Addicted to Laxative Pills on Lose Weight Diets

Another Form of Eating Disorders, this is Dangerous Behaviour

Dec 13, 2006 Lori Henry

Becoming addicted to laxative pills on a lose weight diet is another form of an eating disorder. It's also very dangerous behaviour.

Guest author Andrea Roe tells us about being addicted to laxative pills on lose weight diets. Her eating disorders were further inflamed by this dangerous behaviour.

I struggled with an eating disorder for six long years and also abused laxatives during this time. I was addicted to laxative pills. For the longest time, I could not even imagine my life without them. I knew they did not help me lose weight, but somehow they were reassuring. Whenever I binged, I felt so ‘full’, ‘stuffed’ and ‘dirty’, and I used laxatives in order to feel ‘clean’, ‘pure’ and ‘empty’ again. I was obsessed with getting food out of my system as quickly as possible. Even though I was bulimic, I never threw up. I used other purging behaviors and laxative abuse was one of them.

I abused my body for many years with binging, fasting, over exercising, lose weight diets and laxative abuse. I don't even want to think about all that I have done to my body. To be honest, I consider myself lucky that I am still alive. Today, I am recovered and healthy. I am thankful for my body and I am grateful that it has not given up on me after so many years of severe abuse. I don’t take laxatives anymore. I am proof that it IS possible to get off of them.

Laxatives do NOT make you lose weight

Laxatives are not a way to control or lose weight. They do not remove food from your body before the calories are absorbed. The belief that laxatives are a way for losing weight is not true. It is simply a myth.

Laxatives remove a lot of water from your body, and this ‘water loss’ is often mistaken for ‘weight loss’. Your body not only loses a lot of water, which causes dehydration, it also loses essential minerals and electrolytes– and the mineral and electrolyte balance of your body gets upset. Electrolytes such as potassium, sodium, and magnesium are essential for your body. An electrolyte imbalance in the body is harmful and can lead to muscle pain, spasms, fainting spells, irregular heartbeat, and in some cases even death.

Laxatives are physically addictive. Over time your bowels forget how to work on their own.

Laxatives artificially stimulate nerve endings in your large bowel, which is also called the colon. Long term laxative abuse can damage your colon and eventually your colon may fail to function which causes constipation. Laxative abuse can lead to permanent damage of your bowels.

Laxative abuse is harmful for your body.

Being addicted to laxative pills is harmful for your body and, using them, you put your health and also your life in danger.

Laxative abuse not only causes electrolyte imbalances, dehydration, and constipation, it can also cause severe abdominal pain, nausea, colon infection, irritable bowel syndrome, internal organ damage, and even death.

If you have any specific questions, please get in touch with your doctor.

The copyright of the article Addicted to Laxative Pills on Lose Weight Diets in Eating Disorders is owned by Lori Henry. Permission to republish Addicted to Laxative Pills on Lose Weight Diets in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Addicted to Laxative Pills on Lose Weight Diets

What do you think about this article?

---

NOTE: Because you are not a Suite101 member, your comment will be moderated before it is viewable.

post your comment

What is 0+7?

22 Comments

Comments

May 12, 2008 10:40 AM

Guest :

This article was very helpful when writing my senior research paper! Thank you for your time and knowledge.

Aug 26, 2008 2:55 PM

Guest :

I am crying because you have just described me, but after reading both of your posts it has encouraged me to take that first step. Today is day one of the rest of my life and I am taking it back, I refuse to be a slave to food and laxatives,I am terrified that my colon has forgotten how to function. If anyone is reading this and has just begun laxative use - STOP NOW! Save yourself a lot of suffering!

Sep 14, 2008 1:25 PM

Guest :

I have spent years of my life dealing with an eating disorder along with laxative abuse - brought on by the image i see of myself! This article made me more aware of the damage i am doing to myself and has allowed me to acknowledge i am not alone in this battle. my friends and family have known for years about my eating disorder but today after reading this article i made the first steps in recovering my life back by admitting to myself and friends/family that i abuse laxatives - i feel almost empowered admitting this and felt i owed thanks to this article for giving more strength to fight on with.

Sep 15, 2008 5:41 AM

Lori Henry :

Thank you so much for adding your comments, Guests. This is the reason that I share what I've learned from having an eating disorder, so that those who are struggling can find the inspiration to get help. One tiny and courageous step can often change your whole life!

Sep 15, 2008 7:23 PM

Guest :

i am an 18 year old girl trying to take care of my 15 year old sister, she recently told me about her laxtive abuse. i am so scared that i wont be able to help her and that she wont ever get over her weight obcession. but seeing that many people here have had eating disorders and have actually made it through them wanting to be healthy gives me hope. thank you.

Sep 20, 2008 12:02 PM

Guest :

Lisa 32
I am currently trying to come off laxatives. I have been abusing laxatives for 6 years. I am finding it so hard but im getting help this is the hardest thing ive ever had to do and im scared. Guess what im trying to say is DONT START TAKING LAXATIVES its not worth the pain trying to come off them.

Oct 7, 2008 5:49 AM

Guest :

it's so easy to write type that down..but you obviously came to a point where everything was enough and you got out of that frame of mind and your mental state changed...not alot of people can do that

Nov 8, 2008 9:09 AM

Guest :

hi my name is ashley i'am both anorexic and bulumic addicted to laxatives and dieting pills i need alot of help i tried many timesd to get help but have found nothing but ling waiting liststo seek inpatient traetment for my illness if u have any suggestions pls forward to me at chic.kita@hotmail.com thanx take good care of yourself

Nov 26, 2008 10:10 AM

Guest :

Great information...a lot I didn't know...thanks!

Nov 27, 2008 2:16 PM

Guest :

i am a 18 year old girl and for the past 6 years i have suffered from a eating disorder on and off but this last year i have overcome that problem.i have gone to 3 different counsellors in the past few years which i do think will scar me for life and also i have abused laxatives at times.i had never suffered any health problems over the years.Only last week i collasped and was told by doctors i had anemia.my blood count had gone so low i was days from being put into hospital and being hooked to machines.well i guess is what i am trying to say is that just because you think your not damaging your body because your having no effects,well i am afraid your mistaken.i taught i was past everything but it has caught up with me in the end.I now have to go to doctors every few days for injections.i am doing my leaving cert this year nd i have no energy to study because i am so tired due to my anemia.my grades have slipt,i really have damaged my future to some extent.it was really not worth it.so please anybody reading this dont develop a eating disorder before its to late

Dec 1, 2008 5:58 PM

Guest :

I am 19 years old and about to be evaluated for my eating disorder. I'm not exactly sure if I belong in this program. I maintain a normal weight, yet I'm addicted to laxatives. I was addicted to exercising as well, until i gave myself a stress fracture and had to go to the hospital after running five miles and then going to the gym. I'm
afraid that without laxatives my body will never be the same. I used to eat compulsively and then purge, but now i've moved on to laxatives. I still don't eat normal and I fast whenever I feel I've eaten too much. I'm just overly afraid of gaining weight. There is nothing I want more to just be happy with my body. I'm afraid of gaining weight, but overall I'm afraid that I'm making myself sick and shortening my life. I try to speed up my metabolism by smoking cigarettes after every time I eat. I just want this obsession to be over. I can't control it anymore. I have a problem.

Feb 2, 2009 3:09 PM

Guest :

I am struggling with laxative abuse right now..I am trying to stop, but I just do not like the way my body looks. I am going to the gym regularly and eating well (to almost nothing). I was bulimic in my teens (now im mid 20's) but was able to stop when I asked my family for help (kept it a secret for 1 year). I hate myself for hurting my body..but at the same time, I feel happy when I use the laxatives. I know, its stupid, and will do my best to stop. Someone please tell me how you stopped.

Feb 19, 2009 6:15 AM

Guest :

I've been addicted to Dieter's Tea (senna) for nearly 20yrs. I've wanted to tell my doctor that I can't use the bathroom without it, but it was just so embarrasing. I've seen ads that products like Activia by Dannon can help. Has anyone found that to be the case?

Mar 1, 2009 1:12 PM

Guest :

I've recently slowly started to reduce my intake of laxatives and diet pills and am finding it really hard. As i've been abusing laxatives for the last 3 years its obviously taken its toll and now ive come to start reducing the amount i take i find im bloating, feeling fat and am in quite a lot of pain. I've tried to eat food with a good level of fibre in it but nothing really seems to be working, does anyone have an tips on how to combat this??. I've never seen my gp about it and im wondering if i should go and see her to see if she can help manage the pain and the bloating. I'm worried about what she'll say and what will actually happen though. My one current success though is i have progressed from weighing myself daily to not having weighed myself in almost a week! Good luck to everyone who is seeking help or caring for friends and relatives in a similar situation. x

Mar 12, 2009 3:37 PM

Guest :

Hi
My sister is addicted to laxatives and reading your article rings so true to me. The only thing is she is still in the denial stage and thinks nobody knows what she does and always brushes it under the carpet. I've tried everything I can think of to make her stop. I've done the soft choice with the hints which have never worked, the sister option of I know you're hurting yourself and I only have 1 sister and I don't want to lose you and lastly the arguing.
Her shoulders and very rounded and every day she is in constant pain from this. I think it's her bones weakening and crumbling. Her liver is inflamed and she takes milk thistle every day.
Where am I going wrong? How can I make her stop??

