If your primary care provider suspects you have bulimia, he or she will typically: Talk to you about your eating habits, weight-loss methods and physical symptoms. Do a physical exam. Request blood and urine tests.
To compensate for overeating, they may purge, like vomiting or using laxatives. To be classified as bulimia by a doctor, someone must binge eat and purge — or use other ways to prevent or control their weight — once a week for at least 3 months.
Both physical and emotional symptoms occur with bulimia. Among the physical symptoms are irregular menstrual periods, weakness, exhaustion, sore throat, bloodshot eyes, and heartburn. 2 Erosion of both the teeth and the esophagus can occur with bulimia accompanied by vomiting, explains Ashley Jacobs, RDN.
It's important to note that bulimia doesn't necessarily involve purging: physically eliminating the food from your body by throwing up or using laxatives, enemas, or diuretics. If you make up for your binges by fasting, exercising to excess, or going on crash diets, this also qualifies as bulimia.
Purging disorder is an eating disorder where a person engages in a purging behavior(s) to attempt to influence body shape or induce weight loss, but does not binge (1). Therefore, it's sometimes described or thought of as bulimia nervosa without binging.
FACT: Research has shown that vomiting cannot get rid of all the calories ingested, even when done immediately after eating. A vomit can only remove up to about half of the calories eaten - which means that, realistically, between half to two thirds of what is eaten is absorbed by the body.
Your body starts absorbing calories from the moment you put food in your mouth. If you vomit right after a very large meal, you typically eliminate less than 50 percent of the calories you consumed. Laxatives get rid of 10 percent of the calories you eat.
Excessive tooth erosion is one way your dentist could tell if a patient may be bulimic. Frequent vomiting can lead to sensitive teeth, dry mouth and red, cracked lips. All signs that your dentist is trained to recognize as side effects of bulimia.
Binge Evidence
Bulimia involves binge sessions in which large amounts of food are consumed. During these uncontrollable episodes of food consumption, people often eat very quickly to the point where they are very uncomfortable. People with bulimia can eat between 5,000 and 15,000 calories in one sitting.
Bulimia jaw is a term for a number of symptoms that can result from the purging aspect of bulimia nervosa (BN). It can refer to swelling, intense pain, and a misalignment of the jaw, and sometimes require surgery to correct. Further Reading. Bulimia Jaw: Pain and Swelling.
Repeated episodes of bingeing and purging at a frequency of >2-3 times per week. Compensatory behaviors such as self-induced vomiting, laxative or diuretic abuse, fasting and/or obsessive or compulsive exercise. Extreme concern with body weight and shape.
The most common age of onset is between 12-25. Although much more common in females, 10 percent of cases detected are in males.
Mild: An average of 1–3 episodes of inappropriate compensatory behaviors per week. Moderate: An average of 4–7 episodes of inappropriate compensatory behaviors per week. Severe: An average of 8–13 episodes of inappropriate compensatory behaviors per week.
One of the telltale signs of bulimia is the appearance of swollen cheeks – colloquially known as “chipmunk cheeks” – on the sides of the face. Caused by the enlargement of the parotid glands (one of the salivary glands), the medical term for this phenomenon is sialadenosis.
Try foods such as bananas, rice, applesauce, dry toast, soda crackers (these foods are called BRAT diet). For 24-48 hours after the last episode of vomiting, avoid foods that can irritate or may be difficult to digest such alcohol, caffeine, fats/oils, spicy food, milk or cheese.
When you stop eating, your body goes into “starvation mode,” your metabolism slows down in order to utilize whatever food it has available, and your weight loss will slow down. Of course, if you (partially) fast for many days or weeks, you will lose weight.
When appearing shortly after a meal, nausea or vomiting may be caused by food poisoning, gastritis (inflammation of the stomach lining), an ulcer, or bulimia. Nausea or vomiting one to eight hours after a meal may also indicate food poisoning.
Not eating won't directly lead to weight gain -- in fact, you may lose weight as you'll temporarily eat fewer calories than you burn. The problem is that fasting is unsustainable, so any weight-loss benefit will likely be short lived and your health will pay the price.
Dozens of donuts, boxes of cupcakes, multiple bags of chips, ten candy bars and multiple boxes of cookies are some common items that are consumed within this two-hour period. It is common for individuals to binge eat when they are not physically full or eat these large amounts of food until they are uncomfortably full.