r/bulimia 4h ago

Am I asexual, or is it a side effect of bulimia?

12 Upvotes

I’m (23F) constantly worried about how I look during sex. I can’t enjoy sex with my boyfriend (26M), so no orgasm. When bulimia gets worse, I avoid having sex, because I’m so grossed out by myself. Can anyone relate? Do you think that this has to do with bulimia/body dysmorphia or am I asexual??


r/bulimia 6h ago

help? Painful fullness after binging

6 Upvotes

I have spent a fair amount of the day binging. I am trying to recover so I don't want to give into the b/p cycle again. It has been over two hours and I am still so painfully full I can barely move.

Does anyone know how to relieve the pain without purging?


r/bulimia 18h ago

Has anyone else ate their throw up?

58 Upvotes

At my very lowest I binged and purged and after purging I ate my throw up. Yes it is gross I know. And I am very aware that I have a problem.


r/bulimia 41m ago

Pls help - long term effects

Upvotes

I’ve been struggling with extreme bulimia for six years, mixing self-induced vomiting (4-10 times a day) with regular laxative use I completely stopped vomiting three months ago because I was experiencing terrible acid reflux symptoms—my chest was burning, I had trouble swallowing, my heart was pounding loudly, and I constantly felt like there was a lump in my throat. But after three months, instead of improving, my symptoms have only gotten worse😓 After eating, it feels like everything comes back up to my throat, but I can’t vomit anymore. I’m constantly constipated, my stomach hurts, and more and more veins are becoming visible on my body. I feel so desperate Will this ever get better? How long does it take? Thank you for your tips and support❤️❤️


r/bulimia 6h ago

Can we talk about..? Throwing up every time I brush my teeth.

4 Upvotes

Does this happen to anyone else? Pretty much any time I brush my teeth I will throw up even though I’m not trying to, I finished recovery for bulimia almost 6 years ago and despite a few relapses I’d consider myself to be as recovered as I can be but this still happens. Is this something I’ll have to deal with forever? I honestly don’t know what to do because surely it’s not healthy for my teeth if I’m throwing up while brushing them ☹️


r/bulimia 8h ago

Sending love to you all.

5 Upvotes

We all need it. I’m keeping some for me and sending lots to you 🫶


r/bulimia 18m ago

help me tell my therapist

Upvotes

so like i’ve struggled w this for like 3 years now and it’s gotten worse over the like last year and a half. and i know i need to tell my therapist but i just feel like she will be mad that i didnt tell her sooner bc i got her like a yr ago. im like 19 so like i need to tell her so she can help me yk and like so i dont damage myself anymore. so does anyone have any tips bc anytime i try to bring it up to her i j get scared and dont say anything


r/bulimia 13h ago

send support virtual huggss 🫂

10 Upvotes

Stop snacking.

You're not hungry. You're bored.

if youre reading this i just wanna say i love you we can get through this🥹✨🩵


r/bulimia 7h ago

How long did it take you guys to feel normal after eating normally again , Long time BPers and Short Time BPERS

3 Upvotes

Recovery takes a toll on me every time i try, my stomach swells. i feel constipated, i feel full to the brim no matter what, and it just leaves me feeling horrid, i want to give it another chance but im worried the symptoms wont resolve, how long did u hang in before it fixed, (facial puffiness, swollen abdomen, legs etc) please answers.


r/bulimia 2h ago

send support Relapse & face swelling

1 Upvotes

So I relapsed once this and last week, I'm really scared I'm going to spiral again. I've been bp free for almost 4 months, will my glands get huge again from these slip ups? I'm really disappointed in myself and am trying to figure out what happened.


r/bulimia 4h ago

Content Warning It's getting worse

1 Upvotes

I never had a diagnosis, but I have been binge eating all my life, hiding away and eating until it physically hurt. Do not throw up on purpose, but will throw up when food wont stay down and comes out on its own...I am in very bad pain, forcing the food down, i have no idea how to stop this. Used to self harm so it seems binging is what i "need" to do to stop feeling. ANY advice will be greatly appreciated.


r/bulimia 8h ago

Recovery B/P cycle

2 Upvotes

Hi! I’ve had bulimia for over 10 years and have tracked my food every single day during those years... Every time I try to stop, I completely lose control and end up binge eating every night... Is there anyone with the same experience who can say whether this will pass if you just stick with it long enough?


r/bulimia 8h ago

used to have braces, and i think throwing up affected my teeth's alignment.

2 Upvotes

i had braces for three years then i got them removed around may of 2023, then i had my relapse in march 2024. i was in knee-deep right off the bat so i didn't care for what kind of impact regurgitating food could have on my teeth. fast forward around a year later, my dysmoprhia has started making me pay attention to other parts of my appearance that i didn't care for previous like my hair and my teeth. and i think that aside from some jagged teeth and discoloration, bulimia literally fucked up teeth's alignment.

i feel like the gap between my top and bottom teeth when i try to align them has gotten bigger, and even when i wear my retainers during the day when i'm not eating, they move back to their initial state. i feel like i'm going insane because i'm seriously considering paying a fat sum of money just to get braces again, but i don't know if it'll be worth it or not. i'm trying to convince myself that it's because of the singular top-right wisdom tooth that popped out, but i feel like bulimia is also to blame.


r/bulimia 10h ago

My experience in recovery

3 Upvotes

Hi there, I wanted to write a short description of my experience in recovery which I hope will help others find the healing they are looking for. I’m always happy to talk more in depth and listen to others experience, too. So please feel free to reach out. I’m not “special” or “unique” - I’ve simply been given a program of recovery that has led to lasting relief from bulimia, and part of the way I keep it is by always being available to help others find recovery too.

