How to Avoid Bulimia Side Effects - a Former Bulimic's Advice

Let me say first of all that I do not recommend bulimia to anyone. Bulimia will not make you lose weight. You will stay the same weight because your body will think that it is starving. This will make your metabolism slow down drastically. I have struggled with bulimia in the past and if you are bulimic, here is how to avoid bulimia side effects.

One of the worst side effects of bulimia is discolored teeth and bad breath. The stomach acid in the vomit you expel out of your mouth eats away at your teeth enamel. You will eventually have gray to yellow teeth from tooth erosion. Bad breath occurs simply because vomit is full of bacteria that remains on your tongue, teeth , and inside of your mouth.

There is nothing you can do to prevent the gradual decay of your teeth because your stomach acid is going to come into contact with your teeth whenever you vomit. The best way to slow down the erosion of your tooth enamel is to brush your teeth rigorously with a whitening toothpaste immediately after vomiting. Brushing your teeth every time you throw up your food will also keep bad breath at bay. Keep an extra toothbrush and a travel size whitening toothpaste inside your purse or pocket at all times. Bulimia doesn't always happen in the privacy of your own bathroom.

Another bulimia side effect is swollen cheeks and skin along the jaw line. Forcing yourself to throw up several times a day bursts tiny blood vessels in your face. This leads to a chubby looking face. Many bulimics throw up as soon as they eat a meal. After you eat your food, it takes three hours for your meal to go from your stomach into your intestines. Your intestines absorb all the calories. As long as your food is inside of your stomach you will not be getting any calories, fat, or sugar from it. To keep facial puffiness to a minimum, cut back on the number of times you vomit throughout the day. Keep in mind that you have three hours to vomit after a meal. Throwing up every hour is unnecessary.

Without food you won't get any vitamins or nutrients into your body. Bulimia causes under eye circles and hair loss. You will look unhealthy and tired. Your body will begin to eat it's own muscle tissue to nourish itself. Your muscles burn calories so losing weight by going bulimic just doesn't work. You will remain the same weight while losing any muscle tone you have.

Use a good concealer to hide under eye circles. Pack a few cubes of ice in a hand towel and hold them over your eyes for ten minutes for a quick fix for puffiness. Hair loss is unavoidable but can be aided by taking multivitamins. Just don't throw them up! Give your multivitamins at least three hours to travel out of your stomach and into your intestines.

Heartburn is a nasty little bulimia side effect. There is a little muscular valve where your stomach and esophagus meet. This valve opens to let food pass from the esophagus into the stomach. Once the food has passed through, it folds shut to keep the stomach acid out of your esophagus. Forcing yourself to throw up constantly weakens this valve muscle. It becomes loose and ineffective when you abuse it each day by forcing it to open the wrong way. This allows stomach acid to travel freely into your esophagus when you lay down. Stomach acid will erode your esophagus and cause heartburn. This will eventually lead to your esophagus collapsing.

There is no way to avoid weakening the valve muscle that keeps your stomach acid out of your esophagus. You can alleviate heartburn symptoms by taking Tums or Rolaids regularly. Antacids neutralize the stomach acid which causes less damage to your delicate esophagus lining. This is by no means a cure to heartburn, but will help slow down the damage and kill most of the pain.

Bulimia side effects can be avoided altogether if you just stop being bulimic! I know by experience how hard it is to stop. Bulimia is more of a psychological disease than a physical one. In a desperate attempt to be thin you believe that not eating will make you lose weight. This is not true. The only way to lose weight is to diet and exercise. Our bodies are built for survival. They adapt very quickly. Once your body realizes that it is not getting any food, it clings onto your stored fat cells to use for energy since it isn't getting any energy from food.

If you are not ready to quit then you can at least avoid some of the worst bulimia side effects. As a former bulimic, I highly recommend that you stop your bulimia as soon as possible before it kills you. Bulimia will not make you lose weight. Good old fashioned diet and exercise is the only effective way to get thinner and healthier.