To be shocked at 28 year old developing anarexia

[Allofthetimeswehad]

Dd 28 in July was overweight then lost a large amount of weight very quickly. She’s now diagnosed with anorexia. Aibu to think this is quite old for eating disorder development?

Yes YABU, anorexia can develop at any age although it sounds as though your DD may have already had disordered eating. As a pp said it sounds like you doubt the diagnosis? I hope you haven't expressed this to DD. It's incredibly hard to get support as an adult in eating disorder services, I hope your DD is getting support.

@Punxsutawney so sorry to read this, I an glad you are receiving support and I wish you well in your recovery.
@Allofthetimeswehad same for your DD, I hope she recovers with help and support.

It can happen at any age. I was hospitalised for it aged 41. It started with a diet, so yeah, that's quite common. I wish her the best.

I don't understand why some are suggesting she would have already had disordered eating. Simply because she was overweight? The OP doesn't say how overweight, but there would be plenty of people who are slightly overweight without necessarily having disordered eating. It's just the normalisation and availability of ultra processed, low nutrient foods.

Because someone who has been overweight then develops anorexia is unlikely to have ever had a healthy relationship with food. Slightly overweight may mean a little greedy or uneducated about food. But to go from overweight to underweight is not normal. Plus on this thread many of us have spoken from our own experience.

They could have had a pretty normal relationship with food but set out to lose some weight, initially in a healthy way, with the energy deficit then triggering the anorexia. Speaking from experience, this is what happened to me.

Anorexia can affect people at any age.
I know you mean well with your question, but I hope you are not expressing the same concerns in front of your DD. It could come across as very invalidating. I have certainly experienced it when it comes to self-harming as an adult.

I hope your DD is getting the right support now.

I understand that part of the difficulty managing anorexia is that at some point, the physiological aspects of being severely underweight also drive some of the brain aspects relating to disordered body image etc. So regardless of the initial triggers for weight loss (necessary weight loss for someone overweight, food aversions, control issues, or whatever), there can be a final "common pathway" if weight loss is too extreme.

I hope that your daughter can make good progress back towards a happy and healthy medium.

Mental ill health can occur at age.

I was overweight my whole life, developed anorexia at 26, diagnosed at 28.

My 80 year old DM developed anorexia during covid because she was too terrified to leave the house or to let anyone in with but the minimum of foodstuffs.

It was simply post viral fatigue causing weight loss that triggered it for my friend, no previous disordered eating or body image issues. If you have the genes then you only need the initial trigger.

Slightly overweight means a little greedy? Wow.
I'm in recovery from anorexia.
I eat my meal plan set by the dieticians, it's made me a BMI of 26. They assure me this is my set point, I'm healthy physically and mentally and getting all the nutrients I need. My weight has been stable for 18 months.

This response is unhelpful to so many people. I eat what I'm told, I still don't trust myself to do my own meal plan.
Maybe I need to cut down

Was she diagnosed with anorexia or with anorexia nervosa? The word anorexia is from greek origin meaning loss of appetite. I am in the USA, weight loss of over 10 pounds in a year (not sure what is the kilogram equivalent, here we work in pounds) would trigger an investigation for the cause (I am not a doctor, I only know because of experiences in family). First, bloodwork to rule out certain things, then celiac disease (might involve an endoscopy), maybe an allergist in case there is a possibility of some type of new-onset food allergy or intolerance, and so on. I don't know how it works in the UK, but I would imagine medical reasoning is medical reasoning anywhere in the world.

So I guess my question for you is, has she already gone through this process and received a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa, or has she had rapid weight loss and is in process of being diagnosed, and one of the words you recognized in her chart was anorexia?

Oh, sorry, unintentional weight loss triggers investigation. If the person is dieting then probably the criteria are different. The point I was trying to make was that the term anorexia does not always mean anorexia nervosa.

I’ve been fat and I have been thin (bulimia). If a comment on a forum triggers you then that’s on you, not me. The content of the thread is in the title. I was replying to a specific person’s comment about reasons for being overweight I absolutely did not say that anyone who is slightly overweight is greedy just that, like being uneducated about food, it could be a reason for someone being overweight. This is not about you.

I think 'greedy' was unnecessary in the context of this thread.

Well. I'm 40 and am having medical appointments coming out of my arse for my eating disorder. I lost 6 stone between may and October. I can't begin to tell you the struggle I am having accessing the right help I need. I'm also addicted (mentally there's nothing to suggest the medication is) to Orlistat and which I buy online by lying my arse off. It's very easy for me to come onto this forum to say all this. Very different in real life. I hope you DD gets the help and support she needs because in my life it's none existent.

Eating disorders do not discriminate, they affect anyone whether male or female regardless of age, race, socioeconomic status. There seems to be a stigma that it only affects white British teen girls!

Wow. Please do some research before sharing your disbelief with your poor daughter.

It was my Mum that essentially gave me and my sister anorexia…

No, not at all. She's discovered what it's like to be slim and obviously wants to stay that way.

I had DS at 40 and developed disordered eating at 43.

All types of eating disorders are under-recognised, and particularly so in older people. Anorexia can happen for the first time at any age, and people who have eating disorders in their teens often never shake them off completely and in some cases become chronic and persist into old age. I wouldn't be at all sceptical about a 28 year old developing anorexia.

I first developed it at 25 with another major issue at 39

They’re more common in late 20s, 30s and middle aged women than people realise. Either disordered eating since young that was never treated and deteriorates or was treated and relapsed.

A friend of a friend died of anorexia in her 50s.

I got it age 30 after my second child. Hth.