Anna has been vomiting up to 50 times a day for the past 3 years (Picture: SWNS)

A teenager who can’t keep a single dinner down has been forced to quit school because of a mystery illness which causes her to vomit up to 50 times a day.

17-year-old Anna Giles has dropped two dress sizes, from a ten to a six, since the sickness began nearly three years ago when she was 14.

At first, her family put it down to food poisoning.

Anna said: ‘I was really queasy for no reason, then I started throwing up.


‘We all assumed I had severe food poisoning or an allergy as I vomited up to 30 times a day for the next four weeks.’



She ended up being admitted to the Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel for rehydration treatment, but even after leaving, nothing had changed.

In fact, after time, things worsened – with her chronic vomiting condition practically taking over her life.

Anna has had scans, tests and made multiple hospital visits, but medics still do not know what is causing the illness.

She has been tested for meningitis, brain tumours, allergies and cyclical vomiting, but each test came back negative.

Though she was a high-achieving student, Anna was forced to leave her school while studying for her AS levels because she is too weak to even get up in the morning.

‘I can’t keep down water or even crackers or dry toast, and it’s a struggle to concentrate because I’m so weak,’ said Anna.

According to Anna, doctors have repeatedly linked her vomiting to an eating disorder, stating that she has an ‘unhealthy relationship’ with food – but Anna dismissed these claims, saying that she loves to eat.

She said: ‘They questioned my relationship with food, asking if I had an eating disorder or found the idea of food traumatic in some way.

‘It was ridiculous. Sometimes I’d sit with a bowl at the dinner table because I’d projectile vomit before even getting through a whole meal so I clearly wasn’t making myself sick.’

She continued: ‘They tried suggesting I had emotional issues with eating that meant my body rejected food, but I’ve always loved eating.

‘I watch food shows all the time and love cooking and socialising over dinner. I kept insisting there was something else wrong with me, but it felt like I had fight to be heard.

‘This condition is taking my teenage years from me. It is ruining my life. So it’s exasperating when anyone tries to suggest I have an eating disorder.

‘I don’t want pity. I want medical help.’

Anna, who is 5ft 6in and now weighs 8st 5lb, is hoping to raise awareness of her illness in order to find a cure.

She said: ‘I want people to realise what I – and others with chronic vomiting – are going through.



‘At the moment, I’m not living, I’m just existing.’

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