*starving again - but not my choice*

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-14-2003
*starving again - but not my choice*
1
Thu, 01-15-2004 - 9:21pm
i'm new to this board - but not the forums here at ivillage.

i'd like to know what kind of "after effects" (if you will) can anorexia have?

i was anorexic for about 4 yrs straight - about 8 yrs ago (when it began). i can't say i've fully recovered, as i just dont believe that's possible... it lingers with you for the rest of your life - in it's little ways.

anyway, i've noticed that i've been having a lotta trouble lately. i was never hospitalized nor did anyone even realize it at the time. no family or friends - they just thought i was eccentric - the "new" girl a vegetarian, yoga-cizing, pagan, loner - who they never saw eat - but never thought twice about (apparently).

anyway, i recovered on my own with no one there to help me - so as you can imagine it was a difficult time - and this barely scratches the surface of the whole "story."

anyway, prior to that time, i was able to eat anything - even meat w/out a problem.

then i decided (at a very early age i wanted to be a veggie) - again no problem.

then came my "time" & now afterwards, i'm still a veggie, but have suddenly become lactose intolerant (which doesnt even run in my family!), besides not being able to digest meat anyway (from not eating it for so many years), i am allergic to soy (cause migraines & extreme abdominal pain), allergic to MSG (migraines too) & now i can't eat beans - because they cause a similar to "lactose intolerant" pain.

it seems i'm cornering myself in further & further & it's all because i was so stupid & didnt think. *sigh*

w/out trying to sound as though i'm pitying myself - it's more inconvenient. i can't eat out anywhere, anymore. everything gives me extreme intestinal cramps or bloating (which isn't relieved either by something like tums/rolaids or even attempting to "pass" it - it simply 'stays put!')

i'm basically living now on citrus fruits, nuts & some crackers (like melba toast - for carbs) & some veggies (raw only - as cooked cause major discomfort).

perhaps much of it is due to stress - i can see that. but in the past 3 years i've noticed these things.

i dont have benefits or make enough money to go to the doctor but once a year (and that comes outta pocket!) for a checkup. so i can't go to an allergist. and i dont want the discomfort of having to endure a migraine for "testing" some of them.

i just would like to know what "after effects" can it cause & damage does it do to one's body?

can it cause sudden "intolerances" &/or allergies?? (as i know most are usually inherited or one is simply pre-disposed to them genetically.)

please, anything anyone could offer would greatly help.



Sue.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Fri, 01-16-2004 - 11:49am

Hi Sue,


First I want to tell you that you are not alone and that you are not pitying yourself. I developed a dairy and egg allergy. I am not just lactose intolerant, but allergic to things like whey or sodium caseinate which are milk derivatives. Eating out is incredibly complicated and 9 out 0f 10 times I get no joy out of it.


Now to your questions - I am not sure that EDs can cause food intolerances/allergies after a while, but then who knows. I do know that people develop allergies later in life to foods they never had problems. One cause is eating a food over and over almost daily for a long time. But there are other reasons as well such as a condition called leaky gut.


Something I am exploring right now, due to various health problems, is finding the right foods for my body. I have gotten a lot of valuable and helpful information at www.mercola.com and I subsribe to his newsletter. It is one newsletter I look forward to and he emails it twice a week. I have read Dr. Mercola's book 'The No-Grain Diet' and just orderd his new book 'Total Health'. Currently I am reading 'The Metabolic Typing Diet' by Wolcott which is highly recommended by Dr. Mercola. These are not 'diet' books, but books on healing your body naturally (and without the outrageous cost of doctors, meds, nutritionists, etc.). I like the fact that Mercola is a doctor but doesn't believe in medicating people. And here is another website on a dentist/orthodontist who originally came up with metabolic typing and cured himself of pancreatic cancer (the most aggressive form) with nutritional changes. He was diagnosed with cancer and told he had 4 months to live...that was in 1973 I believe and he's still around and now helping others.


If you get anything, the the book The Metabolic Typing Diet. It is an incredible book with tons if insights on health and nutrition. You can also do searches on the internet on food allergies and should get tons of info.


I hope this helps. Please don't hesitate to ask more questions.

Love & hugs, Kristina


The opinions I have expressed here are from my own experience and are not intended as medical advice or to take the place of your own physician's advice.

Love & hugs, Kristina