Teh One Who Knocks
05-15-2012, 01:17 PM
Terrible toll of quick fix obsession
By JENNY FRANCIS - The Sun
http://i.imgur.com/mxHG7.jpg
BULLIED at school for being fat, Ruth Wilkins was desperate to lose weight – fast.
But struggling to stick to a diet, the 13st 16-year-old searched for other ways to drop the unwanted pounds.
So when she saw a documentary about anorexic singer Karen Carpenter, she was inspired to copy the star’s use of laxatives, thinking it would be a quick-fix solution.
For Ruth, now a 39-year-old mum of one, it was the start of a 23-year addiction to the over-the-counter pills that at the height of her dangerous habit saw her take 90 a day.
Ruth, a warehouse worker from Whitefield, Greater Manchester, reckons she has swallowed over 140,000 laxatives and spent around £30,000 on her habit — but the biggest cost has been to her health.
At one point, her bowels stopped working altogether and she ended up in hospital. Meanwhile, the legacy of her addiction has left her with brittle bone disease and heart problems.
http://i.imgur.com/notWQ.jpg
Ruth says: “I was 13st during my teens and was constantly taunted about my weight at school but I didn’t know how to control my eating. So when I saw a documentary on Karen Carpenter I decided to try laxatives for myself.”
The singer, who famously died from anorexia, admitted to taking laxatives to aid weight loss.
Undeterred by Karen’s tragic end, Ruth went straight to the chemist and bought a box of 12 Senokot maximum strength laxatives.
She says: “When I first took them I stuck to the recommended dose of two a day but I didn’t notice a big difference.
“So I upped the dose and within a month I was taking eight a day.
“I was going to the gym, too, and I soon began to notice the weight dropping off.
http://i.imgur.com/EFUmm.jpg
“I had to go to the toilet at least three times a day and was usually in the bathroom for 20 minutes a go. I just assumed it was normal for someone taking laxatives, so I didn’t think too much about it.”
By the time she was 18, Ruth had upped her daily dose to 20 pills and was down to 11st.
She says: “I knew the laxatives must be helping my weight loss and I didn’t want it to stop, so I just kept slipping in extra pills.
“But my toilet breaks were getting more frequent, longer and more painful. And I was starting to get used to needing to make sure I was near a bathroom.
Ruth's health problems
“Then my mum Jenny, who is now dead, found packets of the drugs in my bag and went mad, begging me to stop taking them, but I couldn’t face giving them up.”
A year later, Ruth met the man she would marry. She couldn’t face telling him about her laxative addiction. But he discovered the truth in the worst way possible.
She says: “I kept it from him but it wasn’t very long until he found out. We got married after eight months but the strain the laxatives were putting on my bowels meant I was having regular accidents.
“One night, while we were having sex, I lost control in the bed. I was mortified.
http://i.imgur.com/8zryd.jpg
“I had to explain myself. He didn’t really seem to understand but he just turned a blind eye.”
When Ruth became pregnant in 1993, she swapped Senokot laxatives for milder Fibre Gel and Lactulose.
But she switched straight back after having daughter Chelsea, now 18.
She says: “It wasn’t so much about weight at this point, it just didn’t feel normal not going to the toilet so often. I felt clogged up, so I started on 20 tablets a day again.
“The accidents came back and I had to be careful walking long distances or sitting too far away from a toilet.
“I knew it wasn’t normal and this, along with a number of other reasons, put a strain on our marriage. We got divorced in 1998, when I was 25.”
http://i.imgur.com/RUw1k.jpg
Ruth’s addiction hit its peak in 2004. By then she was on 90 pills a day and having daily accidents. It meant she had to quit as a ward administrator at Prestwich Hospital.
She says: “It was devastating to leave but I just couldn’t face giving the laxatives up.
“I used to spend £23 a day on them but without a job I used my benefits to fund my habit. To me, they were more important than food, clothes or a social life.”
A year on, she finally admitted to herself that things were not right.
Ruth says: “Chelsea couldn’t have friends over because of the noises I’d make on the toilet.
“I was having accidents daily and I was often unable to leave the bathroom for 12 hours at a time.
“I forced myself to go to the doctors for help.”
http://i.imgur.com/ckHrt.jpg
Shocked at the number of laxatives Ruth, then 32, was taking, she was referred to a specialist for tests and told to see a therapist.
She says: “It helped to talk about it but my intake only decreased by a few pills a day. I was just terrified of my body clogging up.”
Around this time she met her current partner Jason Brooks, 37, and confessed all.
She says: “Instead of running a mile he was very supportive and tried to help me cut down. But I couldn’t.”
In 2005, Ruth’s habit reached a crisis point when her bowel stopped working.
She says: “I was in excruciating pain and rushed to hospital. I was fitted with a special device to send electrical shocks into my bowels to allow me to go to the toilet.
http://i.imgur.com/j2LsL.jpg
“I was sent to a bowel dysfunction centre and I got down to 12 laxatives a day.
“I couldn’t believe how bad I’d let it become.
“They told me if I didn’t reduce my intake they’d have to remove my bowel and fit a colostomy bag, which terrified me.”
Ruth had the electrical device removed after a year. She can now control her bowels enough to hold down a job and works night shifts at a warehouse.
Due to the 24-year addiction, she has to take ten laxatives a day or will be constipated for a week.
Even so, she believes her ordeal is finally ending.
http://i.imgur.com/WGpxe.jpg
She says: “I have ruined my body beyond repair. I have irritable bowel syndrome, low blood pressure because of dehydration, brittle bone disease and potential heart problems, back pain and terrible trouble with haemorrhoids.
“But I’m no longer abusing my body. I now follow a much healthier diet than before and am currently 11st.
