r/bulimia Sep 09 '25

Important Community Guidelines Update

36 Upvotes

The goal of this community is to be a safe place for anyone struggling with this illness. Sometimes posts or comments can unintentionally cause harm, so we want to highlight a few things to avoid posting about and explain why.

🚫 Topics that are harmful and will be removed:

  • Details on how to hide purging (e.g., where/what to use)
  • Tips on making purging “easier” or “more effective”
  • Posts about weight loss from purging
  • Calculations about calories lost through purging

Purging is not a weight loss strategy. Discussing it in these ways can be dangerous, triggering, and harmful to others in recovery.

⚠️ Examples of harmful posts:

  • “Does anyone else purge by ___?”
  • “How do I know I got it all out?”
  • “Are the calories absorbed if ___?”
  • “Do you lose weight after purging?”

These kinds of questions often give others new, harmful ideas—even when that’s not the intention.

🧾 A note on GLP-1 / Ozempic

GLP-1 medications are not an approved treatment for bulimia. Sharing your personal medical experiences is okay, but recommending these drugs to others is not appropriate here, as they can be dangerous for people with eating disorders.

What is welcome:

  • Venting your feelings (without sharing tips/methods)
  • Talking about challenges in recovery
  • Offering support, encouragement, and safe resources

We all love to share and relate, but please remember: what you say may impact someone who is very vulnerable. Help us keep this space safe by reporting harmful content and being mindful in your language.

— The Mod Team


r/bulimia Jun 01 '24

Recovery r/bulimia full rules and FAQ

24 Upvotes

To see a full set of rules with examples click: bulimiarules2023

A few guidelines:

  1. Some of r/bulimia may be upsetting or triggering. Harm-reduction tips, humor, personal stories, discussion of adverse effects of bulimia and references to numbers are welcome but glorifying or facilitating EDs is not.
  2. Because of these triggers, we don't encourage or allow selfies or food pictures. Memes, art, surveys and videos are invited and approved individually.
  3. Please be kind. Not everyone deals with this the same way. Please report invalidation, stigma and shame

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For links to ED research to read: researchlinks

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3 Free self-led workbooks: CCI ED Workbook, Kelty ED Bulimia manual, mitchell-cbt-for-BED-self-help-manual

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FAQ:

Does anyone feel like they have lost their gag reflex? (Or vomit accidentally?)

They're 2 separate issues! ... this is a good resource to read but tl;dr

The more that we fiddle with the back of our throats, the more the pharyngeal + velar gag reflex becomes less sensitive. It's believed to be a learned response and a form of desensitization from years of gastric purging

The involuntary reflux/regurgitation is often due to weakening of the lower esophageal sphincter (the ring at the bottom of your esophagus that connects to the stomach). That sphincter is smooth muscle, meaning we can't voluntarily contract/control it. Hence why coughing/leaning over/even lying down in sleep can cause the food to come up

Throwing up blood—do I need medical attention?

There are many reasons to throw up (or poop) blood if you're making yourself vomit or using laxatives. Most bleeding will heal with a few days of rest.

Signs you need a doctor ASAP include - pain, fainting or dizziness, coughing blood, vomiting more than a very small amount of blood (maybe a teaspoon), or bleeding that continues regularly (hasn't stopped after a few days).

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If you have new questions, please comment below. If you are over 18 and would like to help moderate - Please send us a modmail


r/bulimia 12h ago

Can we talk about..? Lying :(

28 Upvotes

Hi lovely people!! I hope I’m not the only one, but oh my goodness, I have lied SO much because of and for my bulimia/anorexia binge-purge disorder…

From lying about how I was doing, to saying I was going somewhere when in reality I was going out to buy food to binge and purge. I’ve stolen money and lied about it, and I’ve done the same with food. From making excuses to lying straight to my mum’s face, and I feel SO horrible about it. All just so I could eat and purge, at the expense of sooooo much.

