A GLASGOW student has vowed to help others after a five year battle with anorexia.

Ciara Graham set up a dedicated Instagram page providing tips for other young people battling the disease and looking for a way out.

The 20-year-old, who is in her third year of a social science degree at Glasgow Caledonian University, is on the mend but admits she has a long way to go, weighing just six stone nine lbs at her lowest.

She told the Evening Times: "I started having an issue when I was about 15. I became bulimic because I had a disorientated body image of myself.

"I would still look 'normal' and eat 'normal' but I would never keep my food down, my family didn't notice until I was about 17 and then I went to the doctors and found out I had series health implication due to it.

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"My teeth were rotten, my period stopped and the lining of the muscles in my throat were damaged - but I still wanted to be skinny so I went down a darker hole."

At this point, the Coatbridge native began to eat the bare minimum and lost a further three stone.

Glasgow Times:

It wasn't until she lost the ability to concentrate or even stay awake for more than a few hours at a time, Ciara realised things had to change.

"My main motivation for recovery was my grades at university and how bad my health became," she said.

"I just felt so isolated. The only person I [was around] was my boyfriend and we never had really positive experiences, we just would argue over food and how much I needed [to eat more].

"When I went into third year, I began to break down and I couldn't cope with university .... I missed everything good that people my age get to do. I knew change had to occur or I'd have possibly ended my life or starved myself to death."

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The student said her body is now "broken" following her battle with the illness and she's unsure if she'll ever be able to have children after the impact it had on her menstrual cycle.

She still suffers from low iron and concentration problems but she's now determined to help others and their families get to the other side.

She said: "I'm not fully recovered and I don't know if I ever will be. I still freak out about weight gain but, to be honest, I know I would rather be a little bigger than anorexic because [with the illness] I lost a sense of living and I just felt like I was here with no purpose.

"Oddly, it's effected my family in a positive way. It's allowed them to be more aware of mental health and understand the seriousness of an eating disorder.

"In the darkest times, it definitely put unnecessary stress and strain on them."

Ciara has encouraged others battling the illness to reach out to her or follow her Instagram page, can be found here.