“Addiction is a terrible thing and there was nothing glamorous about trying to lose weight the way I did.”
By JENNY FRANCIS - The Sun
http://i.imgur.com/mxHG7.jpg
BULLIED at school for being fat, Ruth Wilkins was desperate to lose weight – fast.
But struggling to stick to a diet, the 13st 16-year-old searched for other ways to drop the unwanted pounds.
So when she saw a documentary about anorexic singer Karen Carpenter, she was inspired to copy the star’s use of laxatives, thinking it would be a quick-fix solution.
For Ruth, now a 39-year-old mum of one, it was the start of a 23-year addiction to the over-the-counter pills that at the height of her dangerous habit saw her take 90 a day.
Ruth, a warehouse worker from Whitefield, Greater Manchester, reckons she has swallowed over 140,000 laxatives and spent around £30,000 on her habit — but the biggest cost has been to her health.
At one point, her bowels stopped working altogether and she ended up in hospital. Meanwhile, the legacy of her addiction has left her with brittle bone disease and heart problems.
http://i.imgur.com/notWQ.jpg
Ruth says: “I was 13st during my teens and was constantly taunted about my weight at school but I didn’t know how to control my eating. So when I saw a documentary on Karen Carpenter I decided to try laxatives for myself.”
The singer, who famously died from anorexia, admitted to taking laxatives to aid weight loss.
Undeterred by Karen’s tragic end, Ruth went straight to the chemist and bought a box of 12 Senokot maximum strength laxatives.
She says: “When I first took them I stuck to the recommended dose of two a day but I didn’t notice a big difference.
“So I upped the dose and within a month I was taking eight a day.
“I was going to the gym, too, and I soon began to notice the weight dropping off.
http://i.imgur.com/EFUmm.jpg
“I had to go to the toilet at least three times a day and was usually in the bathroom for 20 minutes a go. I just assumed it was normal for someone taking laxatives, so I didn’t think too much about it.”
By the time she was 18, Ruth had upped her daily dose to 20 pills and was down to 11st.
She says: “I knew the laxatives must be helping my weight loss and I didn’t want it to stop, so I just kept slipping in extra pills.
“But my toilet breaks were getting more frequent, longer and more painful. And I was starting to get used to needing to make sure I was near a bathroom.
Ruth's health problems
“Then my mum Jenny, who is now dead, found packets of the drugs in my bag and went mad, begging me to stop taking them, but I couldn’t face giving them up.”
A year later, Ruth met the man she would marry. She couldn’t face telling him about her laxative addiction. But he discovered the truth in the worst way possible.
She says: “I kept it from him but it wasn’t very long until he found out. We got married after eight months but the strain the laxatives were putting on my bowels meant I was having regular accidents.
“One night, while we were having sex, I lost control in the bed. I was mortified.
http://i.imgur.com/8zryd.jpg
“I had to explain myself. He didn’t really seem to understand but he just turned a blind eye.”
When Ruth became pregnant in 1993, she swapped Senokot laxatives for milder Fibre Gel and Lactulose.
But she switched straight back after having daughter Chelsea, now 18.
She says: “It wasn’t so much about weight at this point, it just didn’t feel normal not going to the toilet so often. I felt clogged up, so I started on 20 tablets a day again.
“The accidents came back and I had to be careful walking long distances or sitting too far away from a toilet.
“I knew it wasn’t normal and this, along with a number of other reasons, put a strain on our marriage. We got divorced in 1998, when I was 25.”
http://i.imgur.com/RUw1k.jpg
Ruth’s addiction hit its peak in 2004. By then she was on 90 pills a day and having daily accidents. It meant she had to quit as a ward administrator at Prestwich Hospital.
She says: “It was devastating to leave but I just couldn’t face giving the laxatives up.
“I used to spend £23 a day on them but without a job I used my benefits to fund my habit. To me, they were more important than food, clothes or a social life.”
A year on, she finally admitted to herself that things were not right.
Ruth says: “Chelsea couldn’t have friends over because of the noises I’d make on the toilet.
“I was having accidents daily and I was often unable to leave the bathroom for 12 hours at a time.
“I forced myself to go to the doctors for help.”
http://i.imgur.com/ckHrt.jpg
Shocked at the number of laxatives Ruth, then 32, was taking, she was referred to a specialist for tests and told to see a therapist.
She says: “It helped to talk about it but my intake only decreased by a few pills a day. I was just terrified of my body clogging up.”
Around this time she met her current partner Jason Brooks, 37, and confessed all.
She says: “Instead of running a mile he was very supportive and tried to help me cut down. But I couldn’t.”
In 2005, Ruth’s habit reached a crisis point when her bowel stopped working.
She says: “I was in excruciating pain and rushed to hospital. I was fitted with a special device to send electrical shocks into my bowels to allow me to go to the toilet.
http://i.imgur.com/j2LsL.jpg
“I was sent to a bowel dysfunction centre and I got down to 12 laxatives a day.
“I couldn’t believe how bad I’d let it become.
“They told me if I didn’t reduce my intake they’d have to remove my bowel and fit a colostomy bag, which terrified me.”
Ruth had the electrical device removed after a year. She can now control her bowels enough to hold down a job and works night shifts at a warehouse.
Due to the 24-year addiction, she has to take ten laxatives a day or will be constipated for a week.
Even so, she believes her ordeal is finally ending.
http://i.imgur.com/WGpxe.jpg
She says: “I have ruined my body beyond repair. I have irritable bowel syndrome, low blood pressure because of dehydration, brittle bone disease and potential heart problems, back pain and terrible trouble with haemorrhoids.
“But I’m no longer abusing my body. I now follow a much healthier diet than before and am currently 11st.
“Addiction is a terrible thing and there was nothing glamorous about trying to lose weight the way I did.”