bulimia/eating disorders & PCOS

vivi1971 · 10-16-2003, 11:12 PM

Has anyone else suffered from eating disorders with this condition?I was bulimic from the time I was 15-23 (I'm now 31). My PCOS symptoms started around this time, and after reading Colette Harris's book, I see that the PCOS was triggered by the bulimia! That's when the hair loss, hair growth, depression, weight problems, joint pain, acne, etc. started. I never knew what was going on! Of course, doctors didn't know anything and any help that I have gotten has been through my own research. Has anyone else with this condition also suffered from eating disorders?

theflyingturtle · 10-16-2003, 11:19 PM

my mom and her sister both have eating disorders and i suspect they may be pcos--my aunt had trouble concieving and did invetros....my mom never ate and when she did she puked---but she is very munchausens and so medically and mentally complex that I have no clue what is real and what is false---I don't talk to her anymore but last i heard she was 70lbs (at 5'1) and they couldn't get a tube down her throat so it's in her stomach----like i said we don't talk, but i'm almost sure she has it

oohmercyme · 10-16-2003, 11:43 PM

I am in the middle of reading Harris's book and I can see the connection between PCOS and eating disorders. I am certainly not anorexic and I'm not bulemic, but I certainly have food issues and am a binge eater. I think the only thing that prevented me from being bulemic is I can't make myself throw up. Harris's book is the first place I have seen eating disorders mentioned. Makes ya think.

JaneR · 10-18-2003, 07:00 PM

I haven't read about that connection!! I knew that PCOS could cause binge eating sometimes (which I DEFINITELY suffer with) but didn't know it was also linked to other eating disorders.

I had bulimia from around age 22 to 30 (I'm now 37). it wasn't continual throughout the whole time, but always worse when I was feeling depressed.

I can't say that my PCOS symptoms started at the same time, they really started when I was between 14-15 so can't say that the bulimia was the cause, but it sounds like it could be the other way round.

denise26 · 10-18-2003, 07:06 PM

I had nonpurging bulimia, AKA Binge eating disorder, from the time I was 15 until I was in college, and I still struggle with binging occasionally.

I had not heard about that connection. Interesting.

ak82 · 10-18-2003, 07:27 PM

I suffered with bulimia and binge eating disorder for two years- I've been in recovery for a year now. I definitely think PCOS played a part in me developing an ED. I had gained a lot of weight quickly and starting dieting to lose the weight. The typical low fat, low calorie diet didn't work for me so I started starving myself because it was the only way I could lose weight (or so I thought at the time). Then since my insulin levels were so out of whack from not eating, I'd have huge sugar cravings and binge like crazy, so my dieting turned into a full blown ED. I'm not saying PCOS caused my ED because I also have the typical "ED personality", but I do think PCOS made it a heck of a lot worse! Maybe if a typical dieting had worked for me, I would never had started restricting... Who knows though

Cretia5080 · 10-22-2003, 05:42 AM

I am almost 100% sure that bulimia caused my PCOS. I have read that 70% of women with bulimia actually have PCOS...Many don't even know it. Interesting, huh?

Bekah1999 · 10-22-2003, 08:45 PM

In my teens, when my pco reared its ugly head, I started starving myself. I wanted to be a 'popular' girl on the cheerleading squad and they were all sooo thin, and I was about average I admit now. Plus my af was heavy and I had heard that women that train hard for sports stop having their af (and boy did I ever!). So, I started starving myself. This lasted for several years. The lowest I got was around 105lbs at 5'6". I would never puke, but I would eat a minimal dinner and then go in my room and run in place for an hour or so. My hips stuck out, my ribs, my arms were boney. Instead of looking better I looked worse. I have pics to prove it! So needless to say, this is an interesting idea.

scbegonias · 10-22-2003, 09:24 PM

I've heard about the link, but haven't read anything yet. I was bulimic from about 18-22. At my worst, the end of my senior year of college, I was about 105lbs at 5'6". It was pretty aweful...today this day I can still make myself purge on demand (I haven't done it but have been tempted)...I binged & purged, used laxatives, and was really anal about what I ate (I made most of my own food including what bread and pasta I ate).

Now that I think about it, the onset came after i first gained weight. I was always a skinny kid and very active. I continued being active in college, but the weight came on. To this day, when I get really frazzled, I can still feel those haunting thoughts...luckily, they easily slip away.

nancidotcom · 10-22-2003, 09:44 PM

I am embarrased to even type this ........... since nobody knows for sure... (ok my dentist) ... I was 170 freshman year of highschool at 5'3" that summer I lost 60 on WW from that day on .. I developed my disorder mainly bulimic or minimal eating the new look changed my life so I kept at it.... I still get the "feeling" but over the past several years of low carbing it had basically subsided currently I am holding at 129 and am ok with it .. I see pictures and I cringe at how bony I looked.. I never even knew there was a connection so thank you for informing me it will be my next research process.................................

daculadawg1 · 10-23-2003, 12:58 PM

who is harris? what book did she write?
i would like to read it.
thanks
linda mull

patti plummer · 10-25-2003, 01:25 AM

I have had an eating disorder since puberty but then again I have had PCOS since then. Did one contribute to the other--I think so. I am a recovering anoerxic, bulemic (purdged with excessive exercise) now just a compulsive binger.
I am hoping the MET helps with my binge cycles.
Patti

oohmercyme · 10-25-2003, 02:52 AM

Linda- It's Collette Harris. SHe wrote "The PCOS Diet Book" and "PCOS- A Woman's Guide to dealing with PCOS", as well as a book on PCOS and fertility.

Anne1978 · 10-25-2003, 07:33 AM

This thread is extremely interesting. I am a psychologist and I work in a clinic for girls with eating disorders. Personally, I haven't had an eating disorder so my pcos isn't connected to that. However, I have listened to the educational talk that the doctors give to the girls when they begin treatment at the clinic. One of the side effects of anorexia that the docs always mention is INCREASED ANDROGENS. I've always had the impression that they believe this side effect was reversible with weight gain, but now I wonder if there is a link with pcos???

I'm going to do some research!!!!!

Cretia5080 · 10-25-2003, 02:21 PM

Please keep us posted Anne...I have been thinking to myself...Here's what I believe, based on my research. (This is highly simplified here, but in a nutshell.) When we eat high carb foods, insulin pours out to assist with the transfer of the sugars into the cells. If a woman is bulimic, and vomits out all/most of the sugars ingested, the insulin levels are still high in the body; thus causing damage to various things, the ovaries among them. If the insulin has no need to be utilized, it can't just go back into the pancreas. Therefore, it acts in ways that are detrimental to the body. My PCOS did NOT start until many years of bulimia had taken a toll on my body...

My 2 cents, based on my nuring school research....