Criteria

Bulimia criteria according to DSM

• (1) eating, in a discrete period of time (e.g. within any 2 hour period), an amount of food that is definitely larger than most people would eat during a similar period of time and under similar circumstances
• (2) a sense of lack of control over eating during the episode (e.g. a feeling that one cannot stop eating or control what or how much one is eating)

B. Recurrent inappropriate compensatory behaviour in order to prevent weight gain, such as self-induced vomiting; misuse of laxatives, diuretics, enemas or other medications; fasting; or excessive exercise.
C. The binge eating and inappropriate compensatory behaviours both occur, on average, at least once a week for 3 months.
D. Self-evaluation is unduly influenced by body shape and weight.
E. The disturbance does not occur exclusively during episodes of Anorexia Nervosa.

Specify type:

Purging Type: During the current episode of Bulimia Nervosa, the person has regularly engaged in self-induced vomiting or the misuse of laxatives, diuretics or enemas.

Non-purging Type: During the current episode of Bulimia Nervosa, the person has used other inappropriate compensatory behaviours, such as fasting or excessive exercise, but has not regularly engaged in self-induced vomiting or the misuse of laxatives, diuretics or enemas.




Anorexia criteria according to DSM.


A. Not maintaining a weight healthy for their height and age. Restricting energy intake leading to a significantly low body weight.
B. Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though underweight.
C. Disturbance in the way in which one's body weight or shape is experienced, undue influence of body weight or shape on self-evaluation, or denial of the seriousness of the current low body weight.

Specify type:

Restricting Type: During the current episode of Anorexia Nervosa, the person has not regularly engaged in binge-eating or purging behaviour (i.e. self-induced vomiting or the misuse of laxatives, diuretics or enemas)

Binge-Eating/Purging Type: During the current episode of Anorexia Nervosa, the person has regularly engaged in binge-eating or purging behaviour (i.e. self induced vomiting or the misuse of laxatives, diuretics or enemas).




Binge Eating Disorder Criteria according to DSM

BED is defined as having "a sense of lack of control over eating" with the person suffering also exhibiting three or more of the following:

• Eating much more rapidly than normal.
• Eating until feeling uncomfortably full.
• Eating large amounts of food when not feeling physically hungry.
• Eating alone because of feeling embarrassed by how much one is eating.
• Feeling disgusted with oneself, depressed or very guilty afterward.

EDNOS (Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified) criteria according to the DSM.

If some but not all the criteria are met for one of the other three disorders (anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder), the diagnosis is EDNOS.

- All the criteria for Anorexia Nervosa are met except that, despite significant weight loss, the individual’s current weight is in the normal range or above.
-All the criteria for Bulimia Nervosa are met except that the binge eating and inappropriate compensatory mechanisms occur at a frequency of less than once a week or for a duration of less than 3 months.
- The regular use of inappropriate compensatory behaviour by an individual of normal body weight after eating small amounts of food (e.g. self-induced vomiting after the consumption of two biscuits.
-Repeatedly chewing and spitting out, but not swallowing, large amounts of food.

Important

You can gain weight, you can even maintain it...but that doesn't mean you are okay. That doesn't mean your view of yourself has changed. It doesn't mean you hate yourself less, in fact you might hate yourself more. Because it's a mental issue. Our minds are far more damaged than out bodies could ever be..

DSM Changes

The DSM 5 is set to come out in May 2013. Changes have been made to most of the disorders, including eating disorders. Below I have provided some sites where you can find more information about the DSM 5 changes. (note, it's set to come out in May however the date has been pushed back before so it may be pushed back again.)

For those who don't feel like reading a bunch of sites, the APA has admitted to the shortcomings of the DSM 4 criteria for ED's.The DSM-IV scheme for classifying eating disorders is a poor reflection of clinical reality. In adults it recognises two conditions, anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, yet these states are merely two presentations among many. As a consequence, at least half the cases seen in clinical practice are relegated to the residual diagnosis 'eating disorder not otherwise specified'. The changes proposed for DSM-5 will only partially succeed in correcting this shortcoming. With DSM-6 in mind, it is clear that comprehensive transdiagnostic samples need to be studied with data collected on their current state, course and response to treatment. Only with such data will it be possible to derive an empirically based classificatory scheme that is both rooted in clinical reality and of value to clinicians.

