Chewing and Spitting Info?

[tspin]

Hi Everyone -

Right before the messages were lost, I cam across a few that talked about chewing and spitting (referred to as c/s). I was always so ashamed of engaging in this behavior because I thought that I was the only one who did it. Now that I know I am not alone, I just want to learn more from others' experiences. What is known about c/s? Are there books about it? Why do we do it?

Thanks!
Tspin

[*star]

hi tspin! good question huh? why do we do it?? its like any other "labeled" ed, there are many reasons. ive only read about it as part of an ed behavior, not an ed itself. i was ana years ago, but i restricting made me want food more. i :love food! i was c/s-ing as part of my a/b behaviors, and slowly i started doing it religiously and didnt think it was a problem (im doing it less now). it soon turned into its own problem. :ugh it is! it wasnt until i came here that i discovered that you can get ulcers from it, among other health problems associated with anorexia or bulimia. and like bulimia, its costly buying binge food. its very embarassing for me too, youre not alone on this one!! any other :fishys share? :happy

[Casee]

Hey Tspin -

There may still be some posts here if you do the search mode - try chew or c/s on the subject line.
There is not much info. on this ED behavior. It is an ED-NOS criteria, though.
Most ED specialists say that there should be more info on c/s since more and more folks with EDs do this behavior.
But, it is another form of purging. It can be as a binge - or from AN restricting to get the taste of snacky items.

It does have health side effects - ulcers and jaw pain. And like bulimia, some of the calories do get absorbed.

How do you use your c/s? Have you had weight gain or loss from it and are you having any side effects from this ED behavior.

[*star]

casee asked:
How do you use your c/s? Have you had weight gain or loss from it and are you having any side effects from this ED behavior.
my ed is c/s.. i try to restrict but sometimes i end up swallowing a little bit. lately ive been gaining a ton of weight from it though. ive been trying to eat normally but my metabolism is all whacked out. and that jaw pain you mentioned- ack! my jaw CRACKS every time i yawn or open my mouth wide. ouch! :ugh

[tspin]

How do I use by c/s? Good question. I think I use it when I want to binge, but don't want the calories. I want the taste of the food, but not the regret of eating it.

I had not c/s'd in quite a while. Recently, I have been working hard to eliminate binges and have been pretty successful. However, as the frequency of my binges has been drastically reduced, I have noticed that my desire to c/s is increasing.

I guess, for me, c/s is a way of giving in to the urge to binge... but not really. I never thought it was a problem until a few months ago. I've never experienced any of the physical side effects mentione and just considered it a weird habit. But, then I admitted to myself that c/s is not something I would ever do in front of anyone and it is not something I would ever tell someone about (except my therapist and, now, you guys).

So... now that I have acknowledged that it is a problem, I really want to understand as much as I can about it. I think I know why I do it... but the more I can learn from others who also c/s, the more I will understand and the better prepared I will be to start to tackle it.

Thanks for your responses and your support.
Tspin

[geordiegeorgie]

My very first post on this site ever was about this very topic of chewing and then spitting.

I am relieved to hear this discussed. I mean, sorry, obviously, that there are others going through it ... but glad to know that I am not alone.

Why do I do it? Help ... I don't understand that. I do know it isn't hunger because it doesn't affect appetite. Nor even a desire to starve because it doesn't produce weight loss. When my anorexia was at its worst it was soemthing I was afraid even to do.

I suppose it allows me to taste food I don't want to eat. But I do not have a great problem with fear foods.

I think it is a reaction to loneliness. The times in my life it has been the worst have been when I felt very isolated at university and when living alone, as now.

Much of it is perhaps anger. I know I chew and spit more when I am annoyed ... but I don't know why ...

all my love
Georgie

[GardenOfSimple]

What you said was interesing. Because it really isn't about the food. Its good that you can see that and make the connection to something else... Proud of you for that!!!! Well... take care... Lotsa :love,

[Eilis]

I have NO idea whatsoever if this is a possible link, but I just had a thought. Often, as children, we are taught this is a normal thing to do. For instance, when someone (like a parent or caregiver) is offering a new food, they say "Just take a bite. If you don't like it spit it out." It becomes OKAY to do this at an early age. So perhaps that can manifest into something with the ed where the person doing it really believes its ok to do.

