[atheist]

I have now lost almost all of my teeth and I can no longer chew healthy foods. I was bulimic for years as a young adult. It ate away the enamel on my teeth. I am also bi-polar and did not know that the meds were giving me dry mouth and further ruining my teeth. I stopped the purging behavior and controled my weight by constantly grazing on vegetables. I had to have all my upper teeth capped. Many root canals and failed caps later I am now stuck with upper and lower dentures that don't fit right. I can't chew food but I am constantly chewing my mouth and my teeth. Non-stop. I am resigned to what I did to myself. But the anger in me causes me to act out by overeating every morning. I'm driven. I can't stop. Then at some point I do stop and don't eat for the rest of the day. Then I run 3 miles at night and am ready to start the whole thing again the next day. I am a mouse in a wheel.

[kaliope]

thanks for sharing your story. I hope others can gain from it.

Oh my dear atheist: I'm so sorry to learn of your struggles. Thank you for sharing. I have had a somewhat similar experience. Years ago I developed the habit of hitting my head over-&-over against the walls in my home. After just so much of this, I developed Meniere's Disease (a condition of the inner ear) & tinnitus (a ringing or whistling sound.)

There's no cure for either of these conditions. It's just something I now have to live with for the rest of my life. And I too have come to accept what I did to myself. Fortunately, I've been able to not start up this type of self-harm again. (I've gone on to other things.) But, truth-be-told, no day goes by I wouldn't like to give my old noggin a few more good whacks!

[Minelrie]

Thank you so much for sharing. I keep worrying about my teeth and my throat. My teeth are bad enough already... I have been wondering what will happen if I keep doing it but I haven't gotten off my butt and done the research.