Last night, at the EDH recovery group, we discussed the physical ramifications of having abused laxatives....Bloating & constipation are some of the uncomfortable results of coming off laxatives....What do y'all think about this topic? Any experience with recovery from laxative abuse to encourage others suffering through the consequences and coming off laxatives? Please be careful to share constructively and not pass on unhealthy tips to others who might be vulnerable to suggestion.
But, do share your experience and what has helped you to get past the abuse of laxatives....
thanks.
Jacquelyn
Thursday, July 14, 2005
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8 comments:
Well I guess I'll start off since I'm the laxative queen! ( I guess this isn't the most popular topic) Well, laxatives were a MAJOR part of my ED. I took them constantly and tricked myself into thinking it wasn't really ED behavior b/c I was just taking pills and then helping my body do what it naturally would be. I think it goes without saying that this is extremely unnatural and very damaging. But because of this delusional thinking, I have thought it would be ok to take laxatives in recovery, b/c it didn't seem as violent or bad as purging and/or starving. This again was untrue and only damaging. I don't really know how I've had some amount of recovery from Laxative abuse, other thatn talking to people about it. Hetting the secrets out. Reading about the damage it truly does to your body, and trying as hard as I can to stop the behavior. On an interesting side note, my brother, who I'm staying with, and I had a long talk about EDs yesterday. He actually went through a bulimic stage, due in part to watching me, during high school, and he told me that he also abused laxatives, but was able to stop once he realized his body was no longer =functioning on its own. Ok, this has been so long and boring, I'm sorry! But I miss you guys. NYC is going well, hanging out here with the health nuts (my brothers), and it hasn't been too much yet. I've been going to lots of meetings and doing yoga, but I miss you guys! I'll see you soon. Please post guys! I'd love to hear how everyone is doing!
Much love,
Megan*
Thanks for commenting, Meagan and Amanda. You both bring up very good points!
Both of you exhibit strong recovery motivation and actions!
Jacquelyn
laxatives are dangerous and scary. I read about a lady who had to have a colostomy as a result of abusing laxatives. Not worth it. They don't prevent caloric absorption anyhow, as most of the effect of the laxatives happens at the lower end of the intestines(so I hear).
Hi Amanda,
Thank you for bravely sharing your experience. I know a lot of individuals that have struggled with laxative abuse as part of their eating disorder. It is a tough habit to break, and yet the sooner one does, the sooner one's body can begin healing. I admire your being honest with your therapist about your struggles with this issue, and it sounds like you are really wanting to get past this chapter in your life, go on to college, and continue to bloom into the beautiful young woman that God has created you to be........all without the ball and chain of an eating disorder holding you back. You can do this!
J.
I am back everyone....kinda. I am in day treatment program at the hospital and I stay in a hotel overnight and the hotel has internet. So I am back kinda. I miss you all so much. I have my cell phone back too. My potassium is still out of control but insurance thinks I can do this on a day patient basis and get hocked up everyday to an IV. It stinks but oh well what can I do. I miss you all so much. Thanks for all the support.
Jeanette
I had my colon removed over ten years ago from laxative abuse. When they took the main ingredient out of EXLAX and swiped them off the shelves, my colon never worked again. For five months, nothing moved. They tried everything, but they had to remove it. Even after all of that I sill tried abusing them again after surgery. I felt stupid going through all that so I never did it again.
I had an ileostomy after decades of laxative abuse. I now have a bag. It was a drastic solution but my colon had lost the ability to function without large quantities of senekot. I advise anyone abusing laxatives to stop before it is too late.
I am one of those people. I started abusing laxatives when I was 14, and took a ton of them. I also vomited. I quit for a little while in high school, but when I went away to college, my laxative abuse went into overdrive. I hated taking them, because they made me feel so sick, but I would take them anyways, because it made me lose 10 pounds overnight. I knew that it was just water weight, but I figured since the human body is like 90% water, that was good enough for me. After abusing them for a little while (while still in high school) I developed rectal bleeding and stomach pain. I was diagnosed with colitis. I stopped using the laxatives at that time, and my symptoms went away. I stopped my colitis meds after awhile with no problems. Then in college, when I started back up, I wasn't having bleeding that I could tell, but I became anemic. I tried to quit laxatives, but ended up using them sporadically until after I had my colon removed. I now have an ileostomy. I used laxatives once after the surgery, and it made me sick, but no weight loss. I can't guarantee that I would not have developed colitis without abusing laxatives, anything is possible, but I know there is a link in my case.
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