Hello. I propose a most serious question: How to overcome bulimia? I have a friend who is bulimic. She has been bulimic for almost a year now. Everytime she eats, she vomits...she tells me she HAS to; she doesn't want to. She tells me that she gets severe stomach pains when she tries to eat and hold it in, and the pain only gets worse as she tries to hold it in longer. I am not sure what to do to help her. I've been trying to help her for a few days now. I can't figure out why her body, or at least her stomach, isn't holding in the food properly. I mean, obviously her digestive system isn't totally fucked up right? She's still alive. I don't want to get her professional help, you know...I'd really like a way that she and I can work it out. She was able to eat a cereal bar this morning without vomiting, but then she ate a roll this evening and couldn't handle it and is now, as I am typing this, throwing it up. I really need some help on this. I need advice and suggestions. I want to help her!
Get her a Doctor. I know you dont want a professional but she needs it believe me its a big deal that she cannot eat. If you are worried ask the doctor to sign some sort of NDA if thats the reason you are dont want a pro to handle this
Then I am afraid that indirectly, you are allowing her to die and I am not exaggerating. There are many people who have died of bullimia and anorexia just because they were not treated. You see, you are focusing on the physical aspect but you are forgetting that both illnesses carry a heavy weight of psychological issues that you (no matter how good friend you are) cannot help. She needs professional help and fast. Believe me, if you are a true friend you will do ANYTHING in your power, to get her proper treatment even if it costs you the friendship. This is a serious illness.
i had a freind that was bullimic but she stopped when she realized it was no use....many girls become bullimic to reach a goal of losing weight fast...usually for a guy....if they can be convinced that skinny isnt everything...
If you can continue to encourage and help her keep stuff down, she could eventually get to keeping everything down and having a normal eating habit again.
I took a visit at the National Women's Health Information Center and gave them a call. They really didn't help me that much. Apparently now I have to find organization numbers listed on their on their bulimia information pages. http://www.4woman.gov/faq/Easyread/bulnervosa-etr.htm#f
My mum has suffered from anorexia nervosa for 36 years so, in my opinion, I would have to say that bulimia and other related eating disorders are something that can never be fully overcome. As others have said here, your friend needs professional help, even if that means breaking your friendship. The alternative is that she WILL die. My mother's weight once dipped to 5 stone and at that point I had her sectioned under the Mental Health Act for her own protection.. it led to many years of not talking and I will never have a proper mother - son relationship again, BUT it kept her alive
Report her dad then. My sister is bulimic and has gotten professional help and she's been doing better for over a year now. You do not have the training or resources to help her and her dad being an abusive asshole is no excuse to seek out professional help if you truly want to help. He may even be the major cause of the problem and if she dies you'll be thinking should of, could of would of.
There's so much to it, that I am not going to say over the internet. I cannot, and will not, report her or her father. Her father is the only person that she has, which is very sad because he's an abusive alcoholic father...I am not even going to say more. She doesn't want to move away, or be relocated...this situation is difficult, yes. I believe that I can help her. I have been doing my reading...it's mostly psychological. The institution that I called, which is mentioned above, knew of my situation and recommended me to call the other organizations for assistance. I was hoping that someone personally has undergone this eating disorder here, and would perhaps share their "secrets" of overcoming this with me.
If your friend is in high school or college, you could tell the school counselor. Your friend's burden shouldn't rest on you alone. Bulimia is a $itch because the person gets used to 'beating the system', or eating without feeling the heaviness of the food. Good luck with your friend.
You are sweet but let me tell you something, I don't know how old are you but you sound like you are a kid in High School may be? Just imagine that big adults cannot solve this on their own without professional help. Do you understand that you cannot help your friend without help from others?
Nobody said it was impossible, and I don't think it is impossible to overcome something like this. I have read some on the topic...many sites say that individual and group therapy helps a lot. I am trying to provide that for her.
I had a friend who was bulimic for sometime and after a while after he ate it would just happen like you said is happening to your friend. In the meantime, his esophagus was just being eaten away by his stomach acid. He finally broke down and went to a doctor and they explained to him that over the course of his bulimia he trained his body that after he eats he regurgitates and that his stomach would produce more acid to fill the place of the old. All the doctor had to do was give him some pills to calm down the stomachs acid production, and he didn't feel the urge to regurgitate after eating. Good luck, I hope your friend gets this under control!
I agree with AdsenseChic, you can't solve it without professional help no matter how old you are etc. Good luck.
The body is not meant to go without food and medical problems are caused by Bulimia, even if she recovers from it she needs to be checked out by a doctor. What her dad is doing is illegal and he should be reported, sounds like she'd be better off without him because he is killing her. There is a saying: "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know" - It is better to deal with something bad you know than with something new you don't, which seems to be very appropriate here. If you really care about her the only right thing to do is to report him and get her the help she needs. Anything else is just an excuse. Anyway, that's my opinion, my family and I dealt with my sister being bulimic for many years and before she started to turn it around it was looking very grim for her, but she's been coping well but it'll be a daily, lifetime struggle for her.