Currently, the default diagnosis, EDNOS, is the primary diagnosis which is an admitted problem of the current DSM.

Some of the changes include

adding binge eating disorder

changing criteria of anorexia by removing loss of menstrual cycle in females as part of the criteria. Also there will be changes to the weight requirement.

changes in criteria of bulimia by removing the number of episodes per week as part of the criteria.

These are just three of the more significant changes.

http://www.dsm5.org/Pages/Default.aspx

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3014461/

http://www.eatingdisorderscleveland.org/blog/bid/31155/The-DSM-V-and-Eating-Disorders

http://www.apa.org/monitor/2009/04/eating-disorder.aspx

No Such Thing as Pro-ED

I am so sick of hearing the words "pro-ana", "pro-mia", "pro-ed". It's stupid! You can't be "pro-ed". Eating disorders are not a choice. You can't be for or against them.

You can be "pro-life" because abortion is a CHOICE. You can be for gay marriage because gay marriage is a CHOICE. You can be for recovery even because recovery is a CHOICE. You can be for solar energy because it's a CHOICE. What you can't be for is eating disorders. You can't be for any mental disorder because it's not a CHOICE! Hence the word 'disorder'.

Eating disorders aren't much different from any other disorder so why does everyone have to run around acting like they are. I never hear anyone say "oh you're pro-depression". Well then why the hell are people saying "oh you're pro-ana".

For that matter, you aren't promoting the disorder by having it and talking about it. I never hear "oh you're promoting depression" because you post quotes about depression and pictures of people who are depressed that you identify with. I don't hear "oh you promote cancer" because you talk about how you have cancer and post pictures of other people who have cancer. We aren't promoting eating disorders by posting these pictures. We are simply expressing ourselves.

I'm not promoting ED's. I'm not saying "oh you should develop an eating disorder because it is so much fun." (And if I ever do say that then you have full permission to beat me up.) I'm not telling people they should go buy bounty paper towels because they are more absorbent. I'm not telling anyone to do anything. I'm just expressing myself. I couldn't promote and eating disorder if I wanted to. It's not a choice. You choose to buy bounty paper towels because you saw someone on tv promoting them. You don't choose to develop an eating disorder because you saw a commercial about it. It's not something you can choose to do anymore than you can choose to be depressed or choose to get cancer.

We aren't doing anything that different from anyone else. We post how we feel. We post pictures of things we want or pictures we find beautiful. The only difference is that what we want, what we find beautiful, and how we feel, isn't acceptable. We are called this name "pro-ed" because we are being singled out. We are being told that we should shut up because we don't agree with everyone else. We have been marked as outcasts and treated as if we are the villians of the story. Well we aren't, and we aren't doing anything that someone else isn't doing.

If you don't like our blog, there is a button in the top right-hand corner with the word "unfollow". Use it.

Stop with the intolerance. Stop with the name-calling. Stop with the labeling. Especially with the illogical labeling. Just stop. I'm not asking to be liked, I'm asking that you give me respect.

What you can promote is tolerance. You can promote responsibility. You can promote acceptance of others who have these terrible disorders. You can promote love. You can be pro-tolerance, pro-acceptance, etc.

Or you can promote intolerance. You can promote labeling people with illogical labels. You can promote putting people down. You can be pro-hate and essentially a bully.

But you can't promote eating disorders and you can't be pro-ED.

No Such Thing As Pro-ED by K. Tormey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Please Take The Time To Read

Please read the entire thing. You may disagree, and if you do, that’s fine. You may post your disagreement in a post. But first, please read the entire thing with an open mind and think about what is being said. Inevitably, someone is going to read with a closed mind and no interest is seeing anything from anyone elses views or changing their own ideas. But I beg of you to please try to read with an open mind. Thank you.

We all post pictures that could potentially trigger someone even if all you post is pictures of pink cuddly teddy bears. Sometimes it’s to reach out. But when one reaches out because he or she needs help with (lets use the above example)  fear of pink cuddly teddy bears, he or she  needs to be aware of who he or she is reaching out too. If if he or she is reaching out to a group of people who are also afraid of those teddy bears or are recovering from that fear or so on then that person is reaching out to people who need just as much help and are suffering too. That is not really the best group to reach out to for help but it’s human nature to stick with others who are like us, not to reach out to someone who might be of better help but is not in the same situation.

