How Karen beat bulimia

10:26am Tuesday 27th June 2006

Statistics suggest around two in every 100 women in the UK suffer from bulimia. Karen Reed struggled with the eating disorder for 30 years.

Karen Reed folds the wrapper of her cereal bar around the half she hasn't eaten. "I'll have this later," she says. Besides the Ryvita she had for breakfast, not much else will pass her lips today.

How different things were ten months ago. Then, Karen ate enough to feed a five-a-side football team every day spending £300 a week on food.

At one sitting, Karen would plough through a bowl full of noodles, mashed potato, cold sausage, baked beans and tuna mayo topped with piles of crisps. For afters, she'd devour more crisps and chocolates.

After bingeing, she would make herself sick. Later that day, she would repeat the whole process, filling up on takeaway chips and curries again enough for a whole family. And again, it would all end up going down the toilet.

For 30 years, Karen, who lives at Pocklington, was trapped in the vicious circle of the bulimic: bingeing and purging.

"Bulimia literally means appetite of an ox, in Greek. You have this gigantic appetite, you just can't control," said Karen.

Statistics suggest around two in every 100 women in the UK suffer from bulimia although experts believe that figure could be higher because of the secretive nature of the illness. High-profile sufferers have included the late Princess of Wales and former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell.

While it is often referred to as a slimmers' disease', doctors say the condition often stems from psychological problems. One in three victims develop bulimia from anorexia, where the sufferer literally starves themselves.

Bulimics tend to eat and purge in private and their weight can be fairly stable, so it can be hard for friends and relatives to spot.

Karen's husband, Graham, was unaware of her illness until they had been married for five years, and friends and neighbours were unaware until she took part in a BBC documentary last year.

Karen has struggled with her weight since childhood. At 14, she weighed more than 18 stone. When her weight returned to normal, anorexia set in, developing into bulimia by the age of 15. The illness continued while she was pregnant with her two daughters, Jessica and Lucy.

Although she tried various therapies, including spells in hospital, nothing worked. Karen was resigned. She said: "I just lived with it. I called it controlled bulimia', because I could go all day without doing it, but I would dream all day about the food I was going to eat. I spent so much time alone in my bedroom, because that's where I ate. I was miserable and had no self esteem."

By sheer coincidence, Karen learned how a local woman, Rachel Hobson, had beat bulimia through a drug called Zofran. The drug is normally used to stop chemotherapy patients suffering nausea, but scientists in America had been testing it on bulimics, with some success.

Karen persuaded doctors to prescribe it for her. By this point she was desperate because her teenage daughter, Jess, had developed bulimia too. "It completely devastated me," said Karen.

After initial success with Zofran, Karen abandoned the drug. She admits to having a drink problem and believes this made the drug less suitable for her. However, against doctor's advice, she gave her prescription to Jess. She said: "It wasn't an easy decision. But I knew the drug had no side effects. We were just so desperate for her to get well."

Karen's gamble seems to have paid off. Jess, 18, is now recovering and enjoying an adventure holiday in Africa.

However, by last August, Karen weighed more than 18 stone. She decided to take the dramatic step of having a gastric bypass operation. Husband Graham took out a £11,000 loan to pay for the surgery at a private Leeds hospital there is a five-year waiting list on the NHS.

The operation has left Karen with a stomach the size of a golf ball, giving her no option but to eat like a bird. In ten months, she has lost seven-and-a-half stone. She looks years younger and can wear tight jeans and slinky tops again.

The operation has not been without its complications and she has required two bouts of follow-up surgery. Also, her 20-year marriage has collapsed. Today, she still admits to drinking too much, but says that is the next problem to tackle.

Karen said the operation would not be the answer for everyone, but added: "It has given me my life back. Within weeks of the operation, all my bulimic tendencies had gone. I just don't feel hungry."

Karen hopes her story will educate people about the seriousness of bulimia. She would also like to see UK trials of Zofran.

She said: "There should be trials because this disease completely devastates your life."

Fact file

• You are most likely to develop bulimia in your late teens to early 20s.