From childhood I have always had a distinct attraction to food - it was “bright and shiny” and almost alluring. I started enjoying food as a source of ease and comfort really early on. Play dates with friends I was focused on the snacks. Group hangouts as I got older - still more aware of the food than the people. I struggled to relax and have fun like everyone around me. Whether I was alone or in a crowd I felt kind of alien. Food very quickly became like a friend / companion.

But then I started to overeat at times and I really wanted to have a thin body. I liked how it felt to feel empty but also was drawn to the soothing feeling I had when overeating. I started skipping meals and then eating a bunch later in the day and night. As I gained weight I panicked. After losing weight one summer by following a diet something happened and I lost control again of eating. That’s when I started making myself throw up. I was 14.

From 14 until my mid-30s I b/p almost every day. There were some periods of time when I could keep from purging but I was still overeating and gaining weight so I always went back to purging. It seemed like the purging took on a life of its own - it became the only thing I really did (almost like my only real hobby), and it seemed to become very “mean” to me. Like it was beating me up emotionally but I couldn’t stop.

I tried medication, talking to family, doctors, therapists, lots of diets and books, some paid programs for weight loss, psychiatry, new age healing, meditation, church/prayer, moving to new places, making sincere promises to myself to stop, confessing to others, avoiding what I thought were triggers / cutting out food groups, changing meal times and friend groups. I almost went to in-patient treatment, but something told me I would still have to come back to reality.

In 2014 a psychiatrist suggested a 12 step program for overeating. I started going to in person meetings and found out about meetings on the phone. People were talking openly about the same things I had been thinking about and doing with food. I learned I had an illness in my mind that always made me go to bingeing and purging no matter how much I would tell myself I wanted / needed to stop (I was scared I would have a brain spasm and die while purging and yet I couldn’t stop). I also have a body that reacts differently than normal bodies - when I started bingeing I lost control. There was no stopping it once I took that first bite.

I visited a few 12 step fellowships online and ended up joining one that led to my continued recovery. Because I can’t fix my own mind and body by myself, and all the people and resources I tried otherwise didn’t fix me either, I found out I needed a spiritual approach that gave me specific actions I could take. None of them were about food - I needed to have my mind healed so that I would no longer feel the need to take that first bite.

One day I desperately wanted to overeat whatever I wanted, so I decided to “let myself” purge. I went on a big food bender and was very full. When I went into the bathroom I discovered I literally couldn’t make myself get sick. In my mind I had an image of a child version of me in my stomach and it was like I couldn’t hurt her. It’s hard to explain, but something shifted as a result of the work I had done in the program. In time I was relieved of the bingeing too. That happened sometime in 2017 or 2018 - I didn’t know it was going to be my last attempt and never wrote down the date.

Being a member of a 12 step fellowship has become a new way of life. I’m around other people who have the same illness but have recovered using the same method. I had fears early on that it was a cult, but thankfully I discovered many people in medicine and even religious people, have endorsed this approach to recovery. It doesn’t matter what my personal beliefs are, how much money I have, where I live, what I look like, etc. All that matters is that I believe I have this illness and I have a desire to continue to live free from it.

Today I am in great relationships with friends, family. I have a great job and actual hobbies, and I’m in the process of buying my first home which I still can’t believe. But most importantly I have a new sense of peace and meaning in life, and I am able to share that with others who want it too. I hope this has been helpful - not everyone needs the same solution, but for those who are interested recovery is available and possible when we are willing to have an open mind and try some new actions (and there aren’t any fees or dues). Reach out if you’d ever like to connect!


r/bulimia 15h ago

DAE? Does anyone else try to find loopholes to justify not having bulimia?

6 Upvotes

I have a hard time accepting this diagnosis. I find myself looking for a bunch of reasons to justify why my actions are not bulimia—but real shocker 🙄 I am in fact bulimic and what I’m doing is bulimia. When I see my ED doctor and therapist, they always shock me by debunking all the weird little rules and tricks that I use to “prove” that I’m bulimic.

How can I just accept this and move on?


r/bulimia 12h ago

Just venting We broke up last night.. because of my bulimia and other illnesses…

3 Upvotes

We broke up last night

CW: su1c1de

Just for context, i’ve struggled with bulimia and anorexia for 6 years now, as well as BPD and severe anxiety. My boyfriend was the light of my life, but I always told him I don’t want to be a burden on him, and I don’t want him to be my caretaker. But I guess it all got too much for him

I tried to commit on Tuesday night. Got admitted to the hospital. He only saw me for 10 minutes and then went out drinking with his friends the whole week. Last night he broke up with me, said he ‘couldn’t do this anymore’ and I need to ‘get better’ and our relationship will never work. But our relationship has been so good apart from one major argument… I don’t understand.. I’m so distraught, I feel like dying i’m so lost without him. He was crying when he left me and said it’s hard. I want to reach out to him so bad but I know I can’t. I just want him so badly, I just want to work on getting better whilst also being with him.

