, over two years later, confident that I have left that part of my life behind.”

Anonymous, 28

Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia (or bulimia nervosa) is a serious mental illness. It can affect anyone of any age, gender, or background. People with bulimia experience cycles of eating large quantities of food (called bingeing), and then trying to compensate for the binge by vomiting, taking laxatives or diuretics, fasting, or exercising excessively (called purging).

Most treatment for bulimia will take place in outpatient services. Inpatient treatment is usually only necessary when someone is at risk of suicide or severe self-harm.

Therapy

Therapy can be recommended as part of the treatment for bulimia in order to tackle the underlying thoughts and feelings that cause the illness and encourage healthier ways of coping. Therapies recommended to help treat bulimia might include:

  1. Evidence-based self-help, which will involve some of the same techniques you would learn in face-to-face therapy. Ideally this will be with support and encouragement from your healthcare team.
  2. Cognitive behavioural therapy – Bulimia Nervosa (CBT-BN), CBT that has been adapted to suit the needs of people with bulimia.
  3. Other therapies, such as interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), as an alternative to CBT.

CBT is likely to be recommended as part of your treatment, and may have positive results over a shorter course of treatment than other forms of therapy. However, if CBT isn’t right for you, you can get good results through other therapies too.

SELF REFER HERE

Self-help and support groups

Self help and support groups where you’re able to talk to others going through similar experiences can be useful to both sufferers and their families throughout treatment and in sustaining recovery.

What are the signs and symptoms of bulimia nervosa?

Behavioural and emotional symptoms of bulimia include:

  1. Eating more than an expected amount.
  2. Frequent visits to the bathroom, particularly after meals.
  3. Vomiting or abusing laxatives, diuretics or other medicines in an attempt to prevent weight gain.
  4. Excessive exercising or extreme physical training.
  5. Preoccupation with body image.
  6. An intense fear of gaining weight.
  7. Depression or mood swings.
  8. Feeling out of control.
  9. Feeling guilty or shameful about eating.
  10. Withdrawing socially from friends and family.
  11. Lack of awareness of the seriousness of the condition.

Physical symptoms of bulimia nervosa include:

  1. Facial swelling or swollen parotid glands visible at the jawline or cheeks (parotitis).
  2. Heartburn, indigestion, bloating.
  3. Irregular menstrual periods.
  4. Weakness, exhaustion.
  5. Bloodshot eyes.
  6. Dental problems, including erosion of tooth enamel.
  7. Sore throat.
  8. Petechiaie (pinpoint bruising) on the back of the pharyngeal wall (back of throat).
  9. Bleeding gums.
  10. Thickening (callus) or scratches (excoriations) on the back of the knuckles (Russell sign).
  11. Sores at the angle of the mouth on either side.

Admitting that you are struggling is the first step to recovery, there is so much support out there for eating disorders, anxiety and depression.

Here are some useful resources to help support and understand those struggling with bulimia and eating disorders:

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