My best friend is 45 years old. As far as I know, she has been bulimic for over 20 years and (she claims) has suffered no ill effects other than bad teeth (which, to me, is a very ill effect.) When she does eat, it’s very healthy and it’s not like she purges everything she eats. What she does is binge by herself until she’s uncomfortable and then makes herself throw it up. She’s quite frank with me about all of this. My fear is that although she feels fine, she’s done irreparable damage to her heart and will just one day have a heart attack. Am I wrong about this? I seem to remember reading that a cause of death from bulimia is an imbalance of electrolytes and irregular heartbeat. However, if she’s replenishing her potassium/electrolytes after purging and then eating healthily otherwise, is she at least partially doing the right thing? I’m proud of her because she’s purging maybe only 2-4 times a month and it used to be every single day. Also, she no longer purchases food for the sole purpose of binging and purging. Just gets weak when there are trigger foods around the house. Sorry this is such a long paragraph, but I couldn’t figure out where to break it up. Anyway, she is in therapy and has a regular doctor, but I’m just wondering how she’s made it this long and if her body can recover at this point. Thanks!
Between migraines, digestive issues, motion sickness, and my period, I’ve been vomiting more than 4 times a month for most of my life. My teeth and health are good (unless you count all the things my body does that are painful and/or make me barf, haha). Vomiting is not all that bad for you - not great, but not that bad. Bulimia is not a physically life-threatening condition, unless combined with starvation or excessive laxative use, etc. I would bet suicide risk is sky-high, though - it’s emotional hell. One of my best friends has been bulimic, to varying degrees, for 15 years (she’s only 27). She’s never had a single cavity, interestingly.
It’s awesome your friend is in treatment and progressing! She will probably recover with no lasting damage to her health, besides the teeth thing. Best wishes.
I suffered from bulimia & binge/purge disorder for close to 15 years. Sometimes it was only a couple times a month other times it was every day. At my worst it was sometimes twice a day. I knew it could ruin my teeth so I rinsed them after or brushed them if I was home. I was actually overweight for most of my bulimic years. The food I ate when I wasn’t binging was quality, healthy stuff for the most part. I was in great health, except of course for being a bit overweight. My biggest fear when throwing up was choking on it. I haven’t heard the bit about it doing damage to your heart before. Just teeth, esophagus (acid reflux) and the choking issue. I don’t seem to have done any real damage to my body.
I am so glad your friend is getting better. Good that she’s in therapy. She will need it. It’s a very hard habit to break because there is such a tremendous adrenaline (I think) rush when you throw up successfully and get everything up, that for me at least, that was very addictive. I loved throwing up the way junkies love getting high. I am much happier not being that way, but I remember how I felt when I would do it and it is sometimes tempting.
I am utterly unqualified to offer any insight at all, and can only offer heartfelt wishes that she finds happiness.
But just one tiny bit of advice: after throwing up, don’t brush teeth in an attempt to protect them. After the acid you’ll brush the enamel right off. Preferably just rinse well with water, and wait at least an hour before brushing! (Obviously, preferably don’t throw up at all, but I don’t think that gem will be helpful.)
I know someone who’s been bulimic for over 50 years. Like you, I always thought she would have a heart attack and die, or suffer some permanent ill effects other than bad teeth, but it doesn’t seem to have happened.
Just noting, sudden death from cardiac arrhythmia isn’t the same thing as a heart attack, and as far as I know, electrolyte imbalance doesn’t cause permanent damage to the heart (or, as you seem to be thinking, atherosclerosis, hardening of the arteries, which does cause a "heart attack’ aka myocardial infarction). In fact, most people who die of heart disease (including many people without heart disease, including infants and children) die from sudden cardiac arrest from arrhythmia.
As far as I understand it, the common misconception that bulimia itself leads to heart attacks is incorrect - however, there is a significant degree of comorbidity because bulimics frequently use syrup of ipecac to induce vomiting; something that is very much associated with heart attacks.
A friend of mine was a binge-and-purger for decades. She was often bat-poo crazy, but was active and in generally good health. She could vomit at will, and she had extensive knowledge of which foods gave the best purging experience (e.g., creamy peanut butter, not chunky). She died at age 75 from pancreatic cancer. I think that the emotional toll of her addiction was far worse than the physical damage.
I was bulimic through my 20s. I had to recently get a lot of expensive dental work, but other than that, I’m very healthy.
People who only throw up when they’re sick, they associate throwing up with massive heaves, your whole body contracting, it being a forceful experience, and feeling exhausted afterwards.
But, for people who do a lot of vomiting, it becomes very easy. I could (probably still can) vacate my stomach within the span of a minute or two, with another minute or so for clean-up. Then I’d dab my eyes, gargle, eat a banana, and continue on with my day.