alcohol and bulimia

[Guest]

CV this is a question for you - I was wondering if through your research you had ever run accross information that linked these two- alcohol and bulimia. I thought about it while reading your post dealing with sugar and hypoglycemia and it occurred to me that perhaps there might be a link here too.
Thought I'd ask. I appreciate all the info you have shared - thanks.
Lisa

[Guest]

alcohol and bulimia

Lisa,

I haven't come across that in particular, but both bulimia, the alcohol, and anorexia trigger specific brain reactions, so you are dealing with probably a dopamine/norepenephrine cascade or effect with all three, so I would say there could be a connection or at least a similarity. I'll do some research on it and find out if anyone has actually made a solid link between the two.

Here's a quick excerpt from a study done by Vanderbilt University...www.vanderbilt.edu

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DIAGNOSED ALCOHOLIC WOMEN AND EATING DISORDERS


Another method of finding comorbidity between eating disorders and substance abuse is to research women whose primary diagnosed problem is alcoholism. In one study of alcohol dependent inpatients, it was found that thirty percent of these women had lifetime histories of eating disorders. One third were diagnosed with anorexia nervosa and two thirds were diagnosed with bulimia nervosa. In this study the eating disorder usually preceded the alcohol use disorder (Lilen feld 1996). Other studies reported that as many as one third of twenty alcoholic women had a "serious eating disorder" usually involving the bulimic sub-type. Lastly thirty percent or twenty-two out of seventy-three women in treatment for substance abuse disorders showed evidence of eating-related problems" (Schuckit 1996).



EXPLANATIONS FOR THE POSSIBLE CORRELATION BETWEEN EATING DISORDERS AND ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE


Although it is proven that eating disorders and substance abuse frequently co-exist nobody understands exactly why. There are four potential explanations: "the two disorders have different causes, but the presence of one disorder may increase the person's chances of developing the other, An independent disorder causes the both disorders, The two disorders have some risk factors in common, whereas other risk factors are specific to each disorder and Both disorders are shared manifestations of a shared underlying etiology" (Lilenfeld 1996). This last hypothesis has been studied the most extensively. Supporters of this theory believe that eating disorders and substance and abuse disorders are manifestations of a predisposition toward impulsivity which relates to "a common mechanism involving endogenous opioids. Endogenous opioid compounds that occur naturally in the body and act like opiates have been shown to play a role in regulating alcohol consumption as well as appetite" (Lilenfeld 1996).

Varner states that support for this hypothesis are the many commonalties shared by the two disorders. "In both disorders it is common for patients to have a family history of drug and alcohol abuse, to experience cravings for particular foods or substances, and to be unable to control food or psychoactive substance intake. Other similarities include cognitive dysfunction, use of food or substances to relieve negative affect, secretiveness about the problem behavior, and social isolation. In addition, patients with eating or substance related disorders tend to maintain the problem behavior despite adverse consequences and deny the presence and severity of the disorder. They also frequently experience accompanying depression" (Varner 1995).

[Guest]

alcohol and bulimia

CV-
Thank you. It had never occurred to me before reading some of the research you had provided earlier that food and alcohol could be related and that perhaps there could be a relationship between abusing each of them.
Thank you so much cv - you are so good at finding information - and good information.
The 'secretive' aspect mentioned in your info is certainly true. Thank you again.

[Guest]

alcohol and bulimia

this is a subject that is very real to me! check out a book called : eating,drinking and overthinking. womens destructive relationships with food and alcohol by susan nolen-hoeksema.

[Guest]

alcohol and bulimia

thank you - I'll check it out today.
maybe we can talk more later.

Lisa

[Guest]

alcohol and bulimia

Man this hits home with me today!!

Thanks again as usual!!

Mary Anne:h :happy

[Guest]

alcohol and bulimia

Good Info, didn't know it!

It's it interesting how we are not real wordy with this subject.

[Guest]

alcohol and bulimia

Very true about not speaking about them. When the last paragraph speaks about "opiods", I'm drawn toward wondering if that relates to the THIQ which are found in the brain and act similarly. Perhaps they are the same? Anyone who has experience with both could go to the topic "what kind of drinker am I" and find out if they are a THIQ II.

Those would be some interesting and scientific baselines to begin a study on.

[Guest]

alcohol and bulimia

It makes me wonder about my own eating habits while I was drinking (and yes I'm a THIQ). For about the last 10 years I didn't eat breakfast or lunch. I decided to do this when I realized that if I wanted to drink at night, I was going to have to cut down on my food intake or else I would get fat. After drinking a pint of liquor at night I absolutely HAD to eat, so that's when I allowed myself food. Maybe not typical or full blown anorexia, but the general tendency was to starve myself all day so that I could drink all I wanted at night. I thought as long as I was a "normal" weight no one would be the wiser. I never thought of starving myself as a disorder in itself, but most definitely an offshoot of my drinking problem. Now that I'm not drinking, I eat a healthy 3 meals a day, and so not only am I happy about not drinking, I'm also thrilled to be back in control of my eating and my health.

Also Lisa, the writer Caroline Knapp talks about her cross addiction/eating disorder in "Drinking...A Love Story". You might be interested in checking it out. if you haven't yet...

Deirdre

[Guest]

alcohol and bulimia

alcohol and bulimia

Hi,

I appreciate all the information- and comments. It's amazing how much in denial a person,(I), can be. Just to put it out there and come clean - so to speak- I have been in the closet about 3 awful issues in my life - smoking, drinking, and bulimia. All three are isolating - even the smoking one.

In Dec my aunt - a long time smoker - was told she had something that looked like spider webs in her lungs. Her white blood count was sky high and they didn't know what the problem was. Scared me! I had been trying to quit smoking without success until that. I smoked my last one on 12/31/05. It was terribly difficult.
My family did not know I smoked and no one at work knew either...just friends. I feel so much better now. My aunt did not have lung cancer and is doing better.

On 6/6 this year, after a heavy drinking night(2+ bottles of wine)- I decided to face that issue and admit to myself that a bottle + of wine a night is not ok. Last night was the first time I've had a drink since then - I had one martini(not wine) and that was it. Also, feeling much better. This was not easy either - but this site has helped me thru it.
Now, I'm thinking it may be time to admit the bulimia thing. Surprisingly, this may be the most difficult- certainly the hardest to admit to. I thought I should start by trying to understand it more - the chemical reactions etc. The fact that it could be somehow related or similar to drinking alcohol could help explain some things for me.
Anyway...felt like unloading that info - mostly for my own benefit I suppose. Thank you one and all for information and support and making me feel comfortable enough - even in this anonymous forum it's hard!- to talk about this. THANKS
Lisa