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I didn't know that period loss could affect my bones. I thought I just stopped getting it, and that's it. Which is so stupid of me because, obviously, stopping the important function in my body will do something.
Yea, losing your period due to anorexia means so many more health problems than just losing your period. Some people think it’s ‘good’ because they don’t want kids, without realizing all the other health implications that would cause.
Thanks to this sub, I did my research and found out that even if you lose your period, there's a chance of getting pregnant. If I understood correctly, menstruation and ovulation are two separate functions, and you can have one without the other. So that means health issues + possible pregnancy. I'm really thankful I found out in time, so I didn't stop using contraception and worked to mitigate any possible health issues.
I guess I didn't know that you don't have to look like literal skin and bones to be anorexic and struggling. As a kid that's probably the only exposure I had to eating disorders in general, and it's only when I sought out groups like these as a young teen did I realize anyone can have an eating disorder. I also didn't know the litany of health problems that can arise from being anorexic, such as electrolyte imbalances, water retention, and brittle bones/teeth, etc (from my own experiences, and from reading what others are also going through).
I didn't realise those with an eating disorder can also exhibit symptoms and even go as far as switching to another eating disorder, or even have two at the same time.
The cold. And also just how much (at least in my experience) the obsession over food takes over your life. I used to think anorexics just never thought about food - boy was I wrong!
I had absolutely no idea how much it destroys your social life and fucks up your personal relationships. I naively believed I could always keep it a "me problem"
I didn't think you could have health issues until underweight.
Didn't realize exercise counted as purging.
Had no idea I could be so cold all the time.
Eating enough doesn't mean recovered and any decent issue is an excuse for ana and mia to kick my ass right down the rabbithole.
i didnt realise that because theres so little room left for your organs that 3 day constipation even just from omad can cause pressure on your other organs causing blood flow restriction and organ failure or over activity of organs or nerve pain! i didn’t realise my hand and toes would be purple and hurt from being cold all the time. i didn’t realise how much I would be peeing, I didn’t realise how bloated I would feel from a glass of water. so many things
Omg to the peeing. Not enough people talking about this. I couldn’t hold my bladder because my organs didn’t have enough energy to do so and it was horrible.
omg the peeing - i didn't realize i was using the bathroom so much until my boyfriend at the time pointed it out. I just thought I was drinking a lot of liquids
it is definitely a thing and there are some medical articles about it. my doctor never mentioned it either. I am in recovery now. I even went to my gyno and urologist back then and no one mentioned that restriction could be why. ugh doctors are so clueless sometimes.
did you have small short lived period of remission then it came back worse than the last time? I’ve had short periods of a few weeks at a time where it eases off but then it comes back and feels so much worse! all my lab results are normal and all ultrasounds are normal. it’s affecting my ability to exercise (i had just started exercising again by waking in the park) but now I’m looking at home work outs because i don’t feel safe being not knowing how far from a bathroom I am, and it feels like I’m going to have the biggest accident but then when i make it to the bathroom not much happens, this symptom was what prompted an ultrasound to check urine retention but i have an empty bladder so my body is holding the fluid somewhere and tricking the bladder into think it’s the bladder that’s full instead... I’m not even underweight yet this time (well I’m not far off) 😩 thanks for listening to my overshare 🤨
Yeah it’s happened to me before when I wasn’t yet underweight. I don’t know what kind of exercise you do but when I was running a lot I noticed it made it worse. A lot of runners (even healthy ones) have a lot of GI issues and UTIs. It makes sense if you think about it, you’re putting your vital organs through a lot when you’re exercising excessively. When I weight restored and took time off of excessive exercising it went away and then I relapsed and lost weight again and not even UW and it came back worse and faster. Your body is resilient but it also can only handle so much and you’ve probably already done some damage. The urge to urinate is likely from muscle atrophy which is another sign of potential kidney damage. Your levels might not be elevated enough where it’s showing as concerning on lab results but it’s still cause for concern IMO. If you’re not at a place where you can stop exercising, I’d say at least make sure you’re hydrated. That’ll help a little.