However on a rehular basis, it does have its problems. It raises the acid level in your digestive system, peptic ulcers, mouth sores, and some other problems actual purging does because of that acid being higher.

When I used to do this it was always when I was restricting - when I wanted to taste the food but not ingest it. The moment the food was in my mouth I had immediate feelings of guilt. But I thought it was ok to do. Noone really told me otherwise until I had a dr who actually specialized in eds.

:love
Dory

[Hayley]

Oh my gosh! I just found this website less than a week ago and it has taken me this long to register (had problems with email etc.). Anyway, I was so surprised to see this post. I also c/s, that is my eating disorder. I honestly thought I was the only person in the world that did this and that I "invented" it I guess. It is so nice to see I am not the only person that does this. For me this is my eating disorder. It is not something I just do casually here and there. I struggle with this on a daily basis just as a bulimic would. I binge this way and it has effected my life in a very negative way. My story is very long so I won't even begin to tell you how it all started but I have struggled for a long time. I use it in all sorts of ways, bordom, anger, frustration, happiness etc. to answer your question. If you ever want to talk in greater detail, you're more than happy to email me, I would love to talk to you.





Hayley

[*star]

:hugonhayley:hugoff
i wanna welcome you to the :bowl! like you (and georgie,) my first post here on the boards was about c/s. reading your post was like reading something straight out of my journal. ive also been struggling with it for quite a while, and it has become my ed. if ever you need a :fishy to :ear to ya, im here! take care, i :love you!

[Casee]

Wow, it's great to know that so many folks chew sp. There's so much info. about vo*it form of purging - but not c/s.

Maybe we could post back and forth about what we do to not chew sp. and info. about this ED behavior, since there is not much written about chew sp.

I c/s both as a purging anorectic type of binge/purge - and also due to the carb cravings from restricting. It is very much like vo*it purging - painful, distracting, an ED behavior you don't want folks to know about, an ED behavior that is unpleasant.

[geordiegeorgie]

:hugon:hugon:hugonHayley:hugoff:hugoff:hugoff Really :cool to meet you here.

Dory wrote Often, as children, we are taught this is a normal thing to do. For instance, when someone (like a parent or caregiver) is offering a new food, they say "Just take a bite. If you don't like it spit it out." I've been thinking about that.

For me, it was not childhood that taught me to c/s but travel, visiting people and not wanting to offend but sneaking away to spit it out later.

Not kind. And not kind to ourselves either.

[Hayley]

I don’t think childhood had anything to do with why I do this now either. Mine started when I became anorexic right after high school. People were always trying to get me to eat “normal” food and I just couldn’t do it. I figured that I could c/s and make them happy. I was also happy because I got to taste the food without really eating it. That’s how it started, just something I did here and there to please other people into thinking I did eat normally. The more I did it though, the more addicting it got. It got to a point that that is just how I ate everything. And then I was exercising tons because I didn't know how much I was really eating. I was in such a bad cycle. I always had headaches and I was always depressed. I quit hanging out with my friends just to avoid eating and so I could c/s and exercise. It is so humiliating to admit this. I know I must swallow more than I think cuz I don’t lose weight that way. I have never had the side effects that people talk about. I am probably a little older than the rest of you. I have a one year old child now and I think it was really bad after she was born along with the depression. I will admit that I was on medication a few years back and that really helped with the obsessions with food and exercise and am thinking about going back on them.

Having a one year old to chase around doesn’t give me half the time I used to spend doing it. Which is good, but also causes a lot of anxiety. I am doing better than the past but am no way better. I try not to do it at all a few days a week. That seems to be as long as I can go with out doing it, I know, pathetic. I am really working on it. Plus, as others have said, it is a very expensive habit and I don't know how much longer I can keep up with it. I would like to get pregnant in about six months but I want this ED to be under control for that to happen so I am really trying. I seem to eat well during the day and have no problems, it’s the evening that kills me. I guess I’m just not eating enough in the day. Plus eating out and social functions cause me a great deal of anxiety because I can’t c/s but I can’t resist the food either so I eat it. I know that is not a horrible thing but I think I am just afraid that I will eat way too much and I won't be able to stop. I have a hard time not over eating when I am eating normal food and I don't know how many calories I am eating. I seem to be obsessed with calories and I hate that. I would love to just eat what I feel like when I'm hungry and not worry about it the rest of the day. Anyway, I don’t know why I am telling you all of this. Just giving you a little information on what I go though with this ED.