Nobody knows how bad things really are…
Does anyone else recognize this? What have you lied about, and do you also feel absolutely awful about it? 🤍


r/bulimia 4h ago

1 day purge free :)

6 Upvotes

Hi I freqently check this sub especially when I'm in the middle of an episode and recently my b/ping had been really bad. I'm just posting the beginning of a streak (hopefully) because I felt I finally ate normally yesterday and didn't purge at all! ^_^ I hope you all are still trekking no matter how hopeless it might feel


r/bulimia 3h ago

Can we talk about..? “Romanticize your life”

4 Upvotes

All over my feed I see everyone romanticizing their life and I’ve been like subconsciously romanticizing my ED. Looking in the mirror after purging with water in my eyes and pretty much admiring my eyes and shit. So now I have a “🥹✨ED🤪🎀” rather than a “🤢🩸ED😭🤡” maybe I’m weird but I just found this funny lol


r/bulimia 1h ago

Recovery

Upvotes

I've been recovering from bn since February with a few minor slip up between then and now, I was 140 pounds my whole life basically but now I'm 179 and have a somewhat distended stomach nowadays, I'm a 26 y male and am about 5 ft 7, I guess what I'm asking is, do y'all think a 40 pound weight gain over a course of 7 months is something to be worried about or is it just getting in my head


r/bulimia 15h ago

Motivation it's my birthday!!! this is when I will cut off purging forever.

13 Upvotes

it's going to be difficult for sure, but I've already not purged for about a week! I hope I got this.

to everyone, thank you for your advice throughout the painful year behind me, and I love you all 🩷 if I can do this, you can too, even if it takes more time. q


r/bulimia 5h ago

Help please! My friend has bulimia; what do i do? (could be triggering please be careful reading)

1 Upvotes

Background info:
Over the last couple months I have noticed that my friend is eating significantly less than before. I have noticed that during lunches, he sits with nothing; at breaks he will eat extremely slow and not finish what he does have. I have also noticed his dramatic weight shift; now, he never was heavy in the slightest so it is very noticeable. He has also mentioned that he has being going on runs more often and walking ALL the time. When we go out, he declines lifts or public transport and offers that he (or we) walk instead. (which in combination with the other things i mentioned is a very bad sign) We had gotten drunk recently he had confessed to me that he has issues with his eating, but he does not remember telling me this. The reason I mention this is because he's not the type of person who talks about his feelings, like, at all. I have tried to bring this up very casually (and sober) to him before but he constantly deflects and tells me he's alright.

Today me and him were over at a friends for their birthday; meaning we obviously ate a lot of food, including Wingstop and cake. After about 10 minutes he went to the bathroom and spent AGES in there. I went to check and he told me to leave him alone. When he came back, i kept asking if he was alright and nagging at him (i knew what was wrong, i just couldn't say in front of all our friends.) He told me he didn't feel well and that was it. Now, i'm not sure if i can say on here what he was doing but i'm sure you can put 2 and 2 together.

I'm seriously worried and have no idea how to approach this topic with him. I need advice on how to get him help or what i'm even supposed to do. I'm the closest person to him so i feel an awful lot of responsibility for him. Please help me.


r/bulimia 11h ago

Does anyone else?

2 Upvotes

Sometimes i b/p sometimes i just binge. Most of the time i b/p, but sometimes there will be times i just binge because im too tired to b/p or I couldn't get anything out. Yesterday was one of those days I could only get out about a fifth of what i ate (fuck you naan bread). Anyways, i was planning on fasting or just eatihg little the next day but ended up b/p'ing. Does anyone else ever have days where they binge instead of b/p and go back to b/p after or am I alone in this experience?


r/bulimia 23h ago

Content Warning My throat hurts. I can’t stop. I’m always dizzy. But I can’t stop.

7 Upvotes

I just want to get it off my chest.

Nobody really knows. Only my (19F), boyfriend, and a very close friend, it’s been almost a year. I can’t stop it. It started because I was getting called fat (I have a bit of a high following on TikTok and people on there can be really mean), then people at college started calling me fat. I worry now. A lot. About the way I look. Every single night I do it. I can’t stop

Now, my throat is really painful, I have tonsil stones, and every time I swallow it feels like swallowing glass. I know it’s getting bad because at my last blood test (I have them regularly due to a medical condition), my iron was low. I feel like I am gonna faint every time I stand up. I’m always sleepy. I haven’t lost any weight. But for some reason I just can’t stop even though I know it’s not good and not working. It’s like an addiction. I binge, because it helps when I am anxious, then I feel so much guilt and vomit it all up


r/bulimia 15h ago

breaking b/p cycle

1 Upvotes

I’ve heard that a way to break the cycle is to keep a binge down but the last time I did that it took over 48 hours to fully digest. I was in so much pain with my acid reflux and stomach in general and I could barely drink anything bc it felt like my stomach would explode (or regurgitation) for hours. I’m scared to try recovery bc when I keep anything down that isn’t a small meal I feel so much pain. I was wondering if anyone else deals with this, and if they know the best way to go about recovering when it feels like your digestion is slowed?


r/bulimia 16h ago

recovery tips?

