Eating Disorders Bulimia

Bulimia Nervosa is when a person tries to lose weight through purging or other excessive means.  Bulimia is often associated with binge eating, though unlike the binge eater, bulimics will resort to drastic measures for losing the calories consumed.  The most common way this is done is through purging though they may also use diet pills, diuretics, laxatives and exercise.  If a bulimic doesn’t purge they are known as non-purging, though this form of bulimia is not as common.  In either case the bulimic will not starve themselves like an anorexic would. 

When it comes to weight, many bulimics do not have the same appearance as the anorexic.  This is because through binge eating, bulimics are able to consume enough calories to maintain a ‘healthier’ weight, (though some bulimics might even be overweight).  And with a healthier weight, most bulimics won’t get amenorrhea, (cessation of the menstrual cycle).  However, they do suffer complications.   These complications include: digestive problems, complications with the esophagus, voice damage, electrolyte imbalance, pancreatic problems, throat cancer, seizures, kidney infection and heart failure.  Death can occur for a variety of reasons some of which include heart or liver complications, stroke, gastric rupture, or internal bleeding.

Treatment for bulimia is often approached in the same way as anorexia.  In fact, it is not uncommon for bulimics and anorexics to be housed in together in the same eating disorder clinics, since many professionals consider the underlying reasons behind the conditions to be similar.