Is throwing up really bad for your health?

Puking very frequently puts lots of acid and burns your esophagus etc

People who have a mental disorder aren't fully aware they have one

If it were really the case that you googled bulimia and decided it wasn't a serious problem, then you both you and your friend have a mental disorder.

More likely you're just trolling so it's just you.

Easiest point to make is that long term purging, regardless of the frequency (4 times a week is a lot though, and is considered life threatening if not curbed), is that it causes heart failure. Depending on how long she has been doing this, she probably already has the onset of heart disease.

Have her check her pulse. If it's low, she has early onset heart disease and needs to seek immediate treatment and rehabilitation.

Source: wife had bulimia and was in rehab for months, is now in active recovery.

Monkeys typing wrote:

If it were really the case that you googled bulimia and decided it wasn't a serious problem, then you both you and your friend have a mental disorder.

More likely you're just trolling so it's just you.

I meant that I just googled the cancer thing. Basically what I read was that people with acid reflux would be worse off and there is no proof that it has ever caused cancer. Everything else I read I already knew from class.

thatfandangledtruth wrote:

Easiest point to make is that long term purging, regardless of the frequency (4 times a week is a lot though, and is considered life threatening if not curbed), is that it causes heart failure. Depending on how long she has been doing this, she probably already has the onset of heart disease.

Have her check her pulse. If it's low, she has early onset heart disease and needs to seek immediate treatment and rehabilitation.

Source: wife had bulimia and was in rehab for months, is now in active recovery.

I did not know about heart disease. I will have to research that more. Thank you.

I am a male and used to be very severely bulimic. The act of throwing up itself, even multiple times a day every day, had no discernable ill physical effects. The damage that was done was to my mind, lifestyle, and wallet. When I was 20, I spent a whole summer doing literally nothing but running, binging, and purging. I would go for an hour run in the morning, then hit up McDonald's, throw up, eat a whole pizza, throw up, and rinse and repeat for the rest of the day. That summer was 13 years ago and even though I long ago stopped throwing up on a frequent basis, I probably haven't gone a whole month without doing it at least once. It's actually a valuable tool if you can keep it under control, which I can now. I've never had any esophageal problems or sign of cancer and my teeth are fine. I believe mental health professionals make that stuff up because they have virtually no other argument nor any effective treatment.

Pics???

A dentist can identify when someone has been throwing up on a regular basis. Stomach acid is hell on enamel. Try to encourage your friend to seek counseling.

That last part about the bad health affects being made up is exactly what she was telling me. What made you choose to mostly stop?

joedirt wrote:

A dentist can identify when someone has been throwing up on a regular basis. Stomach acid is hell on enamel. Try to encourage your friend to seek counseling.

I would love to get her to counseling but first I have to convince her she has a problem. She seems to think she is fine.

Yes. Your friend has an eating disorder, and yes, it is really bad for your health. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of all mental illnesses. Mood disorders and anxiety disorders are common co-morbid conditions - probably around 50%. As a previous poster mentioned, heart failure is the most common cause of death. Your friend is in denial about the seriousness of their problem. It is more than a little disheartening to see the dismissive posts on this thread. Urge your friend to talk to any type of medical provider - there is no bad place to start; a primary care provider, OB/Gyn, or a counselor would all be a fine place to start.

I read a little about heart disease. It sounded like the biggest cause was dehydration which my friend seems to take seriously. It is possible I didn't understand everything. Based on what I read I would guess a lot of the people having the biggest problems are teenagers who don't know the stuff my friend knows. She is 21 and a pre-med major and she knows a lot about health. Nobody would look at her and say she has an eating disorder. She is fit and not skinny.

Here read these complications if you haven't already. Sounds pretty serious-anything involving the heart and possible sudden death would be enough to freak me out. But again eating disorders are not that simple-like others have said, there are mental/emotional aspects that go into it that make it hard for people to stop. She really should get help because just 3-4 times a week could eventually progress to 3-4 times a day.

needing advice wrote:

I read a little about heart disease. It sounded like the biggest cause was dehydration which my friend seems to take seriously. It is possible I didn't understand everything. Based on what I read I would guess a lot of the people having the biggest problems are teenagers who don't know the stuff my friend knows. She is 21 and a pre-med major and she knows a lot about health. Nobody would look at her and say she has an eating disorder. She is fit and not skinny.

This boils down to common sense, not health science. Forget the long-term health consequences.

Are there any benefits to purging after a big meal compared to, you know, eating slightly less? There are not. Are the motivations behind purging after eating likely to be reasonable or healthy? They are not. Would 99.9% of health professionals see regular bulimic behavior like your friend's as a cause for concern? Yes, they would. Is it common for people with eating disorders to downplay the severity of it when caught, and resort to outrageous justifications for why it's not really a big deal? Yes, it is. Do bulimic people and the bathrooms they puke in frequently smell like puke regardless of how many times they brush their teeth? Yes, they do.

Obviously, it's up to her to get help. But don't let her pretend like it's normal or not concerning. It isn't.

needing advice wrote:

I felt like I got destroyed in a debate where I should have been the easy winner. I don't know what to do now. Part of me is wondering if she is really right. Maybe there is no need to worry. I don't know.

A debate? You are the easy loser. Because you cannot change your friend. She is bullsh**tting herself in addition to you.

Stay in your lane. Support her but do not attempt to change her. If she wants to change herself, offer encouragement in every way possible.

She needs help. If she watches her electrolytes and brushes every time maybe she is just as physically healthy as someone with acid reflux. She is not mentally healthy though. I'm not sure there is much you can do other than being a good listener. I'm sure some part of her wants to get better.

I have a few friends who have struggled with this at some point if their lives. Here is what has happened so far to the eldest one, as far as long term effects are concerned: puking wrecks the enamel on your teeth. It also can cause digestive problems down the road, as has happened to my friend. She fractures bones all the time now. Her and I could have the same fall and whereas I would be fine, she ends up with a fracture. These are the things I have noticed as affects from bulima that are also in the scientific literature out there. So, if your friend wants to have nice teeth, no GI issues, and bones that don't break easily, along with a host of other issues, she should consider what you are saying

former male buliemic wrote:The damage that was done was to my mind,

Yes. Thinking anyone can manage bulimia, separate from the rest of their lives is not realistic.

former male buliemic wrote:

I believe mental health professionals make that stuff up because they have virtually no other argument nor any effective treatment.

It's because they know it affects every other part of your life. Splitting off some part of you is not good. There's no secretly managing it and having other, rewarding intimate relationships. People just don't work like that.

Yes, for sure, it is a very difficult problem to address. Simultaneously needing to eat, then trying to deal with the emotions related to eating is a very difficult job.

OP tell your friend she can't go on living this secret life where she's hiding in the bathroom throwing up. It affects personal relationships as it has affected yours with her. You can't fix her. Don't try.

This is pretty good advice.

Good luck.

needing advice wrote:

I would love to get her to counseling but first I have to convince her she has a problem. She seems to think she is fine.

Yeah, there's no convincing. She is in full-blown denial about her behaviour. That won't change giving her facts. Be ready to walk away as trying to change her won't work.

This is pretty good: