Side Effects Of Anorexia
How Do You Recognize Anorexia Effects?

Side effects of anorexia can include brittle bones, iron deficiency anemia, emotional disconnect and more. How do you recognize anorexia side effects before they cause serious health risks?

Denying the side effects of anorexia

You can get a good head start by learning about the various anorexia effects, which are monumental.

Complications range from emotional to physical to medical to social, and they're all so intertwined that sometimes it's hard to "see the forest for the trees".

In terms of the physical health risks of anorexia, sufferers are battling two kinds of health problems --

• Those caused by a starvation diet, and life-threatening weight loss measures
• Those brought on by the effects of starvation mode

The consequences of drastic weight loss tactics could be fatal, whereas the effects of starvation are typically reversible through a medically supervised re-feeding process.

For me, my only means of controlling weight was through pure restriction. I never used any of those hazardous forms of weight control.

However, my side effects of anorexia got to the point where I could not digest any solid foods at all.

I was in extreme pain whenever I tried to eat, no matter what it was. I'm sure there's a fancy medical term for that condition, but it was never given to me.

The way my doctor explained it to me (simply put) is that the digestive system is made up of a series of muscles that all work together to process food.

Since one of the physical effects of anorexia nervosa is muscle atrophy, my digestive system basically just shut down. I could no longer digest food, even if I wanted to.

Side Effects - Anorexia And Depression

Probably one of the most common side effects of anorexia is depression.

Sometimes it's difficult for clinicians to tell if the depression is brought on by anorexia (as a starvation symptom), or is it depression that drove the sufferer to the eating disorder?

For me it was the latter, but that was an important distinction as to whether or not I should be put on anti-depressants.

In other words, my physicians were saying that if anorexia caused my depression, then food is my medication, not anti-depressants.

In either case, it's vital to recognize depression warning signs so that treatment can be planned accordingly.

Other Side Effects Of Anorexia

In addition to the issues mentioned above, here are a few other medical conditions and side effects of anorexia that you will probably want to check out - and it's worth mentioning that this is by no means a complete list. Just some examples:

• Acrocyanosis
• Low blood pressure symptoms
• Livedo reticularis
• Anemia symptoms
• Low heart rate
• Iron deficiency symptoms
• Dehydration symptoms
• primary amenorrhea

Anorexia And Osteoporosis - Osteopenia

Osteopenia (the first step to Osteoporosis) is common in girls with anorexia. Due to various vitamin deficiencies, anorexics rarely reach their peak bone density. As a result, they are at risk for developing osteoporosis early in life.

Significant weight loss in females means that their bodies will eventually stop producing estrogen, and estrogen is needed to help maintain healthy, strong bones.

For more information on how to deal with Osteoporosis through a balanced regimen of calcium, vitamins and exercise, please visit Osteoporosis-Vitamins.com.

As you can see, the side effects of anorexia are indeed enormous, and anorexia death rates are the highest of any other psychiatric disorder.

Read more about the symptoms of anorexia.

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Self Help from SelfGrowth.com- (SelfGrowth.com is the most complete guide to information about Self Help on the Internet).