Around 8 years.

I don't remember ever eating normally: I had entire categories of foods that I just wouldn't eat as a child (condiments, for example). . .I only had, like, 5 foods that I'd eat. That just progressed and progressed into more restricting.

I have had periods when I recovered and did really well, but have relapsed several times.

I think i had BED as a child and teen, then at 18 a few months of restricting to 500cal happened then bulimia begun and has continued for 2 and a half years.

Lets see... My first memory of anything anorexia related was when I was about 4 or 5. I heard something about it somewhere, I'm not sure where. I asked my father what it was and he said it's when people don't eat. At that age, my thought process wasn't correct and in my mind I thought they truly NEVER ate, never again. That completely intrigued me. I didn't really understand it, I just thought it was very strange but I liked it.

Around six, I made my first cut. I didn't do it very often, only when I needed to. Around 7 or 8 I relized I needed to suck in my stomach all the time in order to be better. No one told me this, I just knew that's what I needed to do. The comments made by certain family members and other people at school and such just made me much more self-conscious. Looking back at photos and numbers that were taken at doctor's offices (weight, height, etc.) I can see now that I was normal but back then I still saw myself as very large, much bigger than all the other kids. In all reality, I was usually smaller. I guess that's the first memory/sign I have of my BDD. Around that time, I think I was 8, my father remarried. She was so tiny and pretty and she had two daughters, both of which were tiny, gorgeous, and girlie. My father always wanted me to be girlie. Too bad, I'm tomboyish, gothish, punkish, skaterish, I'm just me. They would always talk about how small my new sisters were and how pretty they were. So I think this was a big set-off for me and my ED.

Anyways, it didn't really get too bad until I was around 11. At that point my cutting because a nightly thing, sometimes multiple times a day. I was literally just covered in cuts, scabs, burns, scars, etc. My ED had really started to take off at that point too. The worst part about it all is I'm chronically ill. It's literally deteriorating every part of my body so having an ED on top of everything did not and is not helping at ALL!

Back then I was Anorexic with Bulimic Tendencies. I'm now 20 and it's been such an off and on struggle. I'm now struggling with EDNOS with anorexic tendencies. I'm always confused inside my mind. Some days, weeks, or months I'm just so dead set on anorexia. I can be so on track and nothing will stop me. Then I can wake up the next day and just not care. I'll eat normal. I'll try to be healthy, wanting to get to a healthy weight, just wanting to be overall as healthy as I can be, at least nutritionally. However, because of my being sick to begin with, I'll never be healthy nutritionally. My body just doesn't take in nutrients no matter how many enzymes and treatments I do. SO I then go back into my ana mode. It's definitely a roller coaster but I'm just trying to go with the flow for now instead of fighting it. I'm definitely not ready for recovery quite yet but I'm hoping that day will be soon.

This is the first time I've really written this out so I thank you so much for listening and being patient with my little word vomit here, and thank you if you actually did make it through.

All my life.

I remember being about 8 when I had my first binge, though I think I had some general compulsive overeating issues prior to that. In middle school (12-13 y/o) I started chronic dieting which spiraled into anorexia (300 cal/day). After a couple years of that, I morphed into bulimia, and after some sloppy therapy, I stopped purging but not bingeing or compulsively overeating. I gained 100 pounds in a couple of years. I had several relapses of anorectic/bulimic behaviors in my early to mid 20s. Then at 25 all that stopped and I was basically doing a lot of compulsive overeating. I gained another 75 pounds over the course of the next several years. Last year I found out that I have a heart condition (along with a lot of other weight-related health problems) and that, combined with a lot of other stress, led to another relapse. I was eating 200-500 calories a day (with some fasting days as well) for a while then started bingeing and purging as well. The past 5 months have been really hard. I've been working with a therapist and dietitian and they've been helpful. I'm still restricting a little too much most days, but I'm never under 1200 calories so I'm definitely improving. Any way, long essay to say "my whole life"

Anyone trying to recover is welcome to send a friend request, I could use some support - and would like to be able to offer support as well.

first developed mine fully at 17, relapsed again last year at 26....... so 9 years.