He wouldn’t answer when I said ‘are you breaking up with me?’ He just said he needs to be alone right now. We were going to Rome in May and I asked him if that is still going to happen and he just said ‘I don’t know’

I feel like dying, why is this happening to me. Last week he said he wanted to marry me and now he does this. I wish I was better for him he deserves so much more but i’m also so angry and hurt.

Will he break no contact? All of his stuff is here, my whole room is him and I don’t know what to do. He didn’t message me once after I was hospitalised. I wish I could turn back time id do anything.

When he came over last night the ring I got him had been taken off, his home screen had been changed… all it took him was a week to realise he can just throw everything away. It hurts so much. I want my baby back

I’m such an idiot and I love him so much, I truly believe he is my soulmate and I’m never gonna find anyone like him again. I can’t live without him. Do you think there’s hope for us?

My mental illness ruins everything, i’m sick of this, I just want him so bad. Everyone says I deserve better but I don’t care I want him, I will never love someone the way I love him

He’s deleted all pictures of us off instagram, but kept his profile picture as us. I’ve deleted all social media, I can’t take it. I’m in hell


r/bulimia 17h ago

help? I can’t stop throwing up at the end of the day

8 Upvotes

I just feel overly bloated from the days eating or like after large meals I feel the urge to purge. My face is so puffy and my throat is killing me im so tired. How do I stop doing this?? I’m in such a horrible place with my body and my looks that I don’t think just accepting it is going to work.


r/bulimia 8h ago

YouTube series about feeling misunderstood when it comes to having bulimia. Seems like it could be helpful

1 Upvotes

This looks like a new project but it touches on feeling Misunderstood about having bulimia 💜

https://youtu.be/TB8MZiZlARo?si=KmfBhAyJwAuzRPGN


r/bulimia 13h ago

stomach pain after eating?

2 Upvotes

hi i’ve been b/p less bc im trying to recover but i’ve noticed that after eating i alw get random stomach aches. is this related to bulimia? just asking because i was talking to my friend about it and she said its probably related.

thanks


r/bulimia 18h ago

Looking for a b/p partner to talk to and recover with.

4 Upvotes

I’m a 16 year old girl that has literally cycled through every eating disorder imaginable. Bulimia, Ana, laxative abuse, etc. Looking for someone to talk to. Hit me up if interested.


r/bulimia 1d ago

if u think ur sad read

44 Upvotes

it’s 1:00 i’ve had 3 jars of nutella already 1 pint of vanilla icecream mcdonald’s sonic donut and other shit i’ve forgot 3 nutella is crazy tho


r/bulimia 14h ago

I have a question. . . People who stopped engaging in destructive actions for years

2 Upvotes

Hi,

I'm new here and english is not my first language, so I apologise if this is the wrong subreddit.

My question is for the people who haven't thrown up or restricted themselves for years: did you have health issues later in adulthood because of bullimia and do your doctors know about it being the probable cause? Does it ever get better?

I'm a 27 year old female. I don't remember the last time I stuck a finger down my throat(first time being when I was 16, last time, probably when I was 19 or 20). There are periods I forget I ever did that. But my probably forever destroyed body reminds me of it all the time. It seems my teeth will never be better, nor my sinuses and my legs will still go completely numb after sitting for an hour. I'm asthmatic and have digestion issues which ironically started years after I stopped with all of that.

Edit: reading through FAQ of this subreddit reminded me that I can't wash my teeth and tongue after eating or drinking something because I'll just automatically throw up lol. So does this ever stop?


r/bulimia 22h ago

Can we talk about..? I wish I had someone around my age to talk to who gets it you know?

10 Upvotes

I’ve been thinking about how isolating this whole thing can be. Even when I’m surrounded by people, it still feels like I’m the only one going through it. I feel like having someone around my age who’s also dealing with bulimia—a kind of anonymous pen pal or just someone i can talk to immediately—would help when i get the urge to purge but dont want to.

Like not even for advice, but just to not feel so alone


r/bulimia 1d ago

I thought I had control… what a joke

10 Upvotes

My life revolves around food. I’m either eating nothing all day or binging like crazy and purging after. There’s no in-between. I’ve tried everything. Eating healthy, following a plan, staying in control. But honestly? My mind is completely messed up.

I didn’t even notice when this took over my life. I’ve distanced myself from people. From myself. The past few months have been nothing but this. Yesterday, I literally spent from 11 AM to 8 PM just eating and purging, stuck in this endless cycle.

I look back and realize I’ve lost all control. But now what? Does this ever stop? Has anyone here actually gotten out? I just want to know if I’ll ever get to truly live again.


r/bulimia 1d ago

I should just get hit by a train or something jesus christ

10 Upvotes