Now take this for example. Bob puts up a picture of a pink cuddly teddy bear that he is forced to see everyday when he goes to work. He wants to post it to ask for help in a way. One of his friends, Amy, sees the wall post saying Bob has added a picture. When she looks at the picture it scares her. She starts to have a panic attack. She comments on Bob’s picture saying she is sorry he is suffering from this fear but she is going to have to delete him because his pictures are triggering her panic attacks.

Amy isn’t being mean or trying to hurt Bob. Amy is protecting herself because she knows if she sees those pictures she will have a panic attack and she is trying to stop having them so often. She cares about Bob but she cannot risk her own mental health for his sake. That won’t help either one of them. She is respecting her own needs but also trying to respect his. She did not just delete him right away; she gave him a reason why therefore, respecting his need and right to know why he was being deleted from her friends list. She cared about him enough to respect him and his needs and rights.

 Suppose Bob comments back to her that she must just hate him. Amy then comes back to try to explain and correct what she feels was some miscommunication. She cared enough to risk seeing the teddy bear and going into another panic attack just to correct what she feels was some miscommunication.

When someone tells you they have to delete you for their own safety, try to understand it’s nothing against you. They are not being selfish either. It is important that we try to help others and care about one another. However, if we risk our own health and safety to do so then we really are not doing anyone any good. Even if we manage to help the other person, if we are still suffering or even worse off than before then we haven’t really fixed anything. We do need to help those that we can and be kind and respectful but before taking care of others we must make sure we take care of ourselves. That does NOT mean we need to make sure we can buy a limosine before we feed the homeless or give an unemployed man a job before he loses everything he has. It means we need to make sure that we have the necessities and are safe before we try to fill someone elses needs and keep them safe. Putting our own safety before someone elses is not selfish. It’s wise and important. It is also a step towards our own healing. 

When Bob reaches out to his group he needs to be aware that these friends of his are not in any better position than he is. They may find his pictures of the things he fears to be triggering or just unsettling. Bob might be posting those pictures because he wants people to know what he is afraid of or obbessed with and feel that by posting them someone might beable to help him overcome it but it could hurt some people. These people may choose to delete him as a friend and/or block him. They are taking care of themselves. By making that decision they are respecting themselves and that is a big step in recovery from any fear, obssesion, addiction, or illness. They are not being mean. They simply can not handle it.

There are other ways to handle such a situation though. Personally, I prefer the option of asking that person to blcok you from seeing their pictures or a particular album. One can also block themselves from seeing someones status updates. This way you can still talk to the person but you don’t have to risk your own safety assuming that it is only their pictures or status posts that bother you.

If someone asks you to block them from seeing your photos are a particular group of photos then don’t get offended. They value your friendship but they are trying to protect themselves at the same time. Now Facebook makes you post the pictures to your wall (unless there is some cheat way that I am not aware of) which means if you add to that album then those pictures will come up in the news/status feed. If you have friends on your account that have asked to be blocked from that sort of picture or album then it is respctful that you go to your wall as soon as you can and delete the post. Even if no one has asked you to be blocked, if you know what you just uploaded could be triggering, it is best to go ahead and do that anyway.

Point is, everyone has the right to free speech and freedom of expression(though it can be limited on the internet by websites or censored). People have the right to post status and pictures. However they also have the responsibility to deal with any consequences for their actions. If you post a half naked pick with some guys face buried in your chest and a potention employer decided not to hire you because of it then that is their right because you are responsible for your actions. If you want to post pictures of the  ”scarry” pink cuddly teddy bears and someone deletes you as a friend, that is their right. We also are responsible for others safety when it involves our actions and decisions. It is everyones responsibility to respect that others may delete us because of the things we post. It is our responsibility to be mindful of what we post and to block those who have asked to be blocked and to delete posts in which we can not block someone from seeing. It is our responsibility to be respectful of other peoples choices and wishes. We have the right to post what we want within limitations. But with every right comes responsibility.     We are also responsible for our own safety.That means we are responsible for asking someone to block us or deleting them if their content or words endangers us in any way shape or form. We are also responsible for reporting those who do not respect the rights of others, such as the right to safety, those who threaten an individuals or groups safety, or those who deny their responsibilities that come with their rights.

