Eating Disorder Or Something Else?

Question

One of my friends has been worrying me lately. She never ate much before but lately it seems to me that she is not eating much at all. And she is drinking a lot of coffee. I mention this to her telling her I am worried that she is drinking too much coffee and not eating enough and she says she needs the coffee because she does not sleep at night. She also gets migraines which I guess I dont understand how serious they are but it seems like every week she has a migraine and when she does she will not eat at all. Does having a migraine cause one to not want to eat? Other symptoms I have noticed is that she has been losing weight. I also asked her about this and she denys she has lost weight. I know she has because all of her clothes just hang off her now. Someone please help. I dont know what to do. I am very worried about her and want to help but I dont know what to do, or even if I have something to worry about. COuld it just be her migraine and insomnia or could it be something more serious?

Answer 1

She sounds anorexic to me

Answer 2

I agree with Lil Bit. She sounds like she has an eating disorder and

it trying to hide it. Also she may not even realize she has lost

weight. I understand those people look at themselves and see only an extremely fat person when the rest of us see a skeleton. It is all

part of the disease.

Answer 3

The migraines could be causing loss of appetite, but It is rather 'iffy' that she is denying weight loss, well depending on how obvious it is.

Drinking coffee is a way or someone with an eating disorder to aid weight loss, the more coffee they drink the more full they feel and they arent eating. It also increases motabolism.

Insomnia is a symptom of depression which could be either causing an eating disorder or a symptom of an eating disorder.

My advice is to tell someone, she may not like it, and she may do all she can to hide or cover things up, but its better to be safe than sorry.

The longer it goes on for the harder it is to stop and the higher the chance of relapse.

Other symptoms to look out for, is constant coldness, hair loss, paleness,  dizzy spells, tiredness, excessive excercising... and also if it is an eating disorder she may be purging, either through vomitting, excessive excercizing or 'spit and chew'

Look on the internet for the full list of symptoms to look out for.

Also, if you are still unsure if it is or isnt an eating disorder (which can only really be determined by a healthcare professional) just dont get angry, you cannot force anything upon someone when they do not want it. Try to advise her parents on this too.

I could go on forever with advice so ill stop there.

CATS MOTHER- someone with 'anorexia' may not nessesarily see themselves as fat but it is what the public thinks anorexia is on the surface, but there are dozens of reasons for it, control reasons being the most predominent