Purging and Its Effect on the Body

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If you’ve ever heard about eating disorders before, you’re likely familiar with the concept of purging. You may be aware that eating disorders are potentially fatal and have a disastrous impact on one’s mental wellbeing. But did you know they can kill people at a healthy weight?

In this post, I’ll cover why some people use vomiting to prevent weight gain and what harm it causes. I’ll also give my personal experience with purging at the end, so stay tuned!

Bulimia Nervosa and Purging

Bulimia nervosa, or simply bulimia, is defined by binge eating, followed by compensatory behaviors or “purging.” People who suffer from bulimia are less likely to appear underweight than sufferers of anorexia nervosa. However, they’re still obsessed with controlling their size. In another article, I’ll discuss the negative effects of binge eating. But for now, let’s concentrate on purging.

Purging can be any kind of behavior used to remove food from one’s body or reduce its impact on one’s weight. There are many types of purging, including self-induced vomiting, using laxatives, over-exercising, and fasting. This article will talk specifically about vomiting after eating.

The Need to Binge and Purge

Bulimia isn’t the only disorder that involves purging. Self-induced vomiting is observed in patients suffering from a subtype of anorexia, which involves binging and purging. It’s also seen in purging disorder, where one expels food without binging beforehand.

It’s estimated that around 9% of the world’s population will be affected by an eating disorder at some time. In the USA, a study of 10,000 youth aged 13-18 years old showed the average age for the onset of bulimia is 12.4 years. 41.3% of them reported they purge by vomiting. 0.9% of these youth will go on to have a lifelong eating disorder.

With an eating disorder, purging can become addictive, where eating triggers an urge to vomit. The feeling of having a full stomach causes panic and anxiety. Your mind will start racing, wondering when you’ll be able to purge the food without anyone knowing. This turns a typical lunch date into a nightmare.

“Self-harm – the world will come at you with knives anyway. You do not need to beat them to it.” – Caitlin Moran, How to Build a Girl Click To Tweet

The Damage Caused by Vomiting After Eating

While purging seems like it’s harmless (we’ve all puked at some point), frequent self-induced vomiting can lead to a vast list of complications. Problems brought on by purging happen regardless of one’s weight or physical fitness. Here, I’ll cover the more severe issues.

Purging can lead to gastrointestinal issues, such as heartburn, constipation, diarrhea, nausea, and abdominal pain. Loss of stomach acid leads to dehydration and imbalances in electrolytes like potassium and calcium. Repeated vomiting also erodes tooth enamel, causing tooth sensitivity and gum disease. Frequent acid reflux can turn into gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Altogether, these chemical and electrolyte imbalances cause stress, mainly on the heart and other major organs. The strain on the cardiovascular system can lead to cardiac arrest and heart failure. People who often purge are also at a higher risk of having a stroke.

Purging food also means purging nutrition. Nutrition deficiency can cause many issues such as weakness, fatigue, low sex drive, poor mood, depression, and anemia.

Other harmful effects of self-induced vomiting:

• Irregular heart rate.
• Damage to the throat (which can lead to bloody vomit) and hands.
• Loss of the benefits of medication if they end up being purged.
• Respiratory issues.
• Swelling around the face and in the throat caused by irritated glands.
• Bloating and water retention.
• Complications during pregnancy.
• Low blood pressure (hypotension), which can lead to feeling faint.
• Dry, frizzy hair, or hair loss.
• Kidney problems.

My Personal Purging Story

When I started to binge and purge, I was already binging and restricting my food intake for most of my life. Learning I could purge when I ate too much seemed like a way out for me. Like I had developed a rare and exciting superpower. In reality, it was a way for me to engage in self-harm more often and step farther away from a healthy life.

While going through periods of purging, I would experience a rapid heartbeat and start sweating. Extreme dehydration would last a day or so after. The force from vomiting caused acute pressure in my face. This pressure would cause nosebleeds, face-swelling, and burst blood vessels around my eyes.

These small burst blood vessels, or petechiae (pronounced peh-tee-kee-ai), look a bit like red freckles. This picture shows them all around my eye. Fortunately, I was on a trip to New York City when this photo was taken. I got away with blaming them on the pressure changes while flying.

In the end, I was able to give up binge eating by learning to let myself have the foods I crave in moderation. I gave up having guilt around certain foods and realized that I was in control of my eating. Giving up these limitations took away most of my urges to binge and purge, and I learned to say no to the rest. This was a long process, but I’m glad to be free from food restrictions.

Since then, I started this blog and lost 40 pounds, hoping to inspire others who struggle with disordered eating and weight loss. In short, changing my thoughts about food gave me the power to respect my cravings and overcome a life of eating disorders.

Knowing When to Seek Help

Self-induced vomiting is in no way a healthy or beneficial thing to do. If you are vomiting after eating, please seek help. Whether or not you meet the criteria for bulimia nervosa or purging disorder. If left untreated, purging can do serious harm to your body.

Treatment can vary depending on the severity of your eating disorder. Your doctor may refer you to a therapist, nutritionist, or even have some tests done to check your health. You may need a full assessment, including scanning your heart, blood tests, and checking for other conditions. This will help find the best course of action.

If you know someone who might be purging or suffering from an eating disorder, this article explains how to approach them about it. If the situation is critical (their life is in immediate danger due to eating disorder complications or mental health crises), please call 911.

One Final Piece of Advice

If you’re looking to give up food restriction and have a good relationship with food again, I have the perfect recommendation! Anti-Diet by Christy Harrison is a book that shows readers how they can take back their power from diet culture. It shines a light on the untrue beliefs that society has about larger-bodied people and aims to crush the stigma surrounding fat.

If you haven’t read Anti-Diet yet, I wholly recommend it. This book helped me learn to finally stop the binge/restrict cycle and move on with my life. Christy herself reads the audiobook, which puts genuine emotion into the words you’re hearing. If you’d like more information on the book, I wrote an in-depth and honest review here.

• Anti-Diet – paperback
• Audiobook: Anti-Diet
• Anti-Diet – ebook

Purging: In Conclusion

Self-induced vomiting is tied to many eating disorders, including bulimia, anorexia, and purging disorder. It can cause many serious issues, such as gastrointestinal distress, heart failure, and malnutrition. People who would otherwise be in good health are at risk if they frequently purge.

If you’re struggling with self-induced purging, please tell your doctor. They will get you the help you need to move on to a better life. Your mental and physical health is worth so much more than controlling your weight. You have every right to live a healthy and satisfying life.

That’s it for now everyone. If you’ve found some value in this post, please share it to inspire others too! Thanks!

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References:

• https://www.edcatalogue.com/self-induced-vomiting
• https://www.healthline.com/health/bulimia/effects-on-body#Integumentary-system
• https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/learn/by-eating-disorder/bulimia
• https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/common-eating-disorders#bottom-line
• https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/eating-disorders/eating-disorder-recovery-learning-when-to-seek-help
• https://healthengine.com.au/info/petechiae-skin-purpura
• https://anad.org/get-informed/about-eating-disorders/eating-disorders-statistics/
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5757497/
• https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/learn/help/caregivers