Hayley

[Suey]

I know how you feel :hugonHayley:hugoff. This is the first time ive posted on this board, and i come here and find this post...its weird cuz i never find anything about this behavior anywhere else!! It makes me wonder how many other ana people do it too. I do it often, cuz right now i guess im trying to over come ana, but its not working cuz i really dont wnat to let go. I dont knwo how. So c/s is a step up i suppose. Thank u for posting this, and :fishy's lets find info so we can tackle this together! This is a disturbing behavior and its gross!!! lol no matter how much it helps!

[tspin]

Thank you to everyone who has responded. It is so good to know that I am not alone with this. Since it is an ed behavior that is so rarely talked about, it is easy to feel isolated.

Casee had suggested posting ways that we keep from c/s and I wish I could do that. There are some times where the idea of c/s gets in my mind and I am able to just say to myself "No..don't do it. It is gross and you'll regret it later".

But there are other times when I try that same tactic and it just doesn't work. I think a lot of it has to do with 'will' and the fact that, in an odd way, the c/s works for me. What I mean is, there are times that I really don't want to stop the behavior because I know that if I don't c/s, my cravings will likely escalate into a full-fledged binge. The c/s is like a compromise.

But, like with a binge, there are the familiar feelings of shame and frustration afterwards. "Why did I do it?". The good news for me is that the c/s has been much less frequent lately as have the binges. However, I am always wary that both will return full-force when I least expect it. I am trying to make sense of things now so I can better deal with that when it happens.

Thanks again.
Tspin

[geordiegeorgie]

:hugon:hugon:hugonHayley:hugoff:hugoff:hugoff

:hugon:hugon:hugonHayley's ickle one:hugoff:hugoff:hugoff

Didn't realise you were a mum! Do tell us more about yourself ...

OK ... so the challenge of Casee and Tspin ... what do I do / what should I be doing to stop myself chew-spitting?

:stars eat! if the urge to c/s is coming from hunger
:stars write
:stars play with the :kitty who doesn't like it when I c/s - he always comes to join me in the toilet and yowls for attention
:stars also, ensure that I do not buy large quantities of anything on which I am likely to c/s ... not buy too much food at once

:hugontspin Suey Hayley Casee star Ellis Gymnast:hugoff

[Shuffleboard Queen]

:hugon Fishys who also c/s :hugoff

I thought I was the only person who did this!!!

:trigger (general c/s stuff)

As much as I hate to see EDs in other people, it makes me feel so much better to know that I'm not alone. I even came to this part of the :bowl looking for info on this, since it's gotten a lot worse lately. I primarily c/s when I have the urge to binge but again, don't want the calories. I've tried purging, but I have no gag reflex (which I suppose is a good thing, in retrospect), and so this is my next "best" alternative.

The guilt that follows a c/s "binge" is huge, though. Sort of like "There are starving children all over the world and here you are just wasting food like this and spending money, and you just aren't worth all of this!!" But I just can't concentrate if I feel the need to c/s and can't. I stole some of my roommates homemade cookies tonight because the urge got too strong, and I couldn't run to the store. :ugh :reallymad :cry

If anyone else wants to talk about c/s, either what triggers them, or how they feel about it, PLEASE email me at progressive***@hotmail.com (***=seven one six).

:cargreen Carrie

[Lil_Tenacity]

wow!! i, too, am relieved to know that i am not alone in this. i don't engage in c/s to the extent that the serious side effects would emerge... but yeah, it does happen regularly, and i do feel shame about it. :hugon everyone who responded to this thread... :hugoff

i'm like a mish-mash of ED's... i started out with A, and then it evolved into something that was mostly A, with some "bulimarexic"-like characteristics. so for awhile i felt like my "problem" wasn't treatable/treatment-worthy because it didn't even fit in a category. i figured the c/s thing was just another of my many weird quirks with food.

i think i have developed a problem with being in the presence of "forbidden" foods -- things i really want to eat but think of as "bad" or "dangerous." this can be anything from bread, to dried fruit, to cereal, to chocolate, to baked goods. sometimes i'm so scared that i'll eat all of it that the only solution is to get rid of it somehow. and i can't just throw it out, b/c i'll go back into the garbage for it. so that leaves the options of (A) flushing it down the toilet, (B), shredding it and dropping the pieces as i walk, or (C) c/s.

