Night Eating Syndrome

[WL WARRIOR 692]

I was diagnosed with NES (Night Eating Syndrome) when I was an adolescent. This syndrome has a genetic component and has been an issue in my family for the past three generations. Mostly only the males in my family are conflicted with the cycle of night eating. The cabinets in my kitchen were always locked because me, my brothers, and my Dad would get up (knowingly and unknowingly) 1-3 times a night to get something to eat.

I was determined to break the night eating cycle during my post op phase and did so for the first 6 months. After that, it all started again full force. I wake up three times a night at the same times every night (12:30, 3:00, 4:30). I absolutely cannot get back to sleep unless I eat something. It has always been that way. My food choices are still smart and I have not gained any weight since this problem reappeared. My consumption at night is usually cucumbers with vinegar or pickles.

For those of you that think night eating should be easily controlled, think again. Sleep medications and antidepressants have not helped at all. Night Eating Syndrome is characterized by these 5 primary signs:

1. Not hungry in the morning

2. Overeating in the evening

3. Difficulty falling asleep

4. Waking at night and eating (usually 2 or more times)

5. Feeling depressed

I'm currently working through a step by step guidebook. I've reduced eating three times a night to two times night. I'm hoping to get it decreased to at least once a night. When I share this problem with others, I usually get a lecture about weight gain. I'm still including the calories from my night eating into my overall daily count. So, its not a huge problem yet because I've lost 140 pounds while struggling with this syndrome. I would love to be able to sleep through the night or get up only once. Part of me thinks that this is just a habit that I have to break like everything else.

I would love to hear from others that struggle with night eating syndrome. If anyone has found a way to break the cycle or know some effective strategies, then that would be appreciated.

[Inner Surfer Girl 12,015]

This has got to be rough. I am so sorry you are having to deal with this. I don't know if it would apply to you but my sister is a pharmaceutical sales rep and she just started selling a new insomnia drug. You might want to talk to your doctor to see if that is related to your condition.

I hope you are able to find a solution.

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

I have never been diagnosed with this - but i have very similiar symptoms. I have "broken" the habit many times in my life through sheer force of willpower, but it seems to come back. I go through times of terrible insomnia too - like right now - and it gets me down. Not depressed, but just freaking exhausted.

I don't really know how to address it, but I find that having some premier Protein drink (not even a whole cartoon, just a partial) seems to satisfy. I like doing that because that doesn't lead me to that wandering around trying to find something to chew on.. I feel like sometimes if let myself eat actual food, it primes the pump to graze.

Do the people who diagnos this condition have theories as to what our bodies are looking for?

[WL WARRIOR 692]

InnerSurferGirl,

Thanks for your comment. As for insomnia drugs, I've been on a few that feel like I am trading one evil for another. Maybe I just haven't found the right medication, but even taking Benadryl every night started to have negative impacts on my health. The two meds that really worked, Trazadone and Seraquil, both had terrible side effects. Both made me gain weight and have carbohydrate cravings. Although they both helped me sleep through the night, I always felt terribly groggy the next morning.

I decided to quit many of my meds before surgery and Seraquil and Trazadone were probably the hardest. If you wouldn't mind, could you let me know the name of the drug so that I could research it? I just watched a documentary that said marijuana was safer than most insomnia drugs. That doesn't mean I'm gonna try smoking a joint before hitting the hay; I just need to be more careful when choosing safe medications.

CowgirlJane,

My PCP did mention last week that my body may be missing certain vitamins/nutrients that may be the cause of my night eating. It's weird, but it doesn't feel like a craving when I eat at night. It almost feels like that I'm on auto pilot while still quite aware of what I am doing.

Even though I take my bariatric Vitamin everyday, there my be some Vitamins that are not fully metabolized or used by my body. For example, in the past I've been anemic while taking Iron supplements. My doctor did mention taking my Vitamins later in the day to see if it will help.

I am going to take your suggestion to try drinking a Protein drink when I'm up at night. The reason I haven't done so yet is because I don't want to wake up again at night to go pee.

[Inner Surfer Girl 12,015]

I think it's Belsomra but I'll double-check.

