Question:
past hx of bulimia

My entire life - one continuous battle with weight... Vascillating WILDLY between ever increasing number of pounds...the preverbial yo-yo ALWAYS moving up or down the scale. Diets of every kind...including the LAST CHANCE DIET supervised by the author of said book...shots,pills, you name it...then bulimic for 10 years...enough of that, followed by years of therapy, then, Overeater Anonymous, WHATEVER...and now a decade later at the age of 45 continuously moving between 250 and 275lbs. on a 5'1 frame this with the help of xenical. The question...Does this erratic history, and particularly the hx of bulimia make me a poor candidate for surgery? No one has mentioned a history of anorexia in the postings. If anyone has had such history would you please share with me any physician feedback you may have.    — [Anonymous] (posted on June 3, 2000)

June 3, 2000
Hi there. I was bulimic for a period of about a year following a diet where I lost 100 pounds. It was my desperate attempt to maintain the weight loss. Before I even went to my surgeon's office, I was sent a lengthy questionnaire to fill out and return and one of the questions was about bulimia. So, I bit my tongue and answered honestly. I was so afraid they would turn me down because of it. The only result was that both the nurse practitioner and nutritionist questioned me closely to make certain I was not still bulimic. I found out that anyone who was bulimic post surgery would be in for serious trouble with debilitating deficiency problems. It turned out to be no problem since I had stopped years before. Please give yourself a kiss in the mirror for even asking this question! I know what a tough road this whole process can be. Good luck to you! Take care ....
   — Martha O.

June 4, 2000
You are no better or worse a canidate than anyone else physically but you may have more difficult problems emotionally because of your hx with Bulimia. I think that the early difficulties with eating and stabilizing post op diets make even NON BULIMICS at risk for becoming Bulimic to manage their eating and all the feelings new to post ops about eating being OK. You may find it particularly tempting, for example, to throw up after overeating. And it's very easy to overeat in the beginning of the postop period. You may also have to fight against old, long standing urges to have an empty stomach instead of allowing the feeling of fulness to become comfortable for you. It's possible to overcome these things but again, for you, it may be a bigger challenge than for others. I would strongly recommend some professional support during you post op period. But finding the right person will take some doing. If you want to talk more about this feel free to e-mail me at CarolASig@aol Good Luck. This may well be your ticket out of the whole eating disorder nightmare! But you need to be wise and well informed.
   — Carol M.