lil bit,

Not eating for long periods is something I have gone through several times in the last 13 years......the first time was when I was on Prozac.....for some reason, it took my appitite away & I just didn't eat....food made me feel sick so I wouldn't eat. I have to admit that at that time, I was also extremely suicidal, so that didn't help the situation either since I didn't care what happened to me.

I really wasn't paying attention to my weight either at the time, so I didn't notice that my weight was so low.....but I was dizzy & had nausea all the time...didn't know if it was the meds or what since I wasn't paying attention to my weight. I was always thin anyway, so until I lost a huge amount, it wasn't that noticed & even my pdoc didn't notice anything until my husband said something to him about my weighing only 82 lbs. He immediately got me into an ED treatment center. No one paid much attention to the health aspect of my condition, but in the treatment center, they were always monitoring your health besides your weight, so guess nothing was horribly out of line.

The problem with the treatment center was that they focused on body image, thinking that all anorixic's had a body image problem.....but I didn't fit into that mold.....so it seemed that most of their therapy wasn't of any help.

My weight went up a little while I was in treatment & they forced you to eat everything at every meal otherwise they made you drink a can of sustical. It wasn't a very plesant time & I wasn't very cooperative since I really didn't want to be there anyway.

After I got out, they didn't change my meds, so the source of my not feeling well didn't go away. My weight stayed pretty stable at the low weight & I could eat a few bites of only certain mild foods that I could tolerate. The dizzyness got so bad at times that I would pass out but I still tried to ride my horse & work on my dressage showing.....but I would end up passing out & then my GP would end up putting me in the hospital & putting in a central line with the TPN that was IV nutrition. I would be in the hospital about a week & then out & it would be an endless cycle almost every month for about a year until my meds got changed.

Somehow after awhile, it just seemed to go away & my weight stabalized out at a point where I could function without passing out or getting sick when I ate something.

The central line experiences weren't plesant at all....it was a risk everytime they put in in & one time, the DR actually knicked my lung, puncturing it. Fluid filled my chest & had to have a chest tube put in......wrapped my legs it those stockings to keep blood clots from forming.....all because I wasn't eating.

My last bout without eating was just 2 years ago when my Mother was dying of cancer. This time is was stress that was making me feel nausea & when I feel that way, I just can't force myself to eat. I was feeling dizy, & there were so many horrible things happening around me, that I couldn't understand (elderly abuse to my mother by the home care person who was supposed to be an RN & then she stole my Mothers ID & alot of other things all in 5 days......LONG STORY though). My pdoc was trying to tell me that it was my lack of eating that was the problem & wouldn't listen to everything that was happening around me. Stress is one of the worst causes of my not eating for days & weeks. It was a combination of exhaustion & lack of eating, but a new GP I had just started going to, stuck me into the hospital & put in a central line. I guess my body has been strong enough that I haven't had any permanent physical problems from everything I have put it through......but the possibility was there & anyone else might have ended up much worse off than I have.

They wanted me to be treated for anorexia again, but they realized that I was suffering from some PTSD after the trauma I went through with my Mothers situation....& even after I got out of the hospital (after my Mother also died)...I could only eat a few bites of anything & then would go another day before I could eat again. I have nausea meds to take when I feel sick.....when my stress goes up high.....& that helps.

No matter what the cause of the anorexia, it is not safe for the body to go without food.....the dizzyness, the nausea, the lack of focus in the mind.....let alone all the physical damage it can do to the muscles (& the heart is a muscle).

One never knows how their body will react.....so this is all the personal experience info I can provide.....bottom line....it isn't healthy to go without food & it can end your life,
Debbie