Symptoms and Complications of Anorexia and Bulimia

THIS IS NOT A COMPLETE LIST!!! The symptoms/complications are in alphabetical order with both phyisical and behavioral symptoms mixed.

Symptoms and complications listed are for anorexia, bulimia, and EDNOS. Not listed are: binge eating disorder, anorexia athletica, over-exercise, night eating, overeating, orthorexia. I will get more information on those and add them later. For now there are just three types listed. Symptoms and complications specific to bulimia will have this symbol ♦ in front of it Symptoms and complications specific to anorexia will have this symbol ♣ in front of it. Though a symptom may be specified to one eating disorder or the other, it can still exist in someone without that specific disorder.

• Abnormal blood counts
• 
  
• Abnormal eating rituals (cuts food up small, moves food on plate but doesn't eat it)
• 
  
• Absence of menstruation or becoming shorter and lighter
• 
  
• ♦Acid reflux or ulcers
• 
  
• ♦Alternating between overeating and fasting
• 
  
• Anemias----{ a condition in which the blood is deficient in red blood cells, in hemoglobin, or in total volume}
• 
  
• Angry when confronted about food or weight
• 
  
• Anxiety when eating in front of other people
• 
  
• Avoidance of social situations where food may be present
• 
  
• Avoids or skips meals regularly
• 
  
• Bathroom visits after meals
• 
  
• Becoming withdrawn
• 
  
• Believing too fat even when thin
• 
  
• ♦ Binge eating
• 
  
• Bloating
• 
  
• Blood flow is reduced.
• 
  
• Bluish discoloration of the fingers
• 
  
• Bone loss
• 
  
• ♣Breast atrophy--------{a wasting away of an organ or part, or a failure to grow to normal size as the result of disease, faulty nutrition, etc. any degeneration or diminution, esp through lack of use}
• 
  
• Brittle nails
• 
  
• ♦Broken blood vessels in the eyes
• 
  
• Cardiac arrest and death
• 
  
• Chest pain
• 
  
• ♦ Chronic sore throat, hoarseness
• 
  
• ♣ Cold hands and feet
• 
  
• Complaining of being "too fat", even when thin
• 
  
• Compulsive exercising
• 
  
• Concern about being overweight
• 
  
• Constipation
• 
  
• Controlling behavior
• 
  
• ♣Cooks for others but does not eat herself
• 
  
• ♦Decayed teeth 
• 
  
• Decreased metabolic rate
• 
  
• Dehydration
• 
  
• Denial of hunger
• 
  
• ♣Denial of low body weight
• 
  
• Denial that they are ill
• 
  
• Depression
• 
  
• Desire to lose weight
• 
  
• Difficulty concentrating
• 
  
• Distortion of body image
• 
  
• ♦Diuretic use (increases amount of urination)
• 
  
• Dizziness
• 
  
• Dry skin
• 
  
• ♦Eating until they become sick
• 
  
• Edema (water retention)
• 
  
• ♣Electrolyte imbalances
• 
  
• Emaciation
• 
  
• ♦Esophagus inflammation - from purging or vomiting
• 
  
• Exercise more than 1 hour a day 3 to 4 days a week to control weight
• 
  
• Excessive thirst
• 
  
• Excessive preoccupation with food
• 
  
• Excessive urination
• 
  
• ♣Excessive weight loss
• 
  
• Excuses for not eating meals (ie. ate earlier, not feeling well)
• 
  
• Exhibits an obvious reduction in eating
• 
  
• Exhibits fear or anxiety before eating, and guilt after eating.
• 
  
• ♣Fainting
• 
  
• Fatigue
• 
  
• Fear of gaining weight
• 
  
• ♦Fear that once they start eating they won't be able to stop
• 
  
• Feeling out of control
• 
  
• Feeling that happiness is undeserved
• 
  
• Frequently looking in the mirror
• 
  
• ♣Find it difficult to consume a full normal portion of food (if it is due to fear of consuming it then it is behavioral however sometimes, especially in anorexia, the body gets used to eating small portions and can not take in a normal amount of food making it physical)
• 
  