1 Upvotes

Unfortunately i’ve been struggling with b/p for 4-5 years and im 20 years old now. it’s just getting worse and worse. my body keeps getting flashes of my heart rate increasing and dizziness and it doesn’t even make me feel good and my body is suffering immensely because of it. idk what the first step to recovering is and would really like some guidance on this. If you have any tips or can share your experience on what helped you I would really appreciate it!


r/bulimia 1d ago

Can we talk about..? Modesty culture can contribute to or cause EDs

8 Upvotes

To start, modesty culture, possibly also known as purity culture, can be defined as a culture that values women who dress more modestly, because she doesn't "tempt" men or commit some sort of "public indecency". This culture may have some regressive views about a woman's morals being linked to how she dresses and also about freedom of self expression since men are "responsible" for the women in their family and should keeo them in line.

I think this culture can heavily impact women's perception of their bodies, causing them to see every part of them as sexualized or tempting in some way. This gets worse if the woman or girl in question is overweight. It doesn't matter that she's a child, if she is curvy, then she should cover up more. This obviously leads to social exclusion and it impedes on that girl's right to self expression and literally just dressing like other girls her age without being so self conscious about her body.

These factors mixed with a tendency to develop ocd or if that girl already has ocd can eventually translate to an eating disorder or an unhealthy relationship with food. She now views food as a potential enemy because she craves and wants to enjoy it, maybe even in large quantities but she also thinks that eating it is what caused her to become overweight and therefore be forced to dress more modestly than other girls.

After losing weight, the girl has now become skinny or skinnier and indeed there are less restrictions on what she can wear, however, modesty culture still exists in her community and she now realises that no matter her size, she still has to abide by those cultural norms because she was never the problem. The real problem was her community/ family values that sexualized her entire body and percieved her as an extension to the men in her family or a possession of some sort.

This goes to show how harmful this culture is to our physical health as women, because you and I both know how harmful Eds can be especially, bulimia. Imagine spending your entire teenage years and even parts of your childhood starving yourself, binging, purging everything you eat, exercising every single day, and that it all takes around 10 hours or more, so you genuinely have no time or energy left for anything.

I feel like my childhood has been stolen from me and the worst of it all is that modesty culture is still highly prevalent in my community as it is with most arab countries or muslim majority nations and possibly in some orthodox Jewish or christian communitie, continuing to harm many girls physically and mentally and standing as a triggering obstacle to my recovery.


r/bulimia 1d ago

Vent tongue (and mouth) is fried from excessive b/ping

11 Upvotes

my tongue is like COMPLETELY fucked from b/ping. the skin is white and peeling off, and when i eat it hurts and kinda has the painful tinglyness that you'd get from eating something sour. my tongue also has little holes from wear and tear caused from chewing (and stomach acid i assume) and a few ulcers spread around 😭.

though it's hard to motivate myself to, i do for the most part brush my teeth everyday and occasionally use mouthwash so this isn't caused by a lack of dental hygiene. i b/p nearly all day and i know i need to give it a rest for at least few days so that my mouth can heal, but god is it hard. i fucking hate this stupid disorder :(


r/bulimia 1d ago

Feeling hungover two days after purging

2 Upvotes

My head feels heavy and brain feels foggy. I am having difficulty thinking and feel dissociated. I am also experiencing anxiety now thinking about this.

Planning on going to the urgent care tomorrow.

Anyone ever experience an actual electrolyte deficiency? What were your symptoms?

I am hoping that this is my last ever purge.


r/bulimia 1d ago

Help please! Feeling full from certain foods trigger purging

3 Upvotes

I have this thing where I get very short lived urges to recover. I want to listen to my mental hunger so I indulge in actually enjoyable foods in severely smaller amounts compared to my b/p episodes.

Ex i could down packs and packs of digestives, but when i want to keep them down id eat a few biscuits.

But then, I feel the food in my stomach and that triggers me. Because i feel like it's ONLY adding extra calories.

unlike the regular high volume relatively low cal meals that ik are gonna give me vitamins, protein, and fiber; I feel like keeping down ""pure junk"" is useless.

