friends help: I have a friend who is suffering from anorexia her and I have - Help.com

Can’t you recover together? Just try to be envious of each other’s health instead of each other’s skinniness.

Well if it is either your health or your friendship, the only thing to do is choose your health. Their is no point in choosing friendship if it means you’ll both be hospitalized. You can get back in touch after you both get better.

Concerning your Anorexia:
 

It could help you to swap ideas with other anorectic people and to get support in one of this forums:

· http://www.whyeat.net/forum/forums/19…
· http://www.psychforums.com/anorexia-n…
· http://www.experienceproject.com/grou…
· http://www.eatingdisordersforum.com/s…

“Anorexia, Bulimia & Binge Eating (Expert Forum)”:
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Anorexi…

For U.S.: National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD):
http://www.anad.org

————————————————————

The health risk of Anorexia are serious:
• Acrocyanosis: bluish-red discolorations of the hands, feet and knees
• Low blood pressure symptoms: increased anxiety attacks, headache, fainting, iron deficiency symptoms, dehydration and more
• Livedo reticularis: the skin gets mottled in a bluish, purplish pattern
• Anemia symptoms: no longer enough existing, or healthy, red cells in the blood
• Low heart rate: starvation diets wreak havoc on the body by damaging the heart muscle — can lead to death
• Iron deficiency symptoms: Iron is a critical nutrient because it responsible for removing carbon dioxide, and carrying oxygen from the lungs to the rest of our bodies; once the body’s stored iron is depleted, this results in anemia, which can be fatal if not treated properly
• Dehydration symptoms: muscle cramps, especially in the legs and feet, headache, rapid heart beat, feeling nauseous, tingling sensation in hands and feet

Anorexia triggers can be suggestions, images, or events that cause, or perpetuate, anorexic thoughts and behaviors.
Anorexia triggers will vary from person to person, but here are five fairly common issues:
• Emotional issues - Not eating is a way to cope with painful or distressing emotions (anger, sadness, frustration)
• Weight Comments - “You look much better now”, “How’s your weight been?”
• Images - Skinny people, pictures of food
• Eating with others - Eeating with other people can made you feel like a pig. No matter what’s on the plate, it always seems like ten times as much as what everyone else have to eat.
• Exercise promotion - How often have you heard that diet and exercise go hand-in-hand? For some folks, exercise sets the wheel of anorexia in motion. In this case, it’s usually called a “diet”. A good number of people can handle this combination of healthy behavior in moderation, but for those with eating disorders, it’s a difficult - if not impossible - balance.

(Source: http://www.anorexia-reflections.com )