Eating Disorders

[emcmaster]

I'd be interested to see how many of us have had (or have) an ED and whether it was/is pre- or post-Celiac.

I have struggled with Anorexia in the past and am struggling with it again. For me, it came after the Celiac (although years before I knew it was Celiac) but having such a restrictive diet makes it hard not to fall into the mindset again.

Anyone else?

[Lux]

Hiya,

I personally suffered from anorexia two years before developing celiac disease. I had always thought there must be some kind of correlation between the two, although I don't know that there is any evidence as such to prove this. I also have PCOS however, and I do tend to think that there is a much stronger link there - perhaps because I know quite a few women who suffer from one are also affected by the other.

Then again, it doesn't really explain the thousands of women with celiac disease/PCOS who don't suffer from both...

I do wonder if one (eg an eating disorder) can't provoke or encourage the development of celiac disease....???

[emcmaster]

I often wonder if it is a chicken or egg thing.

Did I make the Celiac worse by having an ED or did I develop an ED because it felt so good not to feel sick?

[Lux]

It's so hard to say but what I do know is that with eating disorders, it's all about segregating food into 'good' and 'bad' categories so you end up with a lot of restrictions and limitations (this, of course, is compounded by the fact that celiac disease obviously provokes a similar mindset). Some nutritionists (and I don't know if this is a universal opinion) argue that the more you eat one particular type of food, the more likely you are to build up an intolerance for it (which always struck me as strange as I would have thought the opposite - as in, your body habituatest to a certain kind of food and therefore that food becomes more digestible due to familiarity).

However I do know that when I was sick (prior to developing celiac disease) the only thing I ever ate was tiny portions of low fat pasta. That and crumpets...so it was a very gluten heavy diet (perhaps unusual for an anorexic, but there you go).

So what I'm thinking is that, if that IS the case (that we build up intolerances to foods we eat too much of) then it is understandable that having celiac disease could lead to other intolerances...thus seeming to exacerbate your usual symptoms...does that make sense??

[Passygassy]

It's so hard to say but what I do know is that with eating disorders, it's all about segregating food into 'good' and 'bad' categories so you end up with a lot of restrictions and limitations (this, of course, is compounded by the fact that celiac disease obviously provokes a similar mindset). Some nutritionists (and I don't know if this is a universal opinion) argue that the more you eat one particular type of food, the more likely you are to build up an intolerance for it (which always struck me as strange as I would have thought the opposite - as in, your body habituatest to a certain kind of food and therefore that food becomes more digestible due to familiarity).

However I do know that when I was sick (prior to developing celiac disease) the only thing I ever ate was tiny portions of low fat pasta. That and crumpets...so it was a very gluten heavy diet (perhaps unusual for an anorexic, but there you go).

So what I'm thinking is that, if that IS the case (that we build up intolerances to foods we eat too much of) then it is understandable that having celiac disease could lead to other intolerances...thus seeming to exacerbate your usual symptoms...does that make sense??

Wholly Crape! I think this is happening t me....I only eat CERTAIN foods because I get sick so much I tend to stick to very specific food groups. SAME thing everyday. Lately I have started throwing up nearly all my "Safe Foods". I'm talking I eat 5-7 different things and I have started throwing up most of them and have been eating pretty much ONLY them for months now. They are the foods that never made me sick.

I am not anorexic but I had been I guess as a teenager? It was because I felt better when I didn't eat, not because I cared about being thin. So as a teenager I just skipped eating all together. Lived on nothing but fruit for about 2 years. Being skinny was a nice plus but I really just avioded food because it made me sick.