Anorexia - What are the symptoms?
In this section
If you have anorexia, you probably know what the symptoms are. They have been a major part of your life for months or even years. And yet you may deny that you have a problem or you may think you can control it.
Here's a list of the physical signs and feelings you may have with anorexia.[1]
- You are very underweight for someone of your age and height. Your doctor might say that your body mass index (BMI) is too low. But you don't see why you need to put on weight.
- You eat very little, if at all, or only eat food that is low in calories.
- You fear putting on weight and becoming fat even though you are very thin.
- You feel fat even though people tell you how thin you are.
- You won't admit that you have a serious illness.
- If you're female, your monthly periods stop. This is because anorexia affects your hormones.
Things you may do if you have anorexia
Some people stop themselves from putting on weight by:[1]
- Exercising all the time
- Taking diet pills
- Starving themselves.
You may have tried one or all of these.
You may binge on large amounts of food, usually in secret. You might then make yourself vomit, use laxatives or take pills that make you lose water stored in your body to avoid putting on weight. Doctors call this purging. To learn more, see:
Bingeing and purging are also seen in people with other eating disorders, such as bulimia. But there are differences between people with anorexia and those with bulimia. The main one is that people with anorexia are very underweight. People with bulimia tend to be a normal weight. To learn more see Other eating disorders.
How your body may change if you get too thin
If you've had anorexia for a long time, you may also get other symptoms. As the lack of food starts to affect your body, you may:[1] [3] [4] [2] [5] [6] [7]
- Stop having periods, if you're female
- Feel tired and weak, and your muscles ache
- Get dizzy spells, feel short of breath and feel your heart beating hard (get palpitations)
- Have fine, downy hair on your body and face
- Get cold easily and often have cold hands and feet
- Start to lose your hair
- Get constipated
- Feel full and sometimes get stomach pains after eating only a little food
- Get dehydrated, which makes you feel thirsty, sick and exhausted
- Get dry, yellowish skin.
If you have severe anorexia, you may also:
- Show signs of starvation, including swollen limbs (called oedema by doctors) or a slow heartbeat, which can mean your heart isn't pumping blood around your body very well. This can make you feel tired or dizzy
- Sometimes shiver and not be able to stop, or have other signs of a low body temperature.
To find out more about the harmful effects of anorexia, see What anorexia can do to your body.
How your mood and emotions may change
Anorexia can cause all the physical symptoms listed above. But starving your body of food can also affect your mood and emotions. Here are some of the things that can happen.
- You may have problems concentrating and it can be hard to think straight. You may find it hard to remember things.
- You may feel very unhappy (depressed) and worried (anxious). Everyone feels like this once in a while, but not eating enough food makes these feelings worse.
- You have probably lost interest in sex or in having a relationship.
- You may feel suicidal or want to hurt yourself.
- You become obsessive about certain things, like keeping clean and tidy.
- You can't talk to other people about how you are feeling.
The damage vomiting can do
If you make yourself throw up after you've eaten, you may have other problems. Here are some of them.
- Your teeth may become discoloured: This is caused by the acid in vomit taking the enamel off your teeth. Acid also causes tooth decay. Any damage to your teeth is permanent.
- You may get heartburn: Vomiting all the time weakens a valve at the bottom of the tube that takes food from your mouth to your stomach (doctors call this tube your oesophagus). If the valve is weak, it allows stomach acid to splash up into the tube, causing heartburn.
- You may get rough patches of skin on your knuckles: You can get these if you use your fingers to make yourself sick.
If you think a friend or family member may have anorexia, see Worried someone close to you might have anorexia?
References
- Fairburn CG, Harrison PJ. Eating disorders. Lancet. 2003; 361: 407-416.
- Hobbs WL, Johnson CA. Anorexia nervosa: an overview. American Family Physician. 1996; 54: 1273-1279, 1284-1286.
- Institute of Psychiatry. A general practitioner's guide to eating disorders. 2004. Available at http://www.iop.kcl.ac.uk/IoP/Departments/PsychMed/EDU/GPguide.shtml (accessed on 24 January 2007).
- Moses S. Anorexia nervosa. January 2007. Family Practice Notebook. Available at http://www.fpnotebook.com/psy79.htm (accessed on 25 January 2007).
- American Academy of Family Physicians. Anorexia nervosa. April 2005. Available at http://familydoctor.org/063.xml (accessed on 24 January 2007).
- Fairburn CG, Brownell KD. Eating disorders and obesity: a comprehensive handbook. 2nd edition. Psychology Press, London, UK; 2002.
- Garner DM, Garfinkel PE. The Eating Attitudes Test: an index of the symptoms of anorexia nervosa. Psychological Medicine. 1979; 9: 273-279.
Glossary
- hormones
- Hormones are chemicals that are made in certain parts of the body. They travel through the bloodstream and have an effect on other parts of the body. For example, the female sex hormone oestrogen is made in a woman's ovaries. Oestrogen has many different effects on a woman's body. It makes the breasts grow at puberty and helps control periods. It is also needed to get pregnant.
- palpitations
- A palpitation is when you feel like your heart is beating very fast.
- constipated
- When you're constipated, you have difficulty passing stools (faeces). Your bowel movements may be dry and hard. You may have fewer bowel movements than usual, and it may be a strain when you try to go.
- dehydrated
- When you're dehydrated, you don't have enough fluid in your blood. This could be because you're not drinking enough or because you're losing water by sweating or having diarrhoea.
- oedema
- Oedema is the build-up of fluid in parts of your body. If people get oedema, they often get it in their feet, ankles or legs.
© BMJ Publishing Group Limited ("BMJ Group") 2007. All rights reserved
This information does not replace medical advice. If you are concerned you might have a medical problem please ask your Boots pharmacy team in your local Boots store, or see your doctor.