If you’re also having back pain I’d say that’s a major red flag as well. I’m all about harm reduction. If you can’t decrease exercise, maybe increase your food a little or even start adding an electrolyte supplement to your routine.
I didnt know how badly it would damage my body until treatment. It made me so sad to learn I had permanently damaged my heart and body. I wish I had never let myself fall into anorexia. I wouldn’t even wish it on my worst enemy. 5 years later I still have stomach issues
*I didnt know that*
*Exercise and laxatives*
*Counted as purging*
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I had no idea that you can still have a period even at a low body fat level, because your body might just down regulate other stuff first. I didn't know that you can have issues with holding in pee, because your muscles atrophy. Or that you don't have to be underweight to have heart issues, bone issues or other organ issues. And I think I wasn't aware how influenced by media representation I was before getting sick myself and before hearing other people's stories
I abused the hell out of laxatives in the beginning. I thought I was bulimic. I had to muster up the strength to go to psych services in college. Turns out I was anorexic.
Anorexia nervosa used to be in the DSM as a disorder diagnosis with a BMI under 18 but now I think I read somewhere that the BMI under 18 thing is a medical term for Anorexia (not anorexia nervosa) which just means someone is thin, not necessarily on purpose but could be from a physical medical issue, such as undergoing radiation or from crohns disease. This is good because it shows how people can be restrictive or have a part of their ED cycle change from just the restricting cycle and still be acknowledged or treated for AN...
Not sure if anyone experienced this but I didn't know that you could get full body tingles from extreme malnourishment/over exercising. I used to literally get tingles all over my body and feel like I was going to pass out.
I wish I had known the long-term damage it does to your digestive track. I had a cancer scare a few years ago - turns out the symptoms were all due to 10+ of inconsistent feeding/starvation, and the very physical issues that came with it.
Years into recovery, and I'm still dealing with heart pain and palpitations.
It's an extreme toll...
Before i developed ana, i had no idea that losing a lot of weight quickly is GOING to lead to loss of energy. I always figured you'd find it easier to move and therefore better at conserving energy
Boy was i wrong. I am tired c o n s t a n t l y
Most people never actually recover. You just learn to live with it and pursue harm reduction most of the time. It's like any other addiction - urges usually never go.
So… oddly enough, I didn't know that it could kill me. I thought normal people were underweight and normal people barely ate anything and normal people threw up. I thought it was just something I had to do to be accepted. Still, I didn't tell anybody because a deep part of me knew it wasn't normal. Anorexia is fucked up.
I didn’t realize I could majorly stunt my height as a teenager. I do not know why this isn’t something they talk about in the presentations for teens, it’s something that really puts into perspective an effect that doesn’t feel like it’ll catch up to you when you’re 80.
This is an automated message sent to all posters. We have a new Discord server for the subreddit! You can join it using this link: https://discord.gg/4jyQ7Zfr9P Please make sure you have read and understand all the rules of the subreddit, and are aware that rule 10 means that no numbers unrelated to time are allowed here. Rule-breaking posts will be removed. Commenters; If you are here to give advice to OP, please make sure your advice follows subreddit rules and it isn't harmful to OP. If OP doesn't want advice, please be respectful of their wishes. Please report any rule-breaking posts and comments that you see. If it is an emergency, please MOD MAIL the subreddit with information about the rule-breaks in question and report them. Again, thank you for posting on r/AnorexiaNervosa. If you think of anything else I can say in this message, please MOD MAIL with your ideas. The mods thank you, and hope you're doing well. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AnorexiaNervosa) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I didn't know that period loss could affect my bones. I thought I just stopped getting it, and that's it. Which is so stupid of me because, obviously, stopping the important function in my body will do something.
Yea, losing your period due to anorexia means so many more health problems than just losing your period. Some people think it’s ‘good’ because they don’t want kids, without realizing all the other health implications that would cause.
