Bingeing usually goes on for a course of one to two hours. Bulimics will usually eat high fatty and sugary foods such as cookies, cake, ice cream. It is said that bulimics can consume up to 50,000 calories all in one sitting! After they have binged, they will start to think they are extremely overweight, and will purge, where they will vomit up all their food.
To take out all the calories, bulimics will also take laxatives such as ex-lax, and they will also exercise for huge amounts of time, go on very strict diets, or sometimes even eat nothing at all. Bulimics like to take laxatives because they think this will help them lose weight. Like anorexics, bulimics are extremely worried of becoming fat and the size of their body and body shape are very important to their self-esteem.
It is not uncommon for bulimics to purge at least 20 times a day. In extreme cases it's been said that some bulimics will spend close to $100.00 a day on food. A bulimic's body hardly has any time to absorb the nutrients from the food to help their body before they purge. Being a bulimic has deadly, harmful side effects.
When a bulimic vomits, stomach acids come up with the vomit. Those acids over months and weeks will cause many sore throats, it eats away the enamel of the teeth, and it also makes the mouth and jaw swell. The acids also, over a long period of time, will make the teeth black.
It is very common to see a long-time bulimic with black-rotted teeth. Vomiting puts stress on the stomach muscles, which leads to horrible abdominal pains. Bulimia has emotional side effects such as guilt, depression about their behavior, like lying to people about their problem, and bulimia can also lead to suicide. Bulimia does not usually occur with people who are normal eaters, but usually people who already have problems with overeating and significant weight gain. Until the 1970's, doctors thought that bulimic people had a rare and odd type of anorexia. Doctors used to call bulimics "anorexic bulimics" or "bulimarexics".
Bulimia wasn't recognized by doctors as a separate eating disorder from anorexia until 1980. It seemed to doctors before 1980, that bulimia was a rare form of anorexia, because bulimics thought just like anorexics did about how low they wanted their weight. However, the difference was that bulimics binge and purge while anorexics starve themselves, not eating anything.
Some people with eating disorders can be both anorexic and bulimic. Sometime they will starve themselves for a year or two, and the out of the blue start bingeing and purging food. Another difference bulimia has from the other two eating disorders (anorexia nervosa and compulsive overeating) is the appearance of a bulimic person. It's very hard most of the time to tell a bulimic person's appearance from a normal person.
More women suffer from bulimia; one assumption of why that is, is less pressure in our society on men than women to be thin. A study in 1981 proved that 19 percent of the college-aged women that took the survey were bulimic. That percent has probably gone way up since 1981.
Some symptoms of bulimia are decayed teeth, irritated throat, stomach tear, kidney problems, swollen feet, stretched stomach, heart problems, broken blood vessels in cheeks, stomach pain, rashes, and swollen cheeks. There are several possible causes of bulimia including personal, home, and school pressures.
People can get depressed by things like losing loved ones in horrible accidents, feelings of rejection from other peers, etc. Another possible cause of bulimia is a feeling of inadequacy. Bulimics see themselves as being overweight even when they are not.
Sometimes people see themselves as being overweight because someone tells them they are overweight. The person will sometimes believe it, and that can lead to being bulimic. These causes can be the causes for the other two eating disorders as well. Since everyone is different and many factors contribute to the development of an eating disorder, the best treatment for bulimia and other eating disorders must be custom to the person with the problem, and can be as unique as the person themself.
It begins with an evaluation by a counselor or physician, who generally recomend treatment. Usually the person will make faster progress if there are more components in the treatment plan. Recommended treatment may include any or all of the following: hospitalization to prevent death, suicide, and medical crisis; medication to relieve depression and anxiety; dental work to repair damage and minimize future dental problems; individual counseling to develop healthy ways of taking control; group counseling to learn how to manage relationships effectively; family counseling to change old patterns and create healthier new ones; nutrition counseling to debunk food myths and design healthy meals; and support groups to break down isolation and alienation.
Support groups are not sufficient treatments by themselves though. To be effective, they must be integrated into a larger plan. To prevent from becoming a bulimic, if you are having a hard time with something, like people telling you that you are something that you know you're not, and you can't make yourself believe that you are what you are, then you should receive eoencouragement from your parents, friends, or other caring people.
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