Posted by Dr. Beth Steinhauer on March 14, 2005, at 17:35:36
In reply to Steinhauer: Thyroid and metabolism with EDs, posted by Maxime on March 12, 2005, at 16:09:46
Dear Maxime,
Our bodies are biologically programmed to maintain a healthy equilibrium. This is why in response to starvation your body's metabolism slows and you are prone to conserve energy (and weight). The reverse is also true. Studies have shown that male inmates who consume significantly MORE than their usual caloric intake will gain less weight than might be expected, as their metabolism speeds up, they sweat, their heart rate speeds up, etc., in the body's automatic attempt to maintain equilibrium. This is related to "set point theory", which has been explored by many scientists.
The reason that you are not losing weight despite exercising and despite eating so restrictively is that you are being met by extreme resistance by your body, which instinctively knows better. It is defending your set point and vigorously defending against your efforts to starve yourself. Laxatives and Ephedra carry additional serious medical risks of their own, and I would strongly recommend that you avoid using them. Laxative and Ephedra abuse can be life-threatening.
Maxime, 500 calories daily constiitutes starvation. At the concentration camp of Treblinka during World War II, the Nazis determined that 800 calories per day was the MINIMIMUM needed to sustain "life" (and life, as they defined it, consisted of susceptibility to disease and infection, infertility, extreme weakness, and so on).
Your question about the relationship between hypothyroidism and your eating disorder is a good one, but an internist or endocrinologist would be more knowledgeable about this than I would.
If you are not already getting help for your eating disorder, I hope that you will do so. There are many good therapists and internists who could be of great help to you. Anorexia Nervosa can be a fatal illness in up to 20% of cases, and sufferers also are at higher risk of suicide. I hope that you are able to enlist the help that you need from family, friends, and clinicians so that you can begin to enjoy and appreciate your body, and have a more peaceable relationship with food. Best of luck--Dr. Steinhauer
poster:Dr. Beth Steinhauer
thread:469675
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/eating/20050314/msgs/471009.html