Laxatives: The ugly truth

Warning - graphic image at the end of the post

First, I think there is a misconception that laxative abuse is somewhat specific to people with eating disorders or disordered eating. But bodybuilders, who, by the way, often also have eating disorders or disordered eating, sometimes rely on them too. Sometimes  you will hear about people taking them after a cheat meal or day, usually because of guilt or feeling  too bloated. But more often it is when  bodybuilders are cutting. Cutting is like mainstream dieting, but besides eating at a deficit (usually and ideally 10-20%), they also lift heavy and pay special attention to macronutrients, with the goal being to persevere as much muscle mass as possible while losing body fat. Typically after cutting, bodybuilders will then bulk (i.e., eat above maintenance, also while lifting  heavy, with the goal being increasing muscle and gaining size). Just like in dieting, constipation is common when cutting, especially when people eat at too large of a deficit (yes, there most certainly is such a thing) and/or do not include the right foods. Their constipation is akin to those with traditional eating disorders in that it can last a really long time, and at some point, it just becomes too uncomfortable to tolerate.

Whether used for weight loss* or constipation, laxatives are not meant for more than short-term use, and longer-term use, and certainly abuse, is quite harmful. Most people know that you can become dependent on them, and while that is true, as is the fact that you will continue to need more and more in order for them to work, they are much more dangerous than that. Laxative abuse  can cause fluid retention, electrolyte imbalances, nutrient deficiencies, IBS, gastritis, severe dehydration, weakening of the bones, anemia, permanent bowel impairment, liver failure, esophageal damage, tumors in the bowel, pancreatitis, and permanent colon damage, including cancer.

Maybe you just read that as a list and saw it like one of those drug commercial ads on tv where they list all these heinous potential side-effects.

Maybe I can scare you straight. Maybe my pictures can.

Sparing you details, I was a long-term abuser, and although it had been years since that was the case, the damage was done and it recently caught up to me.

In December, January, and February of this year, I had a subtotal colectomy (80% of my colon removed), ileostomy, and ileostomy reversal, respectively. My colon had died. No cancer, no colitis, no nothing. Laxatives. I was in the hospital for 3 months. Major, painful surgery and no working out for 4 months.

This is what I looked like 5 days post-op.

Convinced yet?

*Laxatives might make the number on the scale go down, but you do not actually lose weight. Most of the food and calories have already been absorbed by the small intestine by the time the laxatives reach the large intestine, and you lose water, electrolytes, minerals, and indigestible fibers. Rehydration causes the number on the scale to go back up.

randi morse, randi.morse@gmail.com, newton, ma