What kind of eating disorder do you have?

[Jachut 487]

I will eat when I'm alone too - that's why I seem to have an Iron will and dont gain weight on holidays, over Christmas, etc. All that eating is done with other people. I'm not afraid to eat in public and I'm not afraid to have a bit of an indulgent pig out in public, but having the house to myself signals EAT. Being at the shops alone signals EAT.

Its not that I wont do it in front of others or that I truly binge at these times, its just being alone = ah, peace, quiet, relaxation (no kids, lol). The first thing I used to do when I relaxed was pour a coffee and eat half a dozen Cookies. I could feel it hit my system and the morning's stresses would be wiped away. So the habit, the urge remains but I dont do it any longer, since I no longer believe that if noone sees me consume the calories, they dont count.

Funny thing is, I've never been a nighttime eater, my danger time is always late morning. So if I am up alone at night, it would simply never enter my head to eat something, dinner is the last food of the day, end of story.

That's why I believe these things are not necessarily eating disorders or signal that you have issue, they can simply be very deeply entrenched bad habits.

[lizzie_07 0]

I've always been an emotional eater combined with not being able to control myself and stop eating if there was more yummy food on the table. A good year and a half ago I started purging to try to control my weight and while I lost a lot of weight at first by the end of my lovely little eating disorder (over a year) I had GAINED weight. That was the most frustrating thing ever. I knew I was messing up my body and I wasn't getting anything out of it at the same time. Anyway, I've fought the bulima (WAY harder than I ever expected...I thought I had control and could stop whenever I wanted), now it's time to focus on my weight. One disorder down one to go.

[Titslereaux 1]

Night-Eating Syndrome

Sorry for the long post, but I have classic Night-Eating Syndrome and waited my whole life for a diagnosis and correct name. I'm cutting & pasting this entire study in case anyone else has the same problem.

A relatively new eating disorder, “night-eating syndrome,” characterized by a lack of appetite in the morning & overeating at night with agitation & insomnia has been reported in a new study. “Not only is night-eating syndrome an eating disorder, but one of mood & sleep as well,” said study author Albert Stunkard, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania’s Weight & Eating Disorders Program. “People who fall prey to this syndrome are not simply indulging in a bad habit. They have a real clinical illness, reflected by changes in hormone levels.”

The study, by a team from the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center & the UniversityHospital in Tromso, Norway & appearing in today’s issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, is a combination of two related studies based upon behavioral & neuro-endorcine data. The behavioral study, conducted at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, attempts to define the behavioral characteristics of the syndrome in terms of the timing of caloric consumption during eating episodes, level of mood throughout the waking hours & frequency of night-time awakenings. The neuro-endocrine study, conducted at the UniversityHospital in Tromso, Norway, attempts to characterize the syndrome in terms of circadian profiles (occurring approximately every 24 hours) of plasma melatonin, leptin & cortisol-the hormones linked to sleep & appetite that are found in lower levels in people with night-eating syndrome.

Night eating syndrome signs and symptoms

* The person has little or no appetite for Breakfast. Delays first meal for several hours after waking up. Is not hungry or is upset about how much was eaten the night before.

* Eats more food after dinner than during that meal.

* Eats more than half of daily food intake after dinner but before Breakfast. May leave the bed to snack at night.

* This pattern has persisted for at least two months.

* Person feels tense, anxious, upset, or guilty while eating.

* NES is thought to be stress related and is often accompanied by depression. Especially at night the person may be moody, tense, anxious, nervous, agitated, etc.

* Has trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. Wakes frequently and then often eats.

* Foods ingested are often carbohydrates: sugary and starch.

* Behavior is not like binge eating which is done in relatively short episodes. Night-eating syndrome involves continual eating throughout evening hours.

* This eating produces guilt and shame, not enjoyment.

Participants in the Penn & Norwegian Studies were monitored for food intake, mood alterations, sleep disturbances & night-time snacking, as well as hormonal fluctuations. “People with this syndrome start out daily with morning anorexia– or not eating anything all morning– & consume fewer than average calories throughout the day. As the day wears on, their mood worsens & they become more & more depressed,” said Stunkard. Then comes the night, when victims raid the refrigerator & cupboards for high-carbohydrate Snacks, sometimes up to four times a night. As anxiety & depression increases throughout the night, so does eating. “This snacking may be a way for these persons to medicate themselves,” speculates Stunkard, “because they eat a lot of carbohydrates, increasing serotonin in the brain which in turn, leads to sleep.”

Night-eating syndrome shows distinctive changes in hormones related to sleep, hunger & stress. The nighttime rise in the hormone that accompanies sleep, melatonin, is greatly decreased in night eaters, probably contributing to their sleep disturbances. Similarly, night-eaters fail to show a nighttime rise in the hormone leptin, which suppresses hunger & the stress hormone cortisol is elevated throughout a 24-hour period.

