Signs and Symptoms of Bulimia Nervosa

At first it was fun to have so much control over my body. I mean, come on, who does not wish that they could eat whatever they want and the "get rid of it" and go eat some more? Who wouldn't want to use the secret weapon of four out of one hundred young men and women to win the battle of losing weight? I thought that this "weight loss method" was uber cool, the best thing since sliced bread. But I realized just how wrong I was as I saw my real life slipping away and this enemy, this adversary, FOOD, was taking control of every part of me and my life. I was bulimic.

You have probably heard of bulimia nervosa and you may even think that you know all about it, but there are some things that you need to know. Get the facts here and now, you may save a life one day. Bulimia nervosa, or bulimia as it is more popularly called, is a dangerous eating disorder. It sneaks up on you as you go through the typical binge eating periods. Some people will try to "get rid" of all the food that they ate on their binge by purging, or forcing themselves to vomit. They may even abuse laxatives, diuretics or enemas. They may take syrup of ipecac to help induce the vomiting and they may fast or exercise very excessively.

A bulimic will often become quite obsessed with various things such as food, keeping explicit records of intake of food - and output via various methods. They may be obsessively fastidious and orderly and they may be almost phobic about becoming fat. This disorder also often accompanies other disorders such as body dimorphic disorder, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder and other psychiatric problems. Another eating disorder that has similar symptom and may even accompany the bulimia is anorexia nervosa. Bulimia is not something to be taken lightly; however, bulimia can be deadly.

Bulimics appear to be completely focused on weight loss, but the reasons for the disorder extend far beyond mere weight loss. It has a lot to do with control in the person's life. They may not feel that they have any control in their world so they take control of the one area that is a sure thing - themselves. They are often perfectionists and feel weak or powerless. Their reality becomes distorted as the disorder takes over and no matter how emaciated they are, when they look in the mirror, all they see is fat. The bulimic's self esteem is usually very low and they are often very depressed. This is usually not the result of the bulimia though, but a symptom of it. The low self esteem and depression were likely around long before the bulimia came into play.

I beat the bulimia that was taking control of my life and you can too. For five long, tenuous years I struggled, gained a little ground and lost a lot of ground, but I never quit. I did not let the setbacks and failures throw me off of my course to get healthy and best this disease. Little by little I began getting the answers to my questions and I began to slowly climb out of that deep, dark pit that was myself.

I took baby steps in incorporating successful and healthy changes in my life. My research gave me a few answers, but I am still learning. According to medical research, when the brain chemical, serotonin is abnormally low, the body goes on a mad binge to find the element of which it is being deprived. Because of this the binge eating ensues. Antidepressants can be effective in increasing the serotonin level, but there are other natural remedies as well. A natural remedy that has seen some success in patients with abnormal or fluctuating serotonin levels is Griffonia. When added with other herbs, this herb can help with depression, anxiety and other psychological ailments quite effectively. However, pills can only help you so much. I devised a daily scheduled self recovery program that literally saved my life. It currently is helping many others as well.

If you see signs of bulimia in someone that you know, talk to them. Encourage them to admit that they have a problem and give it a name it that helps. Sometimes if a person just says, "I am bulimic." It can be the first step in the recovery process. Complete and full recovery is possible without drugs or doctors; all you need is to believe in yourself.