New here so apologies if this has been mentioned before or is otherwise considered inappropriate or in the wrong style, etc. Bit of an odd question anyway, and quite trivial I suppose, but it's something I'd welcome an opinion on from people who (for better or worse, worse really I guess) have more experience/ knowledge than I with such things. I've done some tentative 'research' into this but not really come up with anything, and in a way I find it quite difficult to do so - it's strange, really, as these days I could just Google anything from intensive farming techniques to the chemical makeup of quick drying concrete and find all sorts of information in minutes, but with anything ED/ SI related I at least feel a little restricted as I am very nervous about what I put into search engines in relation to these issues, because I don't want to stumble across anything triggering. Over sensitive, perhaps, but that's me.
Anyway, enough rambling.
Has anyone else noticed any changes around their eyes? I've seen vague references to this in various places, but as I say I don't want to dig too deep. As well as ED issues, I also have problems sleeping (I'd imagine I'm not alone in that), but I'm not talking just the usual 'dark circles', and the other weird thing is that I'd say I'm actually eating pretty well at the moment and yet this seems to be progressing even more so than when I'm not doing so well. Also, I'm aware that I'm not at the stage of developing all sorts of other unwanted complications (which is a good thing, clearly)...so I'm not sure whether this could be related or not.
Back when I was eating a lot less than at present (I hope that's vague enough to be acceptable here), I did often have those aforementioned 'black circles', but recently the discolouration in those same areas has changed to looking more like bruises almost - it changes a little day to day but there's bits of grey, yellow and even green/blue there at various times. Has anyone else ever experienced this?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not particularly vain and it's not bothering me too much. Just curious.
Before I say anything, I need to say you're doing wonderfully avoiding triggering material on the internet, that's a hard thing to do & it's something you should be proud of. You're demonstrating a great level of self care & preservation.
As for the eyes, I haven't noticed anything myself. Although malnutrition an do terrible things to your skin & you are more prone to bruises if you're under eating. I'd suggest seeing your pharmacist about it first & if they can't shed any light on the matter, go to your GP. I'm pretty sure the more recovered you become the less your eyes will look that way, although I'm not sure.
However, It could very much be down to not sleeping so well. How is your sleep hygiene? Perhaps changing the pattern of your sleeping, or ideally getting more sleep the darkness around your eyes will subside.
Yes, I have noticed the skin around my eyes change. I now have permanent dark circles that are almost black in color. I have spent a lot of time researching this so maybe I can help you out.
The skin around the eyes is the thinnest and most delicate skin on the body. Some people have thinner skin here than others, and when the skin is very thin is allows the underlying blood vessels to become visible. The area around the eyes is highly vascular and the thin skin can produce various shades - usually it is a black, purple or blueish color but I have heard of green as well.
I theorize that eating disorders thin the skin. Because the skin on the rest of the body is thick, it's not noticeable but if you already had thin under eye skin to begin with then poor nutrition has probably worsened it.
On top of that, when we are young we have a very thin layer of fat that sits underneath the skin and acts as a kind of barrier which lessens the translucency of the skin. For me, my eating disorder atrophied this layer of fat and it did not return.
I don't log in here often but this is one of my main concerns regarding the long term consequences of my eating issues. Ask away if you have further questions but it might take me a while to get back.
How are you feeling in yourself? Whenever I get run down I darkened circles around myself similar to what you described even when I'm eating and sleeping normally. I think because there is less under the skin there any changes in the skin pigment are more pronounced.
Many, many thanks to all 3 of you. Apologies it has taken me a while to reply, but I have been offline for a week or so and before that I had started to think I had committed some kind of terrible faux pas by posting this given the lack of replies! Paranoid, perhaps...but I doubt I'm the only one like that.
Yes I think sleep is the main culprit here. My 'sleep hygiene' is, frankly, terrible. It's the one thing that seems to continue getting continually worse whether other issues are getting better or worse. And thanks Eyeliner and Cigarettes (thanks everyone, of course!) for your kind words about avoiding triggering material. It can be difficult sometimes, but I do my best.
