Answers to some questions (sorry its taken so long Anise!)

Firstly, sorry its been so long since this blog has been updated. Truth is, i feel a little hypocritical wirting on here right now, considering that i've now (hopefully temporarily) lost the ability to pee, thanks to an SI stomach injury.

But then i thought-well, we all learn from eachother. And tjis is a blog about sharing methods of coping with the evryday issues surrounding eating disorders, and self injury, and having lived with one for nearly 13 years now (and trust me-I am putting everything i can muster into my recovery), i think theres things ive learnt along the way, that might help.

so like i always say, im not judging anyone here, nor encouraging anything. Its just that the practicalites SUCK, right?!

so to the best of my ability, im going to answer some of the questions we've been emailed over the last couple of weeks. And note that this are thinsg that we have found from our experiences-and will always say if a medical professional has told us the advice-but you should always try and talk with your doc if you can, cos i dont wanna get sued for trying to help haha

'How do you get the smell of vomit out of your nose after purging'?'
This is horrible to live with i know. From personal experience, ive found rinsing my mouth REALLY well with bicarb helps to at least shift the taste (DONT clean your teeth for like an hour after purging, or you will just brush acid into them). im not encouraging anything here, so please dont all shout at me-but from my own (and some of the other girls experiences), drinking a ot of water while you purge helps stop it from getting in your nose less. and waiting as long as you can possibly manage before purging also helps this, as its more liquid in your stomach. The nose issue comes from when your thrpwing up more solid stuff, and the force of making yourself retch forces it up the wrong way. im sorry to be gross, cant think oof a better way to explain.just i think water is the key. and failing that-rinseing your sinuses out-just with water though-will help stop them getting irritated. I've heard of people being tested for all sorts of sinus probs and allergies, when its actually irritation from the acid. i wouldnt recomend doing it with bicarb-becasue i dont know how safe that would be-ive done it myself, but i dont know if you should. so DONT TAKE MY WORD FOR IT, and just do it with water. if you dont knwo how to do this, there are loads of sites that show you how, or-get a syringe, fill it with clean cold water, tilt your head backand to one side, GENTLY squirt the water up your nose (really gently!!!), tilt your head the other way, and itl come out of the other nostril.it does feel really weird when you first do it, but it doesnt hurt.if the taset or irritation is still there, then do it from the other side.

'is there a safe place to cut myself?'
No. read the begining of this post again, then think about it. i'm not going to be a hypocrite and say its easy not to cut, but neither am i going to tell you where to do it. bottom line is, nowhere is 'safe'. Even a small cut can get infected, and infected wounds HURT.
ALWAYS ALWAYS got to A&E to get anything you are worried about checked-chances are if your not sure, it will need treatment. And yeh, ok, ive had some not to great experiences at A&E, but i have also met some people whose support has been invaluable to me-there are genuinely some very understanding doctors around. People debate as to wether its a good idea to keep dressings, antispetic etc at home for SI wounds, because sometimes noing you have the supplies to mop it up is actually encouraging of the behaviour. Personally, i keep dressing pads, steri strips, and savlon solution and tape at home, but this one depends on how you feel about it. If i cut-it enevitably needs treatment, so what i have is to help me until i get help. and if you think you need stitches go soon, cos they wont stitch wounds that are older than a few hoirs due to infection risk. and then youve really got probs.

'Do you find that self harm gets worse the ore often you do, or the longer you have done it for'?'
essentially yes, but im speaking for me, and the others who contribute here. Becasue the more you do it, for whatever reason, eventually, whatever you do will get worse for you to get the same feeling, because you get numb to it.
I cut because the pain distracts me from my head-therefore the worse im feeling, the worse i damage myself.others cut cos they get an adrenaline kick.there are loads of reasons, and feelings people get, but yes, in general, i think it does escualte. try and set yourself limits. Try and put it off, five minutes at a time-trust me you CAN do it. yeh, i still SI-but it takes a lot more to trigger me to do it now.

ok, sorry this post is getting a bit epic now- and i'll leave it on this-i know it feels like your eating disorder is your friend, you can trust it to make you feel special, worth it (well, in the early stages i mean0, it makes it better, it takes your pain way.

but ask yourself this-'how many friends do you have that try to kill you?'

if you want to ask something, or just want to talk to someone-email eatingdisorderfairy@gmail.com, or leave a comment. i cant always answer on your blogs, because my laptop is weird and only lets me comment on blogs with pop out comment windows.its a conspiracy, im sure.

take care

xxxxx