Bulimia - Treatments
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Bulimia is a condition that leads to problem eating. If you have bulimia you worry a lot about the way your body looks and about how much you weigh. But you also crave food and binge on huge meals. Afterwards you might make yourself sick, take laxatives or water pills (pills that make you urinate a lot), or exercise obsessively so that you don't put on any weight.
Admitting that you have a problem and asking for help may be the hardest step. But there are many good treatments for bulimia. They can help you feel better and eat normally again, even if you've had bulimia for a long time.
Key points about treating bulimia
- There are two treatments for bulimia: psychotherapy and medicines. You may be offered one or both of these.
- Cognitive behaviour therapy is one of the best psychotherapy treatments for bulimia. About half the people who have this treatment stop bingeing.
- Antidepressants can help, especially if you have both depression and bulimia. But they have side effects, which can be serious.
- A drug called topiramate also seems to help people with bulimia.
- Combining cognitive behaviour therapy and antidepressant drugs also works. But it may not work any better than cognitive behaviour therapy or antidepressants on their own. There's no research on combining topiramate and cognitive behaviour therapy.
To find out more, see How bulimia is treated.
Treatments for bulimia
Which treatments work best? We've carefully weighed up the research and put the treatments into the following categories. You can find out more by clicking on the links below.
For help in deciding which treatment is best for you, see .
Treatments that are likely to work
- Cognitive behaviour therapy: You talk to a therapist who is trained in this kind of therapy. You meet regularly to talk about your problems with food and how to solve them. The aim is to help you find positive ways to think about yourself and about food. When you can do that, you'll be able to enjoy eating normally. More...
- Antidepressants: The antidepressant usually used to treat bulimia is fluoxetine (brand name Prozac). Some other antidepressants (and their brand names) that have been studied in people with bulimia include amitriptyline (Elavil) and imipramine. More...
- Antidepressants plus cognitive behaviour therapy: You meet with a therapist regularly, and you take an antidepressant every day. More...
- Topiramate: Topiramate is drug that's usually used to treat epilepsy. There's some research that shows it can also help people with bulimia. Its brand name is Topamax. More...
Treatments that need further study
- Self-help cognitive behaviour therapy: This is a kind of psychotherapy where you treat yourself at home by following instructions from a book. More...
- Other types of psychotherapy: You meet regularly with a therapist who is trained in one of the other kinds of therapy (not cognitive behaviour therapy). Some therapists might focus on painful emotions, difficult relationships or eating, while others use techniques like hypnosis to help you stop binge eating. More...
Glossary
- hypnosis
- Hypnosis is a relaxed state of mind people can be put into through a technique called hypnotism. Hypnosis may make you more suggestible, which means you are more easily persuaded to do something the hypnotist suggests. Hypnosis can be used by trained therapists to try and help improve people's health: for example, by helping them stop smoking.
© 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.