i've been doing (A) and (B) more lately, just because it's less shameful, less messy, and physically less of a hassle... but yeah, what Shuffleboard Queen mentioned about the reckless waste of it all is true, and has been bothering me.

i am looking forward to the day when i can look at all food as nourishment, a reward for my body, and not a source of fear. i know that my behavior is wasteful and selfish... and so many more worthy things could be done with the time, effort, and mental energy that goes into these actions. i hope i can change.

thank you :fishy's for all your support and encouragement! :grin

[geordiegeorgie]

Yes ... I've done that too. Disposed of food before I could even get it near my mouth. Horrible waste. But good to see this thread still running ...

[Rhy***]

Hayley,
oh my god, i'm soo glad i found this post i swear i could be you , by what you said i did exactly the same thing, only i'm ******** no kids and i did lose weight, but that was most likely a result of the ano. not the c/s. ahhhh it feels soo good to meet other people who do this i swore i was the only one and i've been in treatment twice where other ed patients said it was gross so i was sure i was alone on this one. i'd love it if any of you could contact me so i could talk more about it, i feel soo relieved now you just don't understand, thanks a lot for this post :fishies
Rhy

[*star]

:bouncebump!:bounce

ack im finding myself doing this.. yet again

[VerboseMermaid]

I've done it, but only occasionally, when guilt supercedes hunger just as the food has entered my mouth. :sad

[lilsweetie]

bump!!!

[*star]

:hugonlilsweetie:hugoff
hey baby.. noticed you bumped this post.. just letting you know i responded to your post in the bulimia folder too. :grin i saw two new posts about c/s in there... i was happy to see this topic is getting discussed more, i just hope no more people are doing it.:ugh you know what i noticed? after having anorexia, bulimia, and now going through c/s-ing, im most embarassed to say i do this because i think its not a "normal" ED. it sounds stupid because what is a normal ED when ED=eating disorder? its not like youre one or the other, youre a chew-spitter. wtf is that? there definitely needs to be more info on it. (really, the calories get absorbed? :mad ive really gotta stop. no wonder why im gaining weight.. i chew a ton of food)

[Rhy***]

sorry for sounding stupid but why do people just write "bump"??

[*star]

:hugonrhy:stars:hugoff
someone wants to :bouncebump the post back up to the top so more :fishys can read it and respond :grin

[SweetBerry]

Wow! I didn't even realize that c/s was an ed. I used to do it a lot before I started to purge. I was restricting, and it was a way to taste the food and not crave it, without getting all the calories. Now, I don't find that I do it as much, as I purge a lot more now. Thanks for the post.


JACK

[soma-UK]

:hugon :bowl :hugoff

I, too, thought I was the only :bluefishy that did this sort of behaviour.

I had done it daily/ritualistically for several years...
I thought it was the "answer" to my anorexia and my bulimia.

However, it caused problemes too... isolation, secrecy, guilt, purging ( when I was too impulsive and did swallow), money wastage, etc..

I have gotten much better now that I am trying to eat regular meals ( less cravings), but lately have been resorting back to my after-work evening c/s one-two hour sessions due to current life stressors.

Thanks for adding all your input..it helped me a lot :supergrin!

[Robin]

WOW!!
I didnt think that there were so many of us that do this.Nobody ever talks about this. I am glad that Iam not alone.I felt like such a freak and didnt think anyone would understand how I felt. Thank you fishies for coming forward to tell your stories you all make me feel a little less freakish.

Love you all,God bless!!!

Robin

[Starlightgirlie]

I am really struggling with this too :sad

Its helpful to know that I'm not alone, and I'm wondering if anyone has had luck ending this behavior?

[SFishy]

I realize that everyone needs to hear from others to know they aren't alone, but I need to close this post because some of the replies are getting a bit "tippy".

There are definite dangers to this behavior. It's a form of restricting as well as a form of purging. You are clearly not getting enough nutrients thus suseptible to all the same dangers as with restricting. You get the dangers of purging with potential ulcers (because the act of chewing food gets your gastric juices flowing, but there's little food to absorb those juices). Pancreatitis can also be the end result. Read all the dangers associated with have an ED (http://www.something-fishy.org/dangers/dangers.php). Most of them apply to c/s as well.

Take care of YOU