Health Topics A-Z

What Are the Symptoms?

Anorexia has many side effects. These include:

• Significant weight loss
• Fear of becoming fat, even when obviously too thin.
• Excessive dieting and exercising
• Abnormal food preoccupations, such as counting all calories or obsessively studying cookbooks
• Constipation
• Dry, sallow skin
• Fine, downy hair may grow on the face and arms
• Menstrual periods stop
• Mood swings
• Suppression of sexual desire
• Hands and feet cold at normal room temperature
• Chronic insomnia
• Hyperactivity
• Frequent illnesses. Physical problems can include anemia, heart palpitations, bone loss, and tooth decay. Life-threatening problems include suicide, heart attacks, and kidney failure.

Call Your Doctor If:

A person with anorexia needs professional attention, and needs your help to get it. Let this person know you love her or him, no matter what. Support her without supporting what she is doing. See a doctor, psychologist, or counselor to find out the best way to approach her.

Remember that even though anorexia is a dangerous illness, it gives a person a sense of being able to control overwhelming feelings. Someone who has anorexia will struggle against giving up this control, even if this means begging and lying. It is important for family and friends not to give in to this manipulation — but constant nagging won't help, either. People can't get over anorexia just by changing their minds. They need professional help.