Affecting 1-2% of mostly young women, bulimia nervosa is an episodic, compulsive cycle of binging and purging - eating large quantities of food and then purging said food in ways such as induced vomiting or misuse of laxatives.
During a binging period, you might ingest high calorie food, often with a soft or smooth texture that may not even need to be chewed. These binges are often conducted in secret and are often only stopped by forces such as vomiting or social interaction. While pleasurable during, they may bring you to feelings of intense shame and depression.
In a purging period, you may rid your body of excess calories via inducing vomiting, abusing diuretics and laxatives, excessive exercise or fasting.
You may have a persistent worry over your personal appearance and how others perceive you. You may suffer from weight fluctuations due to the binge and purge cycles, however often bulimic individuals are within a normal weight range.
There is also a related disorder, binge eating, where you binge on foods like with bulimia nervosa, but do not purge.
Excessive vomiting and laxative abuse may lead to problems with dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. Gastric acid being brought up during vomiting may cause tooth decay. If you suffer from bulimia, you often will also have another mental health condition such as depression or anxiety.
