How long to physically recover from bulimia

Taking a multi-vitamin is a good idea too, as it will fill in all of your nutritional gaps while you restore a healthy diet. See your dentist — People with bulimia may suffer from tooth decay. Visit your dentist to help treat any current damage and use fluoride toothpaste to prevent further damage. Go to therapy — The brain can suffer from chronic bulimia. Some long-term consequences of bulimia on the brain include substance abuse, self-harm, suicidal thoughts or tendencies, and impulsiveness.

If you suffer from any of these, it is important to speak to your doctor immediately. Your doctor may suggest medication or therapy to work through this.

Be kind to yourself. Who do you live with? What do you enjoy socially? What about your environment is a trigger or potentially risky situation? Having the ability to understand how an environment can impact recovery success is a helpful way to gauge how you are progressing in your recovery.

How are you dealing with everyday environmental stressors? Are you setting boundaries with your roommate? Are you removing yourself from situations that might feel triggering? I genuinely appreciate your insights and knowledge. You have helped me out tremendously. I wish the best for your recovery and know that you CAN recover, never doubt that! I was severly restricting for about a year.. But not underweight. My body seemed to handle the shift well for a couple of weeks, then suddenly within a week, and my thighs had grown inches!

I was mostly in bed for that entire week , while eating a lot calories a day. From your article it sounds like this could be water weight. How can I be sure? I dont have the symptoms of pitting edema. I just feel very swollen and stiff and terrified of ballooning up even more. Hi Nat! Well can I just say that everything you wrote I am experiencing at this moment to a T!!!

I have always battled anorexia but really went over edge with it over the past year due to depression from a move out of state. I literally had been living off coffee, vodka sodas and cigarettes. I got down to my lowest weight and my friends started to worry. I moved to be close to my parents on Christmas and have been home for exactly a month now. You can only imagine mentally what this has done to me. None of my clothes fit and my face literally looks like I had fillers put in, even my boobs have ballooned up!

I keep reading of water retention during recovery and telling myself that this will all go down by half soon. Any words of advice? All I want to do is lose the weight again sadly. Any words of encouragement would help. Your email address will not be published. Thanks for subscribing! Please check your email to confirm the subscription and to download the ebook.

Skip to content. Recovery Road — What to Expect? The First Turning Point — Week 1 to months This is very crucial part of recovery and most likely the hardest. So what is this first part of recovery about? What can you expect? Edema swelling : This is seen especially in the ankles, feet, and around the eyes periorbital. Gastroparesis slowed emptying of the stomach : With weight loss of even pounds due to calorie restriction, the gastrointestinal system slows down.

Osteoporosis bone density loss : Due to the hormonal changes that go along with malnutrition, there is decreased bone formation and increased bone breakdown in patients with anorexia nervosa. Physical Side Effects of Anorexia Nervosa Binge-Purge Subtype: Swollen salivary glands sialadenosis : This is commonly seen in people that vomit on a daily basis, even just once daily.

Loss of tooth enamel: Repeated exposure to acidic gastric contents that occurs with frequent vomiting leads to loss of enamel and tooth decay. Treatment consists of stopping vomiting behavior and good dental hygiene.

Acid reflux: Vomiting leads to acidic stomach contents refluxing up the esophagus into the mouth through a sphincter at the base of the esophagus.

Electrolyte abnormalities and dehydration: Vomiting as well as diarrhea induced by laxative abuse lead to changes in electrolytes such as low sodium, low potassium, and low chloride. Eating Disorders. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, Mehler, PS. Ann Int Med. Osteoporosis in Anorexia Nervosa. Eat Disord. Do you have a loved one battling an eating disorder and would like a better understanding of this disease?

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