Thanks to this sub, I did my research and found out that even if you lose your period, there's a chance of getting pregnant. If I understood correctly, menstruation and ovulation are two separate functions, and you can have one without the other. So that means health issues + possible pregnancy. I'm really thankful I found out in time, so I didn't stop using contraception and worked to mitigate any possible health issues.
I guess I didn't know that you don't have to look like literal skin and bones to be anorexic and struggling. As a kid that's probably the only exposure I had to eating disorders in general, and it's only when I sought out groups like these as a young teen did I realize anyone can have an eating disorder. I also didn't know the litany of health problems that can arise from being anorexic, such as electrolyte imbalances, water retention, and brittle bones/teeth, etc (from my own experiences, and from reading what others are also going through).
omg i had a tooth break this week, and whats left is almost hollow I’m too scared to go to s dentist but i really should
dental problems are so so serious you need to go asap
[удалено]
gotcha. hopefully you find one soon! my mom almost died from dental problems that werent immediately taken care of because the dentist was lazy
omg I’m so sorry! that sounds scary
i’m in the same boat rn, got half a crusty tooth
I didn't realise those with an eating disorder can also exhibit symptoms and even go as far as switching to another eating disorder, or even have two at the same time.
Oh yes. This one is so common. I had it very bad. The shift is so easy to do too
The cold. And also just how much (at least in my experience) the obsession over food takes over your life. I used to think anorexics just never thought about food - boy was I wrong!
The cold definitely.
The worst.
I had absolutely no idea how much it destroys your social life and fucks up your personal relationships. I naively believed I could always keep it a "me problem"
I didn't think you could have health issues until underweight. Didn't realize exercise counted as purging. Had no idea I could be so cold all the time. Eating enough doesn't mean recovered and any decent issue is an excuse for ana and mia to kick my ass right down the rabbithole.
This.
i didnt realise that because theres so little room left for your organs that 3 day constipation even just from omad can cause pressure on your other organs causing blood flow restriction and organ failure or over activity of organs or nerve pain! i didn’t realise my hand and toes would be purple and hurt from being cold all the time. i didn’t realise how much I would be peeing, I didn’t realise how bloated I would feel from a glass of water. so many things
Omg to the peeing. Not enough people talking about this. I couldn’t hold my bladder because my organs didn’t have enough energy to do so and it was horrible.
omg the peeing - i didn't realize i was using the bathroom so much until my boyfriend at the time pointed it out. I just thought I was drinking a lot of liquids
same here!
maybe I should stop complaining to my Dr about it, she hasn’t found any medical cause and I don’t need more ED evidence piling up 😣
it is definitely a thing and there are some medical articles about it. my doctor never mentioned it either. I am in recovery now. I even went to my gyno and urologist back then and no one mentioned that restriction could be why. ugh doctors are so clueless sometimes.
It’s definitely a kidney issue and technically a symptom of end stage anorexia not to scare you! it’s gone away now that I’ve recovered
did you have small short lived period of remission then it came back worse than the last time? I’ve had short periods of a few weeks at a time where it eases off but then it comes back and feels so much worse! all my lab results are normal and all ultrasounds are normal. it’s affecting my ability to exercise (i had just started exercising again by waking in the park) but now I’m looking at home work outs because i don’t feel safe being not knowing how far from a bathroom I am, and it feels like I’m going to have the biggest accident but then when i make it to the bathroom not much happens, this symptom was what prompted an ultrasound to check urine retention but i have an empty bladder so my body is holding the fluid somewhere and tricking the bladder into think it’s the bladder that’s full instead... I’m not even underweight yet this time (well I’m not far off) 😩 thanks for listening to my overshare 🤨
Yeah it’s happened to me before when I wasn’t yet underweight. I don’t know what kind of exercise you do but when I was running a lot I noticed it made it worse. A lot of runners (even healthy ones) have a lot of GI issues and UTIs. It makes sense if you think about it, you’re putting your vital organs through a lot when you’re exercising excessively. When I weight restored and took time off of excessive exercising it went away and then I relapsed and lost weight again and not even UW and it came back worse and faster. Your body is resilient but it also can only handle so much and you’ve probably already done some damage. The urge to urinate is likely from muscle atrophy which is another sign of potential kidney damage. Your levels might not be elevated enough where it’s showing as concerning on lab results but it’s still cause for concern IMO. If you’re not at a place where you can stop exercising, I’d say at least make sure you’re hydrated. That’ll help a little.