• Tell-tale signs include frequent weight changes; sore throat, tooth decay and bad breath; poor skin condition and possible hair loss; irregular periods' or loss of interest in sex; lethargy and tiredness
• Watch out too for someone who visits the toilet after meals; uses laxatives, diuretics or enemas excessively; hoards food and fasts; exercises excessively; is secretive and reluctant to socialise; spends abnormal amounts of money on food.

Source: www.edauk.com

Rachel's story

FELLOW sufferer Rachel Hobson says her life has been saved by a wonder drug which helped her beat bulimia.

Mum-of-three Rachel, 35, from Huggate, East Yorkshire, was the first person in the UK to use the drug Zofran for bulimia.

That was three years ago. Within five days, she says the destructive cycle of bingeing and vomiting that had consumed her life for 16 years stopped.

Zofran (or ondansetron) is licensed as a treatment for nausea in chemotherapy patients. However, in the US, trials have found that it can also be effective for bulimics.

While doctors here believe bulimia is a psychological disorder, some scientists in the US argue bulimia evolves into a physical addiction. The theory is that constant bingeing and purging damages the vagus nerve, which controls the sensation of feeling full after eating.

It is thought repeated bingeing and vomiting makes the vagus nerve hyperactive and can stimulate further bulimic cycles. Zofran helps by calming the overexcited nerves and reducing, or eliminating, the bulimic cycle.

Rachel first read about Zofran in a national newspaper, but it took three years to convince her doctors to prescribe it.

By that point she was desperate. She had already attempted suicide five times, and her health was failing because of the four gruelling bouts of bulimic activity she would endure daily.

She said: "I was so ill. My blood sugar levels kept fluctuating and I had the shakes. I had heart palpitations and my electrolyte balance would go."

Rachel saw Zofran as her last hope. She had undergone psychological treatments, including cognitive behaviour therapy to challenge the way she thought about food, and had been admitted to hospital, all without success.

Rachel would like to see Zofran trials begin in the UK and the drug offered as a treatment to bulimics. It costs £400 a week, but Rachel says patients only need a short course in America trials last between six to eight weeks. She added: "I've been in and out of hospital with this disease. I spent three months in a private clinic that cost £1,000 a week, paid for by the NHS. When you look at it that way, the drug isn't that expensive."

For more information about Zofran as a treatment for bulimia, contact Rachel at: uk.us.bulimiainfo@btopenworld.com

What the experts say...

THE Eating Disorders Association of the UK is cautious about Zofran.

It is keen to see the results of longer-term tests in the United States, but warns the drug could only ever form one part of a bulimic's treatment.

Steve Bloomfield, of the EDA, said: "Zofran blocks the urge to purge, but the problem is that purging is only a tiny part of the story. The issue is the person with bulimia has very low self-esteem and other associated issues and problems.

"Zofran is like giving an asprin to somebody with a brain tumour. It will take away the pain for a few minutes but doesn't deal with the issues."

He said bulimia was recognised as one of the most difficult mental disorders to treat.

While government guidelines recommend counselling as the best treatment, some patients may be prescribed anti-depressants, such as Prozac.

There is, however, an acute shortage of therapists. One problem, said Steve, was that not enough people want to train in this field of mental health because it is so challenging.

He said the sooner a sufferer began treatment, the greater the chance of success.

And he urged anyone who had binged and purged three times to go to their GP for help.

The Eating Disorders Association helpline is 0845 634 1414, 10.30am-8.30pm Monday to Friday and 1pm-4.30pm on Saturdays. For more information, visit: www.edauk.com

• DR John Morgan, head of the Yorkshire Centre for Eating Disorders in Leeds, said talking therapies such as cognitive behaviour therapy have been proved as the best treatment for bulimia.

Prozac is another treatment, but relapse rates are much higher.

He, too, is suspicious of drug treatments as being a panacea. "The risk is it is masking underlying problems," he said.

Given the lack of psychotherapists with eating disorders expertise, he said GP surgeries could do more to help patients.

"The use of self-help books with the input of the practice nurse can be pretty effective," he said.

But the key to turning the tide against the disease is prevention.

He said: "Much like obesity, we should be focussing on preventing it from happening. We are trying to develop a programme of talks for schools.

"We tell pupils simple facts such as in order to menstruate normally, you need 22 per cent of body fat. The average model or actress has 18 per cent."