I have suffered with Anorexia off and on for years. I'm now 24. It started when I was 16.
I have a physical disability which is not visible. It started when I was 5. I believe that the way I was treated by the doctors regarding this disability caused my anorexia. Plus trying to fit in, I didn't fit because physically I am incapable of keeping up with people so over time I started to feel that maybe if I "looked right" I'd be accepted more.
So I won't go into a huge amount of details but all the consultants I have seen (except the guy who deals with my back condition and my urologist) have said the same thing.
"Shes fat and depressed" One even said "Well if she isn't fat, she must be pregnant", I was 10 years old. I hadn't even started puberty.
In 2009, I saw my first Neurologist. At this stage I had been anorexic for about 2 years, but no doctor had picked up on it. I was seeing him due to suspected MS.
This neurologist weighed me - I was about 95lb. He asked me what I want to weigh, I lied and said I wanted to weigh 110lb as I was aware this was a more healthy weight for my height. He told me that was underweight and that I should weigh at least 120lb. During the session he said that he believes I have MS, and sent me for tests.
When I got a copy of his letter. It said I was overweight and depressed. He said there was nothing physically wrong with me and that I was having problems due to being fat. Rinse and repeat for the next 6 years. No one would trust what I was saying because of this doctor.
Then a month ago I met a doctor who picked up I have been underweight for years. He saw that I was constantly being told I was fat despite being constantly underweight.
He reviewed my blood tests, and noticed a lot of them were marked as okay or "Don't tell patient". These blood tests all showed a consistent level of low vitamin D, low haemoglobin, and a low platelet count. He also reviewed my MRI scans and requested another doctor review them as well. Both agreed they show lesions on my brain.
Another full body MRI scan from when I was 17 shows a lump on my spine which I was never informed of. I have damage to my spine which was found when I was 11, but I was never told about this lump.
I am still yet to have a proper diagnosis but I have been made to suffer through a horrible disability, watching myself slow waste into nothing as doctors call me fat. Anorexia has probably contributed a lot, causing my muscles to waste and me to damage my own body because rather than treat me like a human, it was easier to say I was fat.
I'm now down to get some help with my anorexia. But if it is MS I have, then I am probably screwed as I cannot take the only medication which is available in my area of the UK..