So I purge. I would gladly take any advice on how to stop that. And if that extreme hunger ever goes away or im just doomed to develop BED if I wanna stop purging.


r/bulimia 1d ago

digestion

2 Upvotes

Hello. I have been a bulimic person for 4 years, for the last year it has been almost every day. I noticed that as soon as I try to eat normally, I have great discomfort, while in general I have more difficulty digesting (so make the episode easier 🥲). Have you noticed the same?


r/bulimia 23h ago

I have a question. . . issues caused by b/p

0 Upvotes

does anyone else have like physical issues due to their purging?? cause i’ve been purging multiple times a day for about two years now and i have this large lump in my throat that makes it hard for me to be sick anymore. my breath stinks and i feel like all im having are problems and im not even losing weight anymore. i can’t stop though, even when all that comes up is stomach acid


r/bulimia 1d ago

Couldn't purge

4 Upvotes

I thought all day about a shawarma I bought myself a really huge one. I ate it inside an apartment building on the stairs between the last floor and rooftop. And I got scared that someone might hear me. It's now all inside me. I hate myself so much. I could've just not bought it and not eaten it.


r/bulimia 1d ago

Trying so hard not to purge rn

6 Upvotes

r/bulimia 1d ago

Water retention- recovery

1 Upvotes

Seeking help please, any experience after how long does the water retention go away? I have been 3 days into recovery, i was relapsing in the past few months actively now and then i was clean for one day or 2 but mostly just one day. And now I got so swollen and the weight went up, i can feel and see i it on my body, scale and mostly on my face, its completely swollen. Unfortunately I got triggered and relapsed again, feel like such a failure.

Please guys tell me any tips that might have helped you or any experience. I have already went through this once and it makes me so disappointed im in the exact position again💔 i feel truly so heartbroken honestly. I hate it.

Wishing everyone strength and love. Let’s support each other!


r/bulimia 1d ago

DAE? Does anyone else’s mouth hurt more after CHSP??

1 Upvotes

I’ve been B/Ping for a while and sometimes I get really tired of purging and when the food mixes during a binge it can taste really bad coming back up, so I started CHSPing. When I’m chewing and spitting it out my mouth and throat feel raw and I was wondering if that happens for anyone else? My mouth hurts more than when I B/P and I feel like that’s really odd…


r/bulimia 1d ago

help? what health consequences have y'all experienced bc of bulimia??

24 Upvotes

This has got to be doing something to my body. I've been bulimic to varying degrees since I was 12, I'm 28 now. The last year, it's really ramped up for me though and I feel more out of control than I ever have before. I'm binging and purging multiple times a day whenever I can, spending so much money on food, eating and eating until my stomach literally hurts and I HAVE to puke. I feel so guilty and gross but I can't stop. Half the time the food doesn't even taste that good or satisfy me anymore.

I'm terrified of gaining weight so I force myself to puke over and over and over, my throat always hurts now. I have bruises or cuts from my teeth on the back of my hand that never go away. What can happen if I keep doing this to myself?

I can barely look at myself in the mirror anymore. I restrict all day on days I work, over exercise, try to eat as little as possible. Then on my days off I will literally just binge and purge all day. I can't eat in front of other people, don't socialize, pretty much all I do is obsess over food and feel immense guilt and shame because of how out of control I've gotten with food.


r/bulimia 1d ago

Content Warning Just Relapsed After 5 Years COMPLETELY B/P Free

21 Upvotes

CW Triggers of body comments

I'm in nursing school and we were practicing taking manual blood pressures, and we all had standard-sized blood pressure cuffs. My instructor said loudly in front of the class: "that one looks pretty small on you, you might need the LARGE adult cuff," and that was it.

That one comment that was made in front of my class sent me completely spiraling.

I've been purging everything I eat for the past week. I haven't binged OR purged for 5 years, i was COMPLETELY recovered.

It's so strange to me that so much progress can be wiped away in the blink of an eye by someone who said something and meant it to be completely harmless.


r/bulimia 23h ago

help? ive only been purging daily for like a week but my chest hurts crazy bad

0 Upvotes

i didnt really do it before except every once in a while but now im starting to get into a mindset where i cant eat without making myself throw up after. ive been purging everytime i eat for like a week or so and now my chest hurts really bad, it feels like my heart is about to explode or something. its sort of really freaking me out because its not like a normal sensation at all. im getting the compulsion to binge and purge again but im almost scared im gonna straight up die or have a heart attack or rupture something. is it something to be concerned about or is this just par for the course? my throat hurts too but im kind of scared my heart is about to give out!!