[tomi71 581]

I don't have night eating syndrome but I do suffer from ridiculous insomnia and would get up and find myself grazing. Thankfully it's under control right now. I have to take three meds daily and among those are Xanax and now Lunesta. I used to take Sonata but as I lost weight I found it made me crazier than I already am so we switched to the Lunesta. For two days I tried Belsomra but it made me lose all of my faculties and that was the end of Belsomra.

Now mind you, both Xanax and Lunesta can be some evil $!!t but luckily I do okay. I don't take more than I should and I never felt a need to and I've been on Xanax and various sleep aids for years. The one down side to Lunesta is the horrid taste but then again...that's probably a safety measure.

If it's to the point where you aren't sleeping perhaps a pill might work. If you have a smartphone there's an app called Sleepio that I like. It takes your mind off of preoccupations and talks the user into getting back to sleep. It's free!

Edited July 16, 2015 by tomi71

[Inner Surfer Girl 12,015]

I think it's Belsomra but I'll double-check.

It is Belsomra.

[Sajijoma 1,324]

insomnia drugs such as Ambien can actually make you sleep eat or sleep walk. After my late term miscarriage, I couldn't sleep and took ambien every night and I gained a crap ton of weight really fast and I was always complaining about the jerk who ate all the food and left handprints in Peanut Butter all over the counters the walls etc. My husband swore it wasn't him and the other kids were too small to do most of this stuff. Eventually, one night during a sleep stroll I fell down the stairs and of course that woke me up! LOL I realized I was the jerk eating all the food and slobbing up my house for myself to clean. It can be very dangerous. If you are taking those kind of drugs and have a history of this problem, you might want to talk to your doctor about alternatives. I think the biggest issue would be your safety. I mean, if you are eating in your sleep are you eating safely? Are you chewing it correctly for your procedure? Are you going to eat sugar and wake up in severe pain with dumping syndrome? Could you fall down the stairs and break your neck like I almost did? These are the things I would worry about most. I don't know if you've ever tried it, but maybe before you go to bed, right before, have a little snack, maybe the cucumbers are vinegar or pickles or just a little something to maybe tell your body you don't need to get up. If that doesn't work, maybe keep a Protein Bar on your nightstand so if you wake up you can just nibble a little and go back to sleep. I ended up quitting all sleep aids except some natural melatonin and it took me about 2wks after that before I could sleep again it was pretty rough.

[Inner Surfer Girl 12,015]

Never mind on the Belsomra. According to the website it looks like it may cause sleep eating.

[tomi71 581]

insomnia drugs such as Ambien can actually make you sleep eat or sleep walk. After my late term miscarriage, I couldn't sleep and took ambien every night and I gained a crap ton of weight really fast and I was always complaining about the jerk who ate all the food and left handprints in Peanut Butter all over the counters the walls etc. My husband swore it wasn't him and the other kids were too small to do most of this stuff. Eventually, one night during a sleep stroll I fell down the stairs and of course that woke me up! LOL I realized I was the jerk eating all the food and slobbing up my house for myself to clean. It can be very dangerous. If you are taking those kind of drugs and have a history of this problem, you might want to talk to your doctor about alternatives. I think the biggest issue would be your safety. I mean, if you are eating in your sleep are you eating safely? Are you chewing it correctly for your procedure? Are you going to eat sugar and wake up in severe pain with dumping syndrome? Could you fall down the stairs and break your neck like I almost did? These are the things I would worry about most. I don't know if you've ever tried it, but maybe before you go to bed, right before, have a little snack, maybe the cucumbers are vinegar or pickles or just a little something to maybe tell your body you don't need to get up. If that doesn't work, maybe keep a Protein bar on your nightstand so if you wake up you can just nibble a little and go back to sleep. I ended up quitting all sleep aids except some natural melatonin and it took me about 2wks after that before I could sleep again it was pretty rough.

Yikes! Hope you weren't seriously injured on the stairs. I had a friend who'd sleep drive! THATS SCARY!

Lunesta can cause night feeding in some people too but I lucked out because for me it tastes so do bad that it pollutes just about everything I eat the next day. When I take it I have to choke it down.

