Addicted to a little pink pill
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Addicted to a little pink pill
| Wed, 07-14-2004 - 2:41pm |
So here is the deal. I have become dangerously obsessed with my body image lately. I have gained about 20 pounds in the last four years...and although some people might think that is nothing, it is a HUGE something, to me. I grew up being a size 2, and now with my thighs and my "J-Lo booty" (as my BF calls it- in the most adoring way), I am running about a size 9 or 10. So about a week ago I went to the grocery store for a very specific thing. Laxatives. I have never taken one before, but I heard that they can make people lose weight. I am so desperate to get some of this weight off that I am willing to try anything!! Almost. I hate throwing up - hate it! I did it the other day after I ate a hot dog and it was aweful! I don't even know what made me do it, but I did, and I won't do it again. But now the problem is, after only a week, I'm totally addicted to these things! I take two sometimes three a day, and to be honest, I feel like it's working. Of course I'm miserable running to the bathroom all the time, but I am already feeling better about myself. And to type that makes me so sad because I cannot believe that it has come to this. So now, not only am I taking these laxatives religiously, I'm hardly eating too. And I know it's unhealthy, but my head is telling me it's working....I just need some insight on this. AM I CRAZY!!? I don't even really know what I'm doing...I just don't want to look like I do anymore..Help!

you aren't crazy, but laxatives will not make you lose weight. they dehydrate you and deplete electrolytes and disrupt your body's electrolyte balance, but no way are you going to see real weight loss using laxatives. messing with your electrolytes like this means you are risking death.
laxatives are supposed to help people with very occasional constipation. i have read horror stories from women who abuse laxatives...very quickly they find themselves needing to take boxes and boxes of the pills to get the same effect, and also eventually need hundreds of them just to have any bowel movement at all.
these are the reasons i have always stayed away from laxatives. you have options besides using laxatives and purging. you can get help from a therapist and recover. there is nothing wrong with your natural size, whether it's a 2, 10, or any other size. and you can learn to eat what your body needs and feel comfortable at your natural size.
when i started to feel desperate and consider using things like diet pills, laxatives, vomiting, etc., that's when things really started plummeting for me. my physical and emotional health went straight down until i crashed. you don't have to feel like that. there are plenty of people who can help with your feelings about your body and any problems you have with laxatives.
i can't stand to throw up either. i also can't stand feeling hungry, dizzy, sick, weird, and all the other horrible feelings this stuff causes. that's why the only option left to me is recovering :)
i can relate to your idea that you'll get down to your desired weight, and THEN take care of whatever eating problems you have. i thought that too, for a long time. the problem with that plan is by the time you get to your original desired weight, you'll probably have a lower weight in mind, and you'll start going for that one. also you've given your eating problems plenty of time to get worse, along with your health, making it harder for anyone to help you. you've lowered your metabolism even more, making it more likely that you'll gain more weight when you recover.
please think about getting help and getting better now. but if you can't take any other step, at least try not to use the laxatives. they are going to bring you nothing but pain and trouble.
Guess what, the food has to go through you no matter what... and if it goes through you, you are absorbing the calories... so taking a laxative doesn't make you lose weight, just water. ANd that is easily regained
Laxatives are really dangerous and you can get very addicted to them.
Meg
Hi Hon,
About 17 years ago I was hooked on Correctol. I used to take it occasionally for constipation issues from not eating right/enough.... well it soon turned to a daily pill.... I got dangerously thin and malnutritioned. Nowdays I do not take the laxatives BUT I do occasionally slip into malnutrition and my electrolytes get low.... my heart freaks out. I just had an appointment with a cardiologist today and he wants to do exploratory surgery..... I freaked out and said no, so he gave me some pills to take daily.... I looked up the side effects of the pills and they can be deadly dangerous if I get low on electrolytes... the saga spins....
Anyway, please take care of yourself... you don't want to be like me!
Hugs, Michelle
Whether or not you see it, there's a rainbow after every storm.
Hi Sweetie,
I really can't add anything to what everybody has already told you but didn't want you to think that I don't care. I didn't get a chance to really post until now.
Laxatives ARE addictive, they WILL mess up your body, and you will NOT loose weight with them. What you are seeing right now is probably water loss due to dehydration. If you are truly overweight and NEED to loose weight, then a sensible food intake and sensible exercise will get you there.
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