• Guilt or shame about eating
• 
  
• ♦Going to the kitchen after everyone else has gone to bed. Going out alone on unexpected food runs. Wanting to eat in privacy.
• 
  
• Hair that thins, breaks or falls out
• 
  
• ♦Hand injuries from inducing vomiting 
• 
  
• Headaches
• 
  
• heart muscles starve, losing size.
• 
  
• Heart palpitations
• 
  
• ♦hides food
• 
  
• Hollow-looking eyes 
• 
  
• Hyperactivity
• 
  
• Ignoring feelings of hunger
• 
  
• Inability to remember things
• 
  
• ♦Inability to stop eating. Eating until the point of physical discomfort and pain.
• 
  
• Inability to tell whether or not they are full or hungry. The body's natural mechanisms for indicating hunger or satiety are disturbed.
• 
  
• ♣individual ribs and hip bones visible
• 
  
• Inflicting self-harm
• 
  
• Insecurities about capabilities regardless of actual performance
• 
  
• Insomnia
• 
  
• ♣Intentional starvation
• 
  
• Intense body dissatisfaction
• 
  
• Interpersonal conflicts
• 
  
• ♣Intolerance of cold
• 
  
• Irregular heart rhythms
• 
  
• Irritability
• 
  
• Infertility
• 
  
• Kidney and liver damage
• 
  
• Labeling food as either 'good' or 'bad' with generally an increased urge to binge on 'bad' foods.
• 
  
• Lack of energy
• 
  
• Lack of sexual interest
• 
  
• Light-headedness
• 
  
• Loss of body fat
• 
  
• Low blood pressure
• 
  
• ♣Low body temperature
• 
  
• ♣Low body weight.
• 
  
• Low potassium (most common cause of nocturnal cardiac arrest)
• 
  
• Low self-esteem
• 
  
• Low thyroid function
• 
  
• Malnutrition
• 
  
• Mood swing
• 
  
• ♣Muscle atrophy (wasting away of muscle mainly due to lack of use and/or lack of nutrition)
• 
  
• No known physical illness that would explain weight loss
• 
  
• Not feeling pain as you normally would.
• 
  
• Need for approval
• 
  
• Not wanting or refusing to eat in public
• 
  
• Noticeable discomfort around food
• 
  
• Obsession with weight
• 
  
• Obsessive-compulsive behavior
• 
  
• Obsessiveness about calorie intake
• 
  
• Osteoporosis
• 
  
• Pale complexion (almost a pasty look)
• 
  
• Perfectionist attitude
• 
  
• Playing with food
• 
  
• Preoccupation with tidiness
• 
  
• Preoccupation with food and calorie intake
• 
  
• Problems getting along with family members/long-time friends
• 
  
• Purplish skin color on the arms and legs from poor blood circulation.
• 
  
• ♦Puffy “chipmunk” cheeks
• 
  
• Refusing to eat
• 
  
• ♦Regular episodes of out-of-control binge eating
• 
  
• Repeatedly checking weight
• 
  
• ♦Repeatedly eating large amounts of food in a short period of time 
• 
  
• Resistance to treatment
• 
  
• Restricting food choices to only diet foods
• 
  
• Rigid eating schedule 
• 
  
• ♦Ruptured stomach or esophagus
• 
  
• Secretive about eating patterns
• 
  
• Self-worth is determined by food intake
• 
  
• Self-worth determined by weight
• 
  
• Severe self-criticism
• 
  
• Shortness of breath
• 
  
• Skin problems
• 
  
• Slow emptying of the stomach.
• 
  
• Slow heartbeat (fewer than 60 beats a minute).
• 
  
• ♣Soft, downy hair covering the body
• 
  
• Stomach pains
• 
  
• suicidal tendencies
• 
  
• Swelling of arms or legs
• 
  
• Swollen joints
• 
  
• Tiredness 
• 
  
• Thin appearance
• 
  
• Throws out food to avoid eating it
• 
  
• Under-eating 
• 
  
• Vulnerable to infections
• 
  
• Weakness
• 
  
• Wearing baggy clothes to hide weight loss
• 
  
• Wearing layered clothing - used to hide weight loss
• 
  
• Weighing foods
• 
  
• Withdrawal from friends, family and social situations
• 
  
• Won't eat in front of others
• 
  
• Yellow-orange skin, especially on the palms of the hands.

