WHY DO I NEVER HEAR OF BULIMICS AS BEING OVERWEIGHT???????

I am bulimic. have been for at least 6-7yrs. over the last 1 1/2yrs. i have gained and lost weight dramatically, but have always been overweight. all my life. i have on some days purged up to 17 times in one day. to the point where as i started vomiting blood (you think that would make me stop purging, yes?? no!!). it started as streaks to go on to clobs of blood (i take meds to heal my esophogus now-it works most times). i would purge until i tasted stomach acid, so i know i have vomitted up all that i ate. so why do i not lose weight purging. the only time i lose weight is when i starve myself. but its harder to run when you are dizzy, and i love running. its good for the mind and the body, so can't give that up. are there any other bulimics out there who is overweight. because if not i am going to stop telling doctors or whomever that i am bulimic, because i feel like they look at me and say "how could she be bulimic if shes overweight??" it makes me feel not to good to be looked at like that. I HATE THIS DISEASE!!!!!!!!!!!

I was bulimic and overweight, but I can't think of anyone I know who has lost weight from bulimia, and one of the symptoms of bulimia is being overweight. Honestly, I've felt that I get that look from doctors too, but I'm starting to believe that look is just all in my mind... so many other things seem to be misinterpreted in my brain... seems probable that is too.

I hope you are doing a bit better today

(((((((((((((((((((hugs))))))))))))))))))

"A person with bulimia may be thin, overweight, or have a normal weight. This makes it hard to know if someone has bulimia."

http://www.4woman.gov/faq/Easyread/bulnervosa-etr.htm

I'd go to different doctors, specialists, if your current doctors look at you funny. I don't like being looked at funny I like being listened to and taken seriously.

I was bulemic for 1.5 years, purging sometimes as much as 20 times in a day. And yes, I was then and am now overweight. My bulemia was in response to the over the top extreme stress. You can imagine how all the throwing up went over at work... But I got the look from my family doc like "how can you be bulemic - just look at you".

Please take heart as the other person that posted - a bulemic can be any size.

Take Care...

I don’t also fit the stereotype of what ppl with eating disorder should look like. I’m 5’6 and 160-165lbs. I had started believing that my disorder was because I wanted to lose weight but with many years and early counseling I now understand that it was my way of handling my stress and when I do lose weight it was a bonus but it wasn’t a priority. I’ve been struggling with this disorder since I was 15 and I’m 24 now. I had also started out with 6 times a day everyday but as time passed I’ve tried my best not to rely on it to deal with my stress.Yes this disorder can be emotionally and physically draining but what I found that with this disorder, it was a instant physical gratification when my emotional circumstances is so overwhelming. That is why I have such a hard time walking away from the disorder. Have you consider about getting counseling to help understand this disorder? Try not to let the stereotypes take a toll on you because it is obvious that these ppl just doesn’t understand the disorder.

hello, i woz really sad 2 hear wot u go through everyday!
Ive only been bulimic for about 1 n a half yrs n i hate it!
and thats exactly y i wont go n see a doctor coz i think that they'll say u cant have an eating disorder bcoz ur not in danger by bein 2 thin!
so i just take it day by day n try n control it rather than let it control me.
I hope ur ok x
u can tlk sum mor if u want

I think people are just misinformed about EDs. All the media coverage shows these stick thin women as having an ED, so people just assume: ED=thin. I think that any doctor that thinks that you should be thin to have an ED is an idiot. I mean, aren't they supposed to teach you that kind of stuff in medical school?! My best friend fought belemia for a while, she was overweight, so you can tell from myself and other people posting that that sterotype is just stupid, that and I think people get it confused w/annorexia. It's just people being ignorant, it's not uncommon at all.

I've been dealing with bulimia for over a year and a half now, and was hospitalized for it about this time, a year ago. At the consultation where i was being diagnosed for admittance to this hopsital (my mother finally convinced me help was needed), i was diagnosed as Bulimic to the point of Anorexia. It is not true that all bulimic's are overweight. As was said in another repost, people with bulimia can be underweight, overweight and can even maintain a normal weight. I was 5' 6" at about 105 lbs. It may not seem to be such a low weight, but i looked like a walking skeleton. Big boned, even at birth, I do not have the body structure to be walking around 110lbs. My normal weight should be anywhere from 125+ for my height and body build. I had all the symptoms of a bulimic, but also all the consequences of being anorexic. I was always cold... i was weak.. delerious, my muscle was gone, so i was left with only skin and bones. It was uncomfortable to sit, lie down, even walk. My feet shrunk two sizes, i shrank in height and i had loose skin everywhere. My bulimia had gotten to the point where i would binge and binge and binge, and i would purge and purge and purge until i got everything out. I succeeded because every week i was atleast 3 lbs lighter. I went months without bowel movements, everything on my body was sunken in. I ate like a pig and didnt keep one thing down. I purged to the point where i would go pretty much blind for hours at a time. There was times when i thought i would never see straight again. My heart couldnt be read on a monitor... my blood pressure couldnt be taken and if it did catch on the machine, it was severely low. I would lay there and say to my mother "i think im dying", with no expression of sadness, pain or fear whatsoever. I am now 135 lbs and i have been up and down for the past year since i left the hosptial. I feel that i am falling back into my old habits, but this time i feel as though im GAINING weight instead of losing it. There are all types of bulimic's. Not just overweight ones. You could even appear to be a normal weight where no one would ever suspect you had a problem. I'm sorry to babble on and on.. but i have so much to say about this subject. I wish i could help more...

I am not sure why you never hear about bulimics being overweight. I will tell you though that I am overweight now. and I am bulimic. I absolutely hate it. but thats the way it is. until I get help. Well I guess thats all I have to say. bye

I guess I have bulimia but I've never really talked to anybody about it. I don't know how much I weigh because I don't weigh myself (can't even remember how tall I am half the time). I guess I'm somewhere around the heavy end of the normal range. Sometimes people make comments about my being too thin... But sometimes people make comments about my being a little pudgy... So...

But that being said I met someone and I thought she was about the perfect weight and she asked me if her thighs looked fat in her skirt and later she told me she had anorexia... So my judgment is out, I guess...

I have heard that some people with bulimia are overweight, sure. Or within normal range. I guess they don't fall into our current stereotype of an eating disorder because the current stereotype is around anorexia...

I guess I never thought of myself as bulimic because I don't make myself vomit or take laxitives or exercise. I do go a few days at a time without eating, though, and when I do eat... So, I guess I do have a problem... Probably not too severe, though... I've got loads of problems, maybe I'll get to this one one day lol.