Anorexia and bruises?

Former Member

Hello,

Recently I have had lots of unexplained bruises, I can count about a dozen on my body at any given time and new ones keep appearing. This has been over the last month or so.

I just wondered if anyone on here has experienced this?

Also, my GP said on Wednesday that I've got anorexia nervosa. Has anyone else who's had anorexia had this type of unexplained bruises? I'm not sure if there is a link or not. I mentioned it to the GP and she said that we'd know more when the results of my blood tests come back, but I can't help but think that they are related.

I do take a multi-vitamin (called "womens ultra mega" mineral and vitamin suppliment) so I doubt my diet is lacking anything specific except for enough calories.

Former Member

My friend who has annorexia used to bruise very easily, so that a slight knock would leave a bruise. However I'm pretty sure that was due to her diet being defficient in something. It may still be that you're missing something key that's not in the multivitamins.

Only thing I can really think of is to keep an eye on yourself, and raise it again with the doctor if the blood tests don't give an explanation.

+Kirsten+

Hello Randomgirl,

Bruises come up where tiny blood vessels, capillaries, have broken or burst, when we bang or hit our skin. Some people do bruise more easily than others, often if they have less fat on their body. I hope your GP can give you more information after your blood test results, and explain any possible links between your anorexia diagnosis and your bruises.

TheSite has a factsheet on anorexia with some starting information.

If you think you'll find it helpful to talk to someone about anorexia, you might like to call a helpline run by beat, a charity for people with eating disorders. The number for people 18 and over is 08456 341414, and for people under 18, 08456 347650. They also have an email address, help@b-eat.co.uk.

Otherwise, you can write into our askTheSite service - where an expert in health can answer your questions.

All the best

Kirsten

Former Member

yes, i get a lot of randomly appearing bruises.

its a common symptom with anorexia. maybe its because there is less muscle and fat underneath the skin to protect it when knocked or bashed.

Former Member

I bruise easily also. It's caused by an iron deficiency in my case. I have tons on my legs and i've no idea how i got them, it doesn't look very attractive.

Former Member

Thanks for all your replies guys. It's reassuring as I know unexplained bruises can be signs of really scary things (my step-dad has leukemia so I'm really aware of this type of thing).

My doctor 'prescribed' me a book from the library under the books on prescription scheme about AN and at first I didn't even look at it as I was sure the diagonise wasn't really true, that I've just lost weight due to depression, but reading the book I seem to fit the criteria pretty well which is a bit of a shock for me. Anyway, in the book it gives lots of information about various things and it does list easily bruising as a possible side effect which it says is either caused by a lack of vitamin C (which I doubt in my case) or due to starvation.

Thanks too for the info Kirsten, I've saved the phone number for B-eat in my mobile now incase I need to call them.

Former Member

Glad you've found some reassurance. I just wanted to put in a quick good word for Beat. I assume you've not spoken to them before, but personal experience and what friends have said about them has only been good.

Former Member

Scary Monster wrote: »

Glad you've found some reassurance. I just wanted to put in a quick good word for Beat. I assume you've not spoken to them before, but personal experience and what friends have said about them has only been good.

yes, beat are very good :yes:

Riley

Mavenpaole2 wrote: »

When it comes to unexplained bruising, the hormone estrogen is to blame. The hormone is normally broken down in the liver along with fat, however, when you're dieting your body is breaking up more fat than estrogen, leaving a lot more estrogen in the bloodstream than normal.

Thanks so much for your response @Mavenpaole2 it is appreciated, but since this post is several years old and made by someone who is no longer a member we've had to delete your response just to stop it from popping up in the main feed. It's an easily done mistake though so don't worry too much about it just try and keep a closer eye on how old a thread is before you respond.