Diet Pills

Diet Pills

These range from common over the counter appetite suppressants such as phenylpropanolamine, caffeine pills and ephedrine hydrochloride (ephedrine is not an appetite suppressant, though often misused as one - commonly referred to as "white crosses" or "mini thins") to prescription medications like Redux and Phen/Fen. There are a wide variety of diet pills on the market that are available, many of them have addictive qualities, and some even contain small amounts of laxative.
Diet pills, both over-the-counter and prescription, (as recommended, continuously, or in excess) can cause the following: nervousness, restlessness, insomnia, high blood pressure, fatigue and hyperactivity, heart arrhythmias and palpitations, congestive heart failure or heart attack, stroke, headaches, dry mouth, vomitting and diarrhea or constipation, intestinal disturbances, tightness in chest, tingling in extremities, excessive persperation, dizziness, disruption in mentrual cycle, change in sex drive, hair loss, blurred vision, fever and urinary tract problems. Overdoses can cause tremors, confusion, hallucinations, shallow breathing, renal failure, heart attack and convulsions.
Prescription diet pills like the new and popular Phen/Fen (phentermine/fenfluramine) should never be taken without the written prescription of a doctor. There is an ongoing debate about their effectiveness, and all the health risks and benefits should be weighed. It should only be used in cases of extreme obesity. In addition to the health risks above, taking Phen/Fen increases your chances of Primary Pulmonary Hypertension, which is a disease that attacks the lungs, has a poor prognosis, and is fatal. Please Read the special announcement on the dangers of Phen/Fen and its link to valvular heart disease!
Caffeine pills and/or Ephedrine Hydrochloride should never be taken for weight control, and should not be taken continuously. Ephedrine is a medication used occassionally to treat asthma, but more commonly allergies and hayfever - it is a bronchial dialator. Both can cause all the side effects as diet pills, with an increased risk of addiction (both physical and psychological), headaches, high blood pressure and heart palpitations and arrhythmias, including heart attack. Ephedrine use can contribute to psychosis, anxiety and depression




Article from something-fishy.org

Laxitives and Ipecac Syrup

Laxatives
Pills or liquid, herbal or otherwise, laxative abuse is a common form of "weight control" in people suffering with Eating Disorders. The use of laxatives as a way to lose or control weight is not only dangerous, but irrational. The actual purpose of taking a laxative is to stimulate the large bowel to empty, which occurs only after the food and it's calories for energy have been absorbed through the small intestines. Essentially, a person taking laxatives to control weight is only going to cause their body to lose fluid, which can potentionally be followed by periods of water retention and an appearance of bloating (causing the sufferer to want to lose more weight and ingest more laxatives). The reason people suffering from eating disorders seem to lose weight while taking laxatives is because in most cases they are increasingly watching calorie intake and restricting food consumption, inducing vomiting, and/or compulsively exercising.
Continued laxative use can cause bloating, cramping, dehydration, electrolyte disturbances and imbalances, cardiac arrhythmias, irregular heart beat and heart attack, renal problems, and death.
Phenolphthalein, a popular ingredient previously found in many brands of laxatives has now been recalled by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration, United States) due to studies indicating that it has been linked to cancer.
Withdrawal symptoms can be expected in stopping the use of laxatives after a continued period of using them as a "weight loss" method. These include, abdominal cramping, mild to severe constipation, bloating, mood swings and general feelings of fatigue and "feeling sick." In less severe cases the symptoms will usually subside in about 2 weeks, but in cases where a person have ingested handfuls or more laxatives on a regular basis, it may take longer and require medical assistance.

Diuretics
Sufferers of Eating Disorders sometimes use diuretics as a way to attempt controlling their weight. Again, this is dangerous and irrational. Diuretics work on reducing water retention, and only decrease the amount of water in the body... this can cause dehydration and electrolyte imbalances and specifically potassium deficiencies that can result in hospitalization. Continued use can lead to long and short-term fluid retention even when the diuretics are discontinued.