Night-eating syndrome is believed to occur in 10% of obese people seeking treatment for their obesity, which means about 10 million people may be affected. It also does occur among people of normal weight, although less frequently. “Night-eating syndrome may represent a special kind of response to stress that afflicts certain vulnerable people,” said Stunkard.

Night-eating syndrome appears to differ from bulimia nervosa & binge eating. Instead of very large & infrequent binges, persons with this disorder consume relatively small Snacks at night-about 270 calories-but far more frequently. In addition, their sleep is far more disturbed.

Stunkard believes that defining night-eating syndrome as a new eating disorder will encourage more research, leading to a far better understanding of the disorder. “We study what we define,” said Stunkard, who is optimistic such research will lead to effective treatments that do not now exist.

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

The normal fat people kind. You know the one that makes you like food LOL

Yep, that's the kind I have too~

[ThorEdson 14]

I am a chronic sleepwalker and sleep eater. The NES sounds like me to the T. Now that my calories during the day are more restricted, I seem to crave sugar even more at night. I wake up 4 to 5 times to eat chocolate chips, Peanut Butter, whatever goes down easy. Has anyone tried the melatonin supplements.

I started at 310 and I am now at 260. I was under 245 this time last year as I prepared for a Half Marathon. The Holidays kicked my Butt.

[Jachut 487]

Thankfully (or maybe not) a have a little mor insight a few years later and can add to this. I exhibit an awful lot of anorexic behaviors - all the obsessive, control issues and rituals, but I'm a complete all or nothing eater. Ive never truly binged I. The sense of eating to the point of illness, eating out of the bin etc, but it's like after a few days of deprivation my body goes on a mission to replenish and I eat and eat and eat for a few days. This behaviors causes me a lot of distress.

It's all magnified incredibly since the stress of cancer, the last two years have been the first time I realized how disordered my relationship ith food really is and how easy I would be to really develop a fully blown disorder.

But it also makes me realize just what a triumph my consistent attitude to exercise has been for me. I'm a high achiever there but haven't gone overboard and haven't succumbed to that all or nothing approach. Likewise I've had long periods of not dieting - that's much harder for me but avoiding any attention to nutrient balances, calories etc is what I need to do otherwise I fall into the starve/binge cycle if I blw my calories by even 50 in a day.

I also suffer badly from body dysmorphia - I gained back up to a BMi of 22 after cancer and I'm honestly disgusted with my "obese" self, I have really struggled with feeling enormous.

[CaGottaBand 498]

I'm just your classic grazer. I could eat all day long if I didn't pay attention.

[Terry Poperszky 2,784]

Has anyone tried the melatonin supplements.

Yup, I use them when I am having trouble sleeping. I like them because they don't leave me groggy the next day like other OTC sleep remedies.

[CHEZNOEL 4,061]

I only eat if I have nothing else to do! Carb addict!

[LuuLuu 62]

Compulsive Overeating with a touch of Binge Eating for good measure.

[Sai 785]

Had a history pf eating disorders. I was anorexic (14 to ~22) and was admitted to a hospital/program being diagnosed as exercise bulimic/anorexic. A few years later after being released, I became a compulsive overeater. Been going to OA off and on since my program and sometimes still go to the online meetings.

[LadyMaggie 145]

I am addicted to SUGAR and CARBS . . . I think I could snort pixie sticks just for a sugar rush!

The experts says everyone has at least one addiction --->mine is SUGAR

[laurigee 545]

Had a history pf eating disorders. I was anorexic (14 to ~22) and was admitted to a hospital/program being diagnosed as exercise bulimic/anorexic. A few years later after being released, I became a compulsive overeater. Been going to OA off and on since my program and sometimes still go to the online meetings.

I was anorexic/bulimic from 17-23. I think it has to do with the "all or nothing" personality! We are either going to be horrible or perfect! There is no in between! I've now learned to live in the gray area! So much less pressure to live with balance!

[ItsBritneyB 39]

I am the same way. I never carry cash but when I do find my self with extra money I think. "what drive through should I go through" . We will always be recovering addicts. Good luck everyone!

Follow my lap band blog www.biscuitsandexcuses.blogspot.com

[Iesha B 0]

I “sleep eat”. I literally sleep walk and can cook a full course meal in my sleep if it is a recipe I know by heart. I didn’t realize I was doing it until my sister lived with me and one night she was awake and apparently I came downstairs and started cooking and she tried talking to me and realized I was still asleep. I notice it is something I do when I really stressed. I am still preop and will be addressing it with my pulmonologist and psychiatrist more . I haven’t don’t it in about a month but my doctor feels it has a lot to do with my sleep apnea