I’m scared for my sister (rant/please help)
Hi, everyone,
First of all, if you’re in this subreddit I’m really glad you want to get better and recover, or support someone in their struggle/recovery. I’m here actually because I’m super scared my sister whom I believe is relapsing with ED, and I don’t know what to do. She used to struggle with bulimia but she had a medical condition that required surgery, and now is physically unable to do that anymore. She had gained a little weight in the last couple of years, and she was a bit self conscious, but recently got into a new relationship with someone really into fitness and stuff, and changed her entire lifestyle towards “fitness”. The thing is now she’s eating a very low calorie diet (I don’t think I should share the quantity here but it’s lower than any bad nutritionist would recommend for sedentary people that wanted to lose weight), going to the gym everyday and using weight loss medication on top of that.
Last time I saw her I got super freaked out because I had not seen them in two months and when I hugged her, I felt like there was not much there other than bones. It terrified me, she has never been this thin (even when she struggled with bulimia) and I know we’re not meant to comment on other people’s bodies, so I didn’t say anything that day. Nonetheless, I was pretty irritated as she kept on talking about how great she was feeling with her new “fitness” regime, and that’s really all she talks about now (even on social media), and keeps trying to get us (the nuclear family) to do the same she does, that she’s the healthiest she’s ever been and stuff. I have mentioned that some of the stuff she says can be really dangerous for people (like weighing every single thing you eat even if you eat the same thing everyday), and how it has even affected me as someone that has struggled with a less severe version of ED. I have also told her how I’m scared she’s relapsing, I told her how dangerously low her calorie intake is and then snapped out saying she never said she ate such number of calories (although she repeatedly told me every time she talked about it with me) and changed the number to one that is still super low, and then I found out about the weight loss injections she’s using on top of everything.
I was just going to give up on talking to her about it because she responds always with “I appreciate your worry but I’m the healthiest I have ever been”, when there’s something clearly wrong. But today I got extremely scared to the point of crying because she uploaded a photo where you can clearly see bones sticking out of her shoulders and the back of her clavicle. I’m terrified and I f*cking hate how people keep in praising her “new body” when I know there’s something very wrong going on.
What do I do? I feel I’ve tried everything, and I know I cannot convince her at the moment that what she’s doing is indeed not healthy, but I do not want to just sit around and witness her wither away. I’ve never seen her like this, and I feel so powerless.
I just wanted to let it out of my chest and, if someone has some advice I’d truly appreciate it.