General Eating Disorder Symptoms

Eating disorders are not a lifestyle choice but severe health conditions that can lead to life-threatening complications if not treated.

Like any medical condition, eating disorders can come with various symptoms that may affect a person’s daily activities. Understanding and identifying these eating disorder symptoms can be a major part of helping someone start on their recovery journey. 

There are many different types of eating disorders, which all have their own general symptoms. And even people with the same eating disorder may display different issues. But, knowing the general eating disorder symptoms is usually a helpful first step toward recognizing a problem.

Common Eating Disorders

Recognizing individual eating disorder symptoms is important. However, certain patterns of symptoms tend to point to specific eating disorders. Some of the most common eating disorders include:

• Anorexia nervosa (AN): A severe restriction or limitation of food intake, often driven by low self-esteem and a distorted body image. Individuals with AN also tend to fear gaining weight and/or focus on losing weight, no matter their size.
• Bulimia nervosa (BN): A cycle of binge eating and purging, also generally accompanied by distorted body image and low self-esteem. Purging can include self-induced vomiting, misusing laxatives, fasting, or excessive exercise following a binge eating session.
• Binge eating disorder (BED): Centered around binge eating sessions, which involve eating large quantities of food in short periods of time while feeling a loss of control over how much is consumed. Unlike bulimia nervosa, people with binge eating disorder do not purge after these sessions.

Many people who struggle with eating disorders are in denial of the problem or attempt to hide symptoms from loved ones, so it may be difficult to spot these patterns. But if your loved one consistently focuses on their body weight, shape, or size and displays signs of these common symptoms, it could indicate that something is wrong.

Common Eating Disorder Symptoms

Each eating disorder is as individual as the person going through it, though many symptoms are common among eating disorders overall. Along with the above, some of the most common eating disorder symptoms include: [1]

• Strict or strange rules or rituals around food
• Constipation, stomach pain, and other GI issues
• Avoiding mealtimes or eating with others
• Lack of menstruation
• Frequent sore throat
• Tooth decay and other oral health issues
• Scarred knuckles
• Inflamed salivary glands (which look like puffy cheeks)
• Hoarding or hiding food

It’s also important to note that many people who struggle with eating disorders struggle with additional mental health conditions, including anxiety disorders and depression. These conditions can be a symptom of an eating disorder or work to help drive or maintain the eating disorder. It’s important to have eating disorders treated at the same time as any co-occurring mental health concerns.

Long-Term Eating Disorder Symptoms

Unfortunately, eating disorders don’t go away by themselves, and symptoms and related issues can get worse the longer someone struggles with these conditions.

Long-term symptoms of eating disorders may even last through someone’s recovery journey, which is why it’s important to have a comprehensive approach to treatment.

Bone Mineral Density Loss

Eating disorders have been tied to issues with bone health, including bone mineral density loss and osteoporosis. This can lead to compounding issues such as an increased risk of fractures and other injuries. [2]

The lack of appropriate nutrition is generally thought to be behind this long-term symptom of eating disorders.

Muscle Wasting and Weakness

Similar to bone density loss, the lack of appropriate nutrition related to eating disorders can lead to muscle wasting and weakness. [3] This issue is generally seen in eating disorders that involve limited food intake, though anyone with disordered eating patterns can be at risk.

Oral Health Concerns

Oral health issues are among some of the most impactful eating disorder symptoms. Cavities, tooth decay, and other issues related to eating disorders can often lead to permanent damage that calls for more extreme solutions.

These issues most commonly impact people who purge via self-induced vomiting, as the introduction of stomach bile to the mouth can lead to various oral health concerns.

Short-Term Eating Disorder Symptoms

While eating disorders can cause lasting damage, especially over time, some symptoms are more directly related to specific eating disorder behaviors and are more likely to start going away once these behaviors are reduced.

GI Issues

Individuals with eating disorders may experience short-term gastrointestinal (GI) complications, such as bloating, gassiness, nausea, diarrhea, or constipation. [3] Many times, these issues are related to disordered patterns of eating and subside once eating is stabilized, though sometimes, disordered eating might happen in an attempt to relieve these symptoms.

Insomnia

Research is still new on understanding the connection between insomnia and eating disorders, but trouble falling asleep and staying asleep is common among people with various eating disorders.

One theory for why sleep troubles are typical in people with an eating disorder is that malnutrition impairs brain function. The brain plays a role in producing hormones that help the body sleep, such as melatonin. If an individual is malnourished, their body may not have enough melatonin, making falling and staying asleep more challenging. [5]

Dry Hair, Brittle Nails, Sallow Skin

Nutrition is linked to nearly every part of the body, including the health of skin, hair, and nails. And the malnutrition that often accompanies eating disorders can lead to several issues in these areas.

People with eating disorders frequently struggle with dry hair, brittle nails, and sallow or yellow-looking skin. [4] This can be directly related to the lack of certain nutrients in the diet or linked to broader hormonal changes that can also occur from disordered eating patterns.

Less Common Eating Disorder Symptoms

Eating disorders affect everyone differently, and not everyone experiences the same symptoms. In some cases, an individual may have less common symptoms associated with their eating disorder.

Many people associate eating disorders with a thin appearance or body type, but this is not always the case. People with eating disorders can present at “normal” weight or in a larger body, which may work to “hide” their disorder. This is especially true for people with atypical anorexia nervosa (AAN), which includes all the same symptoms of AN without the person presenting with low body weight.

In some cases, people with eating disorders will also eat objects that are not food, including wood, rocks, dirt, or hair. These are generally symptoms of a disorder called Pica, which can be very dangerous if left untreated.

And many eating disorders involve aspects of rumination—issues involving how food is chewed and swallowed. Someone may regularly regurgitate their food, spit it out, or chew, spit it out, then swallow it again.

How to Get Help for an Eating Disorder

Eating disorders are serious mental disorders that can cause short- and long-term symptoms and significantly affect one’s health. While feeling hopeless or overwhelmed when living with an eating disorder is not unusual, it’s important to remember that it’s never too late to make a change.

All eating disorders are treatable; it’s about finding the proper support.

You can start by asking your primary care doctor or therapist for an official diagnosis. This will open the doors to treatment programs and other care options, especially when it comes to getting an insurance company involved.

Many treatment options are available depending on the severity of symptoms and the support needed. If you or a loved one is showing signs or experiencing symptoms of an eating disorder, contact a primary care physician to discuss treatment options. 

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Published August 5, 2024.