My actual first experience with anorexia was when I was 45. I had always been watchful of my weight but always kept it healthy. When I was working as a computer engineer, I played racquetball with the guys at lunch every day & would only eat one main meal a day or add a snack if I needed energy to give a presentation to the military (we had military contracts).

Aerospace collapsed in the mid 1990's & the bad marriage that I had been dealing with all along took it's toll & I ended up with major depression, medications (Prozac) made me loose my appetite even more than the stress I was feeling had already done & I lost a huge amount of weight. Being that I'm small anyway, it wasn't a good thing....but I was suicidal & had attempted suicide so many times, I really didn't care if I kept loosing weight but pdoc stuck me in an eating disorders treatment facility....it didn't do any good. There were several around my age but most with anorexia were younger.....OverEaters were more my age but there was another lady my pdoc put in at the same time who dealt with bulimia. The first week I was in there they had a nurse in my room 24/7 because of my major depression & suicide issues. I had always been focused on not gaining weight but it was never anything that turned into anorexia until then.......struggled with it for several years after that, then with some other major illness & surgery, I ended up gaining way too much....but lost it all again after going through a trauma with the home care person when my mother was dying of cancer just 10 years ago.....I was back in the medical hospital needing IV nutrition because I had lost so much & was at a dangerous low weight...not as low as the previous time but it was still way below the safe weight for my size.....it took me several years to gain back to a safe weight after that....I was in my 50's by that point......I still struggle with weight loss now when I get stressed....& after leaving my H 7 years ago & moving 2100 miles away where I didn't know anyone, it's been stressful with all the crap that H did damage financially also......I still struggle. It's not a body image issue but it's definitely a control issue & when I feel out of control with the world around me, the control of eating & just not feeling well enough to even want to eat, gets to me....being careful, but there are times where it's difficult....but I work hard never to let my weight go below the safe point any more because living all alone, I can't afford to pass out....or have the inability to think clearly which definitely happens when we starve our brains.

So no, in your 40's is NOT too old to struggle with an ED. Hope you can get some professional help because it really can help if it's the right people/person. My psychologist I have now is NOT an ED specialist, but when we apply DBT skills & mindfulness thinking......ED specialist isn't necessary for my situation.