my friend...has eating disorder?

My friend was at my house the other day and we were eating loads of food. After we had been snacking for about 2 hours she got up and said "time to empty the stomach" and went into the bathroom and puked.

She stays at my house a lot and she never pukes after meals. Only after we eat a lot. She says that she never binges unless shes at my house.

She's done this for like 3 years...it never seems to get worse and there are no physical signs of an eating disorder, and she still never does it after meals. Does she have an eating disorder? Could it really take more than 3 years to get more serious? How dangerous is it too puke like once a month?

 

buliemics often look relatively healthy. most people are surprised to find that they generally aren't terribly thin. you say she doesn't puke often, but unless you are with her 24/7, you can't know that.she may not have an eating disorder, but she definately could. she probably wouldn't tell you if she did, so you can't take her at her word. basically, whether she does or not, there isn't much you can do about it. if you are close enough to bring the subject up, just let her know that you are a bit worried about her, and that you are there, if she ever needs to talk about it.
i never told my friends/family about my eating disorder, until i started receiving treatment. if she indeed has one, she'll have to decide she is ready to deal with it, on her own time.

 

I am with her almost 24/7, we work together and she sleeps over at my house almost every other night...and I sleep and her's when we're not at mine....

If she puked more I think I would see her puke...but it is possible that she could get away with it...

 

It does seem a bit strange based on what you described, and the fact that most bulimics do everything they can to keep other people from knowing about their disease, including family and close friends. Do you think that maybe she was just doing it for attention, or to get a reaction from you?

 

hmm...other things to look for might be excercising too much, or taking otc diet pills, in excess.

alternately, she might just have wierd eating habits. if that is the case, you might want to let her know that barfing too much can cause erosions in your esophagus, other problems of the digestive tract, erosion of tooth enamel, etc etc. she might not realize that her occasional behavior could still have consequences.

my sister has a friend who binges occasionally, and then barfs, but doesn't do it habitually. while not an eating disorder, per se, it would be considered disordered eating.

btw, puking was never my thing...i'd rather do almost anything in the world than puke...lol.

 

oh yeah...how old is she? i have known younger girls to sort of "dabble" in eating disorders, just to get attention, or for shock value (i had several friends like that, in high school)

...basically along the same lines as pressed rat was getting at, i guess.

 

Well she's almost 19 now and she's been doing it for about 3 years...atleast that when she first told me that when she ate a lot she would puke.

Her and I have the same personal trainer so she always exercises with me and I never see her exercise at any other time...I know that sometimes people with Ed's will exercise at night...but we are often together..so I don't think she is.

I have never seen her take diet pills or buy them...so I don't think that she is taking them but I guess I can never be sure.

I don't think it was for attention since she has told me about it before but it could be...