Long Term Effects Of Anorexia

Long Term Effects Of Anorexia

One glaring point about anorexics is their
inability to consider the long term effects of anorexia.
Having lived with and having beaten anorexia, I encountered
these effects without knowing they had anything to do with
this devastating eating disorder.

Here's my story:
You see, I naturally have this tendency to be fat
even at the slightest provocation.
I ate what others ate, but I saw I got fatter but they wouldn’t.
That got me pretty uncomfortable.
I bore names from others as a result of my overweight issues.
I hated that.

I also wasn't able to do all I wanted:
like flexibility and movement dexterity in sports fields.
Coaches didn't make me their first choice
until I proved myself!
And did I work hard at that!
I loved sports, I loved the challenges, the competitions.

Because of all these, for years,
I embraced and lived with anorexia.
I didn't know the name at the time.
I first heard the word from a friend.
I didn’t quite know what it really was.
Well, until I had a crisis.
A devastating and most frightening one.

Anorexic lifestyle was it for me.
I ate little or nothing daily.
Had to eat at particular times per day.
If I missed the times, then I loved the idea
of going to bed hungry, my head hazy and aching.

The feeling of control and having my weight and
thinning process in check was exciting.
My tough exercise regimen was another.
Even if I travelled, I had to arrange ahead how
to keep up with the workouts.

What I didn't immediately bargain for through
all these was the crisis.
You see, I had lived for years without
any major crisis.
Yes, I could break down in health, now and then.
I NEVER linked the breakdowns to my anorexic lifestyle.

Then I reached a snap point.

I couldn’t eat, though I desired to.
Anything I forced in, I vomited out in a few minutes.
My feet couldn’t carry my thin and frail frame.
I was trembling all over.
Worse still, I couldn’t sleep.
And that for days. Fear gripped me badly.

I have the generous privilege to be alive today.
Years after, some of the long term effects of anorexia
started manifesting in me.
Most painful of all was a slipped disc that
happened as I lifted a normal pot in my kitchen.
This took a pretty long time to heal.
I sure was too young to have that
but anorexia practiced earlier forced it on me.

Do you know that your anorexic lifestyle affects
your kids too?
They silently adopt this and practice it as soon
as they can decide what to eat or not.
If they live in boarding schools, then,
they'll follow your steps to the max.

Their growth gets impaired, teeth don’t set well,
and they face other effects of anorexia.
Some of these become permanent, even years later.
What about the brain development that
slows down in them?
Their brain output gets lowered.

Some do so badly in school and either have
to repeat classes or opt to drop out of school.
If they finish with less than acceptable grades,
that lives with them and negatively affects
the next level cum opportunity for academic advancement.

Years after my romance with anorexia,
my hair remained brittle in spite of treatments.
The blurred vision that set in while I was inrnthe practice, took a pretty long while to clear.

Anorexia threatens your relationships.
Some of the friends I lost to this
lifestyle, still keep their distance.
They don’t want a repeat of the upsets I caused.

Some of these long term effects of anorexia are permanent.
That is, they cause permanent damage.
If you are too weak and too slow to think,
and your work output is too low, what would
your boss say?
Show you the door!

Recovering from this loss of opportunity
may take time and demand much.
Who wants to keep an ill-motivated,
pale, irritable, frail staff in their employ?

Give you more long term effects of anorexia?
I started experiencing missed heart beats
and heart pains. These were frightening, but
as other effects, I didn't connect them tornmy suicidal lifestyle.
For some victims, it results in permanent
heart damage that they carry all through life.
Mine healed though, thank God!

My visits to the dentist increased due to anorexia.
Sure I lost some teeth. Of course, you know this
one is irrecoverable. Even if you do an in-plant,
the natural teeth, which were particularly yours
are gone forever.
I still bear the pains of this loss today,
years after my freedom from anorexia.
But you don’t need all these do you?
You can live free, fit and healthy today.
You could avoid these and more long
term effects of anorexia by learning what to do now.
I beat anorexia. Please, Join me...