# Eating Disorders and IBS



## Lindsay Nicole (Nov 17, 2006)

Do any of you have IBS as a result of an eating disorder? If so, do you feel like your IBS makes your depression and ed-related feelings worse?


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## 14240 (Nov 17, 2006)

hey- I've suffered from disordered eating for about 5 years now and I was just recently diagnosed with IBS. I'm miserable all the time and find that my problems with food only get worse because I don't feel good or I feel bloated. Its a horible cycle since the bloating, constipation, and pain make me feel so disgusting that I feel like I need to slip back into old habits. The doctor has never come out and told me my eating probelms caused the IBS, but I began having the symptoms of IBS when getting depressed or stressed with school and obsessed with eating. Also I'm pretty sure by not eating certain food I have changed the chemistry of my stomach. I hope this helps -let me know if you have found anything methods that help . Good luck


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## 20120 (Nov 20, 2006)

yes.basically, ive always had the problem of extreme bloating..but of course, i just used to think of myself as being fat..even though the rest of me is really small.it eventually caused me to become bulimic, and i stayed that way for a few years (loving that it gave me a stomach as flat as a pancake) until 2months ago, when i started my recovery.now, im bloating more than ever.and yes, it has a huge impact on my feelings ans self esteem..to suddenly put on 40lb, but have your body look ok, except this stomach where you look more than pregnant all the time..is killing me.its my worst nightmare come true..and its a battle every second of everyday not to rid myself of everything..not to take out a knife and cut my stomach out.ive tried so many things..but seriously, if nobody can solve the problem, i will go back to old habits...i was certainly happier then than i was now.


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## Lindsay Nicole (Nov 17, 2006)

yea... so i have had an ed for.... forever it feels like. i was in patient spring of '04 and when i was discharged i started having severe stomach problems that have beennow diagnosed as IBS... i hate it more than anything.... i'm still in "recovery" so-to-speak but my old restricting ways have definitely not vanished... but because of it, my stomach gets really bad... excrutiating, doubled-over-in-pain, bad and since eating only makes it worse, it only perpetuates my ed thoughts... the only thing that helps the pain is smoking weed.... but then i get the munchies and the cycle continues. i feel so alone with my debilitating pain that keeps me out of work and nobody understands. there is such a big misconception that IBS "isn't a bug deal" which makes employers very hard to deal with... being that IBS is a diagnosis of exclusion always leaves thoughts in my head that maybe its something else, maybe they're missing something, but at this point the next step is a laparoscopy to rule out endometriosis but because of my extremely warped body image, i can't bear the thought of a scar. ughhhhh i just feel so helpless and frustrated.


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## malfunctioning (Nov 25, 2006)

these two problems have been one intwined mess in my life. i think it started off with the ibs problems, the bloating and especially constipation. the always irritating feeling in my stomach made it hard to judge whether i was hungry or not. bloating constantly made me think i was fat, i couldn't fit into clothes.so now i am fighting two very hard fights, hardest is the ibs because NOTHING will make it stop. i guess the bulimia is a coping mechanism, and when things are bad with my stomach i'll always revert to it.i wish there was more support out there. it's a very lonely feeling, no one understands ibs. explaining it is humiliating.it has been a hard time and i'm not sure how to deal with it or turn it into something positive.


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## 22599 (Nov 27, 2006)

I struggled with an eating disorder for 5 years of my life. I am not recovered from that, but deal with the ibs. Yes I feel I got ibs from the damage I caused my body, but know my body has to heal itself. I have low self-esteem due to how I feel most days and how bloated I get, but I realize that taking care of myself is so much more important, so it does not bother me as much. You can either let the eating disorders get worse because of the ibs, or cause you to want to heal your body. It is not fun...recovery is a long and hard process, but I am so much happier now with ibs than I was with both anorexia and bulimia.


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## 20120 (Nov 20, 2006)

thats really good, that youre happier now!!id love to say i am..but im just not.i cant cope with being so bloated all the time..and, because its not fat (the rest of me is small) theres NOTHING i can do...only the bulimia used to make my stomach flatten..i feel so out of control, and HUGE!but yeah...i aso feel bad because it does feel like i caused my body to be like this..we really hurt ourselves with ED's..but then again, i was like this before...i hate my body..it started this vicious cycle.


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## 22599 (Nov 27, 2006)

Yeah, the happiness I experience is wonderful. I am not saying I instantly got here. Along with working with getting the food right, I had to work with the emotions. Recovery is hard work. I found myself on the floor a lot crying my eyes out because I felt like I couldn't go on in this madness. And the thing is..recovery is hard...it is harder than staying in the muck and having a 'flat stomach' and being 'in control', but then you have to think "Is this all there is to life? Just superficial nonsense?" It is more important to take care of yourself. I guess I just got to the point of being so incredibly sick all of the time, that I had to do something or I was going to die. I have good days and bad days. I HATE that I am bloated and yes it does weigh a TON on my self-esteem...but I just throw on another sweatshirt and jeans and hide the evidence that I, once again, am not feeling good. Have hope though - eating disorders do terrible things for the gut, but it will go away...eventually. It takes time to reverse the damage that has been done, but it will come!


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