Ah to be like my old man....head hits pillow and he's down for the count despite the day's events including serving in the Middle East. Meanwhile I'll lay in bed contemplating the space-time continuum and the relative time of traveling through black holes and making chocolate cakes of varying types.

I wish we had gastric sleeve for brains....wait that's a lobotomy, right?

[Sajijoma 1,324]

I was ok from my tumble, but I was definitely in a lot of physical pain to add to my emotional pain when it happened for many reasons. just glad I didn't try to drive or something.

It's funny how it's all wibbley wibbley timey wimey stuff when you are trying to sleep. Haha I go through conversations from 5 years ago and say "hey! Why didn't I say something" or "I wonder if she ever found Kelsie's shoe" it's funny how right as I'm suppose to go to sleep this always happens or music lyrics blare through my brain. Hard to sleep when the brain has been deluged with the Belly Button Song all day long and thinks you'd like to just hear it one more time!(look it up on YouTube under Rhett and Link and then belly button) all their songs stick to my head and replay at night.

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

Tangent subject- I used to have this weird condition where I would have these "nightmares" that were so real. At some point in the nightmare, I would realize I needed to wake up to escape, but it was like being underwater. Like I needed to wake up but couldn't. The way I would experience it I was screaming or yelling - my family told me i would start out making weird muffled noises and it would escalate to me screaming for help. It was very upsetting to them because it I would awake in a panic, this was no ordinary nightmare. Thank goodness I don't have those "dreams" anymore. Interesting, the last one I had was before I lost weight. I have no idea if there was a connection to the obesity.

[tomi71 581]

Tangent subject- I used to have this weird condition where I would have these "nightmares" that were so real. At some point in the nightmare, I would realize I needed to wake up to escape, but it was like being underwater. Like I needed to wake up but couldn't. The way I would experience it I was screaming or yelling - my family told me i would start out making weird muffled noises and it would escalate to me screaming for help. It was very upsetting to them because it I would awake in a panic, this was no ordinary nightmare. Thank goodness I don't have those "dreams" anymore. Interesting, the last one I had was before I lost weight. I have no idea if there was a connection to the obesity.

I can relate. I have those dreams too but since my surgery they've become far and few between! My doctor said those were probably anxiety attacks. I tend to believe it. I also got sleep paralysis which was scary as f&!?k. Suffered my entire life until recently.

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

I don't know if I have any condition that requires a title, but ...

When I have insomnia and need to unwire and relax enough to go back to sleep the food that does it for me is dairy products -- cheese, skim milk, warm skim milk, cheese toast. Those are my go-to foods.

And they really do work.

Years ago, I'd make a whole cheese sandwich, with two pieces of bread and mayo. Now I just use one piece of toast (Sara Lee 45 cals, 6 Protein grams) and put 0.5 to 1.0 ounce of cheese on it and nuke it for 15 seconds to melt the cheese.

Works like a charm.

Nothing else relaxes me like that.

(If anyone figures that out, let me know.)

[Sajijoma 1,324]

Tangent subject- I used to have this weird condition where I would have these "nightmares" that were so real. At some point in the nightmare, I would realize I needed to wake up to escape, but it was like being underwater. Like I needed to wake up but couldn't. The way I would experience it I was screaming or yelling - my family told me i would start out making weird muffled noises and it would escalate to me screaming for help. It was very upsetting to them because it I would awake in a panic, this was no ordinary nightmare. Thank goodness I don't have those "dreams" anymore. Interesting, the last one I had was before I lost weight. I have no idea if there was a connection to the obesity.

Those are night terrors. I have a couple of kids who suffer from those and sleep walking. My husband's side of the family is plagued with terrors and animated dreams. My husband even had one once where he thought he was fighting for his life but really was beating me pretty bad. After that night I forced him to get help it I was leaving and our de put him on some anxiety meds that helped. Apparently high stress and anxiety makes the terrors or animated dreams more likely to happen. Maybe you had stress and anxiety over the weight and by losing it, that was lifted from you and they stopped.