No longer a young disease: Eating disorders in older women.
Once thought of as a disease primarily affecting teenagers and young women, eating disorders are increasingly being seen in women in their 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond.
As women are feeling increased pressure to maintain a youthful façade, and seeing women like Madonna and Sharon Stone turn or pass 50 without a wrinkle, they feel the same pressures as women half their age.
Add to this the stress of divorce, menopause, middle-aged weight gain and empty nest syndrome; eating disorders can become a way for women to feel like they are in control.
"Some have struggled with these problems for 20 years or more ... for others, it seems to start at menopause, or when there is loss of spouse, a crisis," says David Herzog, MD, director of the Harvard Eating Disorders Program at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
"We see women become anorexic while trying to lose pregnancy weight," he tells WebMD. "It can even start during the pregnancy, this struggle with weight issues. The women become obsessed with body image, they've been on a series of diets and weight-loss programs. But at some point, the wish to lose weight becomes overwhelming, an obsession."
Much is due to our "culture of extremes," Herzog says. "We tend to not do things in moderation. That's where [these women] get into difficulty. There is no middle ground. They want to be perfect. They don't want to be average." “
Source:
http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/anorexia-nervosa/features/anorexia-is...
Another problem is that while a teen may be forced into rehab for her disorder, it’s a lot more difficult to stage a confrontation or intervention with a grown woman.
WebMD has a list of signs (aside from obvious weight loss )that may signal someone has an eating disorder
• A dramatic change in eating patterns
• Declining invitations to dine socially
• Often leaving the table for the bathroom
• Severe change in mood.
Source : http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/anorexia-nervosa/features/anorexia-is...
Another source for people looking for help is The National Eating Disorders Association at www.nationaleatingdisorders.org
Tell Us
Are over or someone you know over the ‘usual’ age for eating disorders and find yourself dieting to extremes or obsessing with your weight? What triggered the obsession? How do you (or they) cope?
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This is a timely reminder as I'm at the age where my friends and family members are trying to shed extra baby weight. And I do think our culture of extremes and ultimately competition doesn't help as Dr. Herzog says.
In addition, there's a few symptoms related specifically to anorexia that you can take a look at here.
http://empowher.com/news/08/01/25/health-tip%3A-warning-signs-of-anorexia
Statistically, women outlive men and our society isn't very forgiving to older women. Would that we could all have the advantages of personal chefs, trainers and estheticians, a worry-free lifestyle, be surrounded by people we love and who love us -
and by ads of maturing "real" women as the model of beauty.
I've struggled with food issues, anorexia and compulsive over-eating since age 12 (after being molested by my father). Then, due to the stresses of life's circumstances, I developed full-blown, out-of-control bulimia at age 44. That was 2 years ago. I'm "better" today, but still struggle.
When I began keeping food down, I immediately gained weight (40 pounds!). Now I'm at the point where none of my clothes fit, I feel extremely uncomfortable, physically. I feel so FAT. So, I catch myself easily falling back into my old routine that I know so well: Starving myself for a day or two, then binge eating and throwing up. (I'm what is called a "restrictive bulimic.) I used to not ever throw up anywhere except for at home. Now, it's progressed to throwing up in public restrooms.
I have a wonderful counselor, who is a recovered anorexic herself. She keeps telling me that I need to go back and see my nutritionist (someone she recommended 2 years ago who specifically treats eating disorders, and is also a recovered anorexic). I really see no point in going back to the nutritionist. I know what I should be doing, how I should be eating.
I starve myself, especially on the weekends when I'm not on a routine during the work week. I'm afraid that if I start eating, I'll never stop. It's hell.
Shelley
Hi, Shelley. I'm so glad you found EmpowHer.
Bulimia is seductive, isn't it? It seems so easy -- eat what calls to you, but don't suffer the consequences of the calories. The throwing up isn't fun, but it's over quickly, and with it comes that rush of still being "clean," of not having "ruined" what the starving got you.
But you know that it leads nowhere good. Those 40 pounds are hated, I know. I know what it's like to have your clothes not fit well, to look in your closet for SOMETHING to wear that looks and feels good and to come out with only OK or poor choices. It's depressing and it's not a good moment for self-caretaking. It's a moment for fast choices that seem to lead to the promised land -- the way we used to look/feel.
But the bulimia makes you feel bad about yourself. In addition, it can hurt your teeth and gums, make you tired and dehydrated, give you anemia and indigestion, abnormal bowel function and menstrual irregularities. Your body is not meant to function as an eating and purging machine. I know you know this and that it still is hard to even think about eating without purging. But you have to think about it. You're hurting yourself badly here.
What happened two years ago that got this going? Can you talk about that a little?
Did you know that there are studies going on about what's different in a bulimic's brain than a "normal brain?" One of the differences is the level of seratonin, which can be treated with anti-depressants that help your brain pick up the levels of that chemical. (Do you think you are suffering from depression? The links between bulimia and depression may surprise you.) You might ask your counselor about this:
http://www.empowher.com/news/2009/01/06/brains-bulimia-patients-wired-di...
Because those chemical things, they're just not our fault, you know? If our chemistry is off, we're off. Plain and simple. I have ADD. The chemistry and structure of my brain is different than that of a person who doesn't have ADD. Must I have medicine to function? No, but I tell you what: My world is completely different with the medicine. I can tell, when I take it, that I need it. Am I happy about needing to take a medicine for life? No, I'm not, but I'm very happy that I've found something that helps me succeed on a daily basis. It might be the same for you. (And if you don't want to consider meds, exercise helps enormously to bring up your seratonin levels. Do you have a chance to exercise at all?)
It sounds like you have a wonderful counselor, and that's so important. I think it's also important that she knows what it's like to have an eating disorder. Can't you go to the nutritionist out of simple trust for your counselor? Yes, you know that the nutritionist will tell you to eat lean foods, small amounts, fish, chicken, vegetables, fruit and whole grains, and to drink water and exercise. Boring boring boring. But what's not boring is this: Feeling Back In Control of Yourself.
Right now, you actually feel like you have control, but you don't. In those moments when you're making yourself throw up, you have zero control. In those times when you're binging, you have no control. And it doesn't feel good, and it hurts you mentally and physically.
Your nutritionist knows the psychological side of an eating disorder as well as the nutrition side, and I think that's amazing. Could you just make one appointment, to go and tell her that you've fallen off the wagon and you're not sure how to get back on? That you know how you should be eating but that you aren't doing it? I am guessing that not only will she not judge you, she might be able to throw you a life preserver in terms of your fear that "if you start eating you'll never stop."
It IS hell, you are right. I'm so sorry you're going through it. Please write back to us at EmpowHer. We're here for you, whether you're eating or not, whether you feel in control or not. Please update us on what you're thinking and what's going on that makes this cycle so hard to break.
I am SO glad that more and more articles are showing what so many have already known. While in treatment (a few times), I knew multiple women who were 40+ years old (up to their mid-60s). It really isn't as rare as people would think!