Health Consequences of Bulimia

Bulimia is one of the most dangerous Eating Disorders. To be blunt, if you are not recovering from your Eating Disorder, it is in the process of killing you. Today, I’m going to speak specifically about some health consequences of Bulimia, often the forgotten disorder.

Bulimia is quick to cause many short-term issues that can lead to long-term consequences that are irreversible. You will quickly see in your blood-work electrolyte imbalances and certain deficiencies. Dehydration often occurs as well as a result of Bulimic purging behaviors, which is extremely dangerous in and of itself.
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If inducing vomiting is a person’s method of purging, they are at higher risk for spontaneous esophageal rupture; fancy way of saying rupture of your esophagus. This is always a risk for anyone when throwing up, however a person who regularly vomits is at higher risk, because of the law of numbers; the more you do something, the more you’re at risk (ie: the more you drive a car, the more risk you have to be in an accident). The thing with esophageal rupture is that there are no warning signs, it just happens (aka - spontaneous).

If laxative abuse is a person’s method of purging, they can develop long-term gastro-intestinal issues. They can lose the ability completely to produce bowel movements on their own, relying completely on the use of laxatives. At worst-case scenario (and not as uncommon as you’d like to think) are unable to produce bowel movements and have to rely entirely on the assistance of essentially what is called a poop bag, similar to a catheter. You must always wear this bag and poop bypasses your bowels and moves right to the poop-bag.

Keep in mind that these risks associated with Bulimia is not all-inclusive. These are just SOME of the potential consequences.

Despite the risks, if you have Bulimia and engage in Bulimic behaviors, are you truly living or able to live a thriving life? Let’s say one of these consequences do happen to you, it may not kill you, but I would argue that many of these consequences (if not all) will kill your life before it actually ends it.

Bulimia is not something to mess with and is very dangerous. Here is the Truth About Bulimia Nervosa.

Also, if you feel you are struggling with an Eating Disorder or any sort of eating issue, please consider getting help from an Eating Disorder therapist. They know what you’re going through, can help to educate you about it and help you recover. Here’s a video Guide to Finding the Proper Help. Or you can read this post here on Getting the Right Help for an Eating Disorder.

I hope you found this post helpful! If you know anyone else who could benefit from reading this, please share with them. If you have any questions, concerns or requests for future posts, please leave a comment or message me privately.
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I wish you wellness and awareness on your journey to finding your State of Balance!