Apr 20, 2009 8:10 PM

Guest :

I have been abusing laxatives for over ten years ,at the begining i used to take a lot ,now i take one pill or two every week ,i have so much abdominal disconfort ,gas ,bloating and like you ,i feel clean when i take a laxative ,i really think i need help ,i dunno what to do ,i am desperate ,
I am in a relationship and i haven't told my BF yet ,i'm afraid to be judged ,but he always ask me why my stomach hurts .

Apr 29, 2009 12:46 PM

Guest :

I recently started taking 14-20 laxatives a day after years of being constipated. I started taking 4 a day as prescribed by my GI dr., then I figured I would take more to see if that help in my constant battle to lose weight, and it helped. At least for a while. I am always trying to lose weight and go on eating binges where I eat lots of junk food, then torture myself, try and fast for a few days after the binge. Its very frusturating and consumes me I would love to not worry about it. Unfortuneatley its not that easy. I go through a bottle of 100 laxatives in a week or less.Any one have any suggestions for help ?I am affraid to go to the doc about it for a couple of reasons, the first is I work in health care myselp and I want to have plastic surgery and feel that eating disorder diagnosis would prevent me from being able to have surgery/

Aug 27, 2009 6:28 AM

Guest :

I am very over weight and have been looking on the internet how to lose weight i am now currently on a weight lose plan but is going too slowly. I really am thinking about laxative use. Now I have read these posts I really dont know what to do for the best I cant cope anymore with the bullying because im fat, im depressed i hate myself and i just want to be happy.

Oct 30, 2009 7:37 AM

Guest :

I am and have been using laxatives for the last two years, and deep down i realise the damage i am causing my body, but i just can't stop. I feel so relieved when eating pizza, knowing that after im just going to get rid of it with laxatives anyway, and i don't think i'm ready to give up that feeling of security.

Nov 26, 2009 5:39 AM

Guest :

I have for the past 15 or so years used laxatives on and off, I have yo-yo dieted for countless amounts of years and after having 3 amazing children I am struggling to sort myself out. I am not obese by any means, I just have the excess from my boys and over eating! I would love to stop taking them but just can't! I know what they are doing to me, but I feel so much better afterwards, thinking at least it's all out! I feel better about myself knowing that I am not "full up" if that makes sense! I would never recommend this to anyone as it is so addictive! I know I should stop due to the effects and not wanting anything to happen to me as I couldn't bear the thought of my kids not having a mummy! Is this even a proper eating disorder??? I don't know what the hell it is, but I know it's bad when you have lazatives in your handbag ready for whenever you have eaten anything, or when they are hidden around the house just incase!! Can anyone please clarify what this "condition" is called? Thank you for letting me moan on!!

Jan 13, 2010 2:39 AM

Guest :

I am very happy that I read this article like the rest of you.. but people that have over come this illness needs to tell \us how they did it. I take laxatives almost everyday- prob an average of 4 a day and I'm scared to death about what I'm doing to my insides. I never realized the danger of taking them when I started. I wish I could go back! So anyone who is thinking of starting to take laxatives... DONT! I'm scared of gaining weight and not only that but the discomfort of being constipated is tiring alone! You feel heavy and depressed. Please help. I want to stop taking them. I was wondering if maybe taking healthy benefiber tablets with food and just eating certain foods that will be easy on the colon in the beginning? like baby steps? kinda like how you feed a baby milk and then soft food in the beginning of their life in order for their digestive system to register and work correctly??? Please someone respond to this post- I need help and I'm scared ;(

Jan 31, 2010 11:37 AM

Guest :

hi! I have been hooked on laxatives about 8 years and it was a mess. This little bottle was like the most important thing in my purse and schedule of my life was depent on the time when I take this "drug". It was so nice to have flat belly every morning... though my hair and my skin was looking rather sick. But now I am over it and I would like to tell everyone who has the same situation - be brave, you can make it! It is really possible to stop using laxatives. Just make this decision and listen to your body. your body will tell you what to do and what to eat for taking your system back to normal condition. Of course, from the beginning you may have troubles with stomach, constipation for few days. Try to eat vegetables, fruits. drink a lot of water, make sport. You will feel what product helps you. For me it was one spoon of olive oil in the morning and I eat beet everyday, drink green tea and even now without laxatives I have flat belly every morning! My skin looks very good and I hope to get my hair back as it was before addiction (I lost about 30% of my hair I think because I did not have enough of vitamins etc :( ). So good luck and dont be scared to give up laxatives! you can make it! p.s. Please forgive my english as it is not my native language.

22 Comments