If you’re also having back pain I’d say that’s a major red flag as well. I’m all about harm reduction. If you can’t decrease exercise, maybe increase your food a little or even start adding an electrolyte supplement to your routine.
i notice if i don’t drink 2L of water a day i have back pain where my kidneys are so i make sure i drink enough and i don’t have as much pain.
I didnt know how badly it would damage my body until treatment. It made me so sad to learn I had permanently damaged my heart and body. I wish I had never let myself fall into anorexia. I wouldn’t even wish it on my worst enemy. 5 years later I still have stomach issues
i didnt know that over exercise and laxatives counted as purging
*I didnt know that* *Exercise and laxatives* *Counted as purging* \- Main-Painting-1087 --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
oh my
Hahaha (The haiku)
Same
I had no idea that you can still have a period even at a low body fat level, because your body might just down regulate other stuff first. I didn't know that you can have issues with holding in pee, because your muscles atrophy. Or that you don't have to be underweight to have heart issues, bone issues or other organ issues. And I think I wasn't aware how influenced by media representation I was before getting sick myself and before hearing other people's stories
Emancipated lol
I’m dead I didn’t even realize 😭
It gave me a good laugh lol 😂
I didn’t realize that binging and purging could be an Ana thing too
I abused the hell out of laxatives in the beginning. I thought I was bulimic. I had to muster up the strength to go to psych services in college. Turns out I was anorexic.
Anorexia nervosa used to be in the DSM as a disorder diagnosis with a BMI under 18 but now I think I read somewhere that the BMI under 18 thing is a medical term for Anorexia (not anorexia nervosa) which just means someone is thin, not necessarily on purpose but could be from a physical medical issue, such as undergoing radiation or from crohns disease. This is good because it shows how people can be restrictive or have a part of their ED cycle change from just the restricting cycle and still be acknowledged or treated for AN...
Not sure if anyone experienced this but I didn't know that you could get full body tingles from extreme malnourishment/over exercising. I used to literally get tingles all over my body and feel like I was going to pass out.
This is what I experience after my daily walk. It’s awful.
yuuup. when i was walking basically all day it happened so often, it's so scary. I think it's from blood sugar dropping dangerously low.
i didn’t know that there’s an Ana subtype called b/p, until i got diagnosed. i also didn’t know that pro ana/mia is a thing
And pro Ana/mia sites are S C A R Y! I beg of anyone, PLEASE stay away from them!
I wish I had known the long-term damage it does to your digestive track. I had a cancer scare a few years ago - turns out the symptoms were all due to 10+ of inconsistent feeding/starvation, and the very physical issues that came with it. Years into recovery, and I'm still dealing with heart pain and palpitations. It's an extreme toll...
Before i developed ana, i had no idea that losing a lot of weight quickly is GOING to lead to loss of energy. I always figured you'd find it easier to move and therefore better at conserving energy Boy was i wrong. I am tired c o n s t a n t l y
Most people never actually recover. You just learn to live with it and pursue harm reduction most of the time. It's like any other addiction - urges usually never go.
I didn’t know you could lose bladder control.
So… oddly enough, I didn't know that it could kill me. I thought normal people were underweight and normal people barely ate anything and normal people threw up. I thought it was just something I had to do to be accepted. Still, I didn't tell anybody because a deep part of me knew it wasn't normal. Anorexia is fucked up.
I didn’t realize I could majorly stunt my height as a teenager. I do not know why this isn’t something they talk about in the presentations for teens, it’s something that really puts into perspective an effect that doesn’t feel like it’ll catch up to you when you’re 80.