Ipecac Syrup
The use of Ipecac Syrup can cause instant death! Using Syrup of Ipecac for anything other than its purpose (to induce vomitting in cases of accidental poisoning, or drug overdose) causes systemic toxicity which can cause weakness, tenderness and stiffness of muscles, cardiac disease and heart failure, coma, seizures, shock, increase in blood pressure, with possible hemorrhage, dehydration, aspiration pneumonia and death.
This cumulative effect (taking it more than once, for reasons other than its indications) can increase the possibility of serious adverse effects, and if ipecac fails to produce vomitting, patients should go to the hospital IMMEDIATELY.






Articles from something-fishy.org

Physical Dangers of Eating Disorders

Malnutrition - caused by undereating or overeating. It means your body is not getting enough of the appropriate vitamins for your body to work correctly. Blindness, heart attacks, and death can result from malnutrition.


Dehydration - Caused by lack of fluids, use of laxitives, vomiting, and restricting carbs and fat. Dehydration can be identified by symptoms such as dizziness, dark urine, lightheadness, dry sticky mouth, headaches, constipation, confusion, and syncope (fainting). It can cause the heart and kidneys to fail, seizures, and brain damage. Dehydration left untreated can be FATAL 


Electrolyte Imbalances - electrolyte are essential to the production of the body's "natural electricity" that ensures healthy teeth, joints and bones, nerve and muscle impulses, kidneys and heart, blood sugar levels and the delivery of oxygen to the cells.


Hyponatremia (related to "water-loading") - as stated above, electrolytes are essential to proper body functioning. Drinking too much water (more than eight, eight-ounce glasses in less than twelve hours), can cause Hyponatremia (not enough sodium in the blood), especially in someone already malnourished or dehydrated. Hyponatremia can cause fluid in the lungs, the brain to swell, nausea, vomiting, confusion and even death. YES, DRINKING TOO MUCH WATER CAN KILL YOU!!


Heart Attacks- Signs you're having a heart attack

• uncomfortable pressure, fullness, squeezing or pain in the center of the chest lasting more than a few minutes.
• Pain spreading to the shoulders, neck or arms.
• Chest discomfort with lightheadedness, fainting, sweating, nausea or shortness of breath.
• Atypical chest pain, stomach or abdominal pain.
• Nausea or dizziness.
• Shortness of breath and difficulty breathing.
• Unexplained anxiety, weakness or fatigue.
• Palpitations, cold sweat or paleness.

Stroke Warning Signs

• Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body.
• Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding.
• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes.
• Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination.
• Sudden, severe headache with no known cause.

STROKES AND HEART ATTACKS CAN BE FATAL! IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING THESE SYMPTOMS CALL 911.

Diet or Eating Disorder

Dieting is about losing a little bit of weight in a healthy way.
Eating Disorders are about trying to make your whole life better through food and eating (or lack of).


Dieting is about doing something healthy for yourself.
Eating Disorders are about seeking approval and acceptance from everyone through negative attention.


Dieting is about losing a bit of weight and doing it healthfully.
Eating Disorders are about how life won't be good until a bit (or a lot) of weight is lost, and there's no concern for what kind of damage you do to yourself to get there.


Dieting is about losing some weight in a healthy way so how you feel on the outside will match how good you already feel on the inside.
Eating Disorders are about being convinced that your whole self-esteem is hinged on what you weigh and how you look.


Dieting is about attempting to control your weight a bit better.
Eating Disorders are about attempting to control your life and emotions through food/lack of food -- and are a huge neon sign saying "look how out of control I really feel"


Dieting is about losing some weight.
Eating Disorders are about everything going on in life -- stress, coping, pain, anger, acceptance, validation, confusion, fear -- cleverly (or not so cleverly) hidden behind phrases like "I'm just on a diet".








IN SHORT!- Dieting is an attempt to become more healthy in a healthy safe way. Eating disorders are about control and losing weight in quick unhealthy ways. It is a way of dealing with internal and external problems and unhealthy relationships with food.