Expert: Meg - 4/22/2005

Question
Hi, I'm steff, tomorrow my boyfriend has booked me in to see a councellor about my eating, i don't want to go! it's not that i don't think i have a problem, i do! it's just i think she might think i'm too heavy to have a disorder! I'm 5.6 and weight eight stone (love to be less) i avoid eating at all costs but can't get out of eating at ytea time all the time so when made to eat i make myself sick and use laxative 10 plus a day! Should i see this woman?

Answer
Hi Steff,

Thanks for writing and I hope that I can be of help.

While I can understand the feelings of not being sick enough to seek help, it definitely sounds like you are struggling with an eating disorder that require help and I hope that you DO keep your appointment.  Eating disorders are about so much more than weight-and your behaviours (avoiding eating, and when you do eat-using large amounts of laxatives) put your physical and mental health at risk.  Not eating stresses your body and can make you more prone to getting sick, weak, unable to concentrate among other things and the laxative usage can throw off your electrolyes-which can mess up your heart rythem and be quite serious.  I'm going to link you to a few pages that will help you see the physical dangers and also want to remind you that the eating disordered mindset is dangerous-and worth getting help for as well.

Finally, obviously your struggles are considerable enough that your boyfriend (who cares about you) can see that you need to do something about this.

All of these reasons hopefully will help you see that you definitely should keep the appointment tomorrow.  If you go and truly find out nothing is wrong (which I am quite sure won't happen)-then you lose nothing.  And otherwise, you can begin to get help for this so that you don't compromise your health and miss out on life because you are stuck feeling fat and not eating/abusing laxatives.

Good luck-and please let me know if there is anything else I can do.

Take care,
Meg

Links so some sites that may be of help:

http://www.healthyplace.com/Communities/Eating_Disorders/peacelovehope/laxatives...

http://www.pale-reflections.com/methods.asp?page=lax