Insomnia and night-time eating
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oat_bran
Posts: 370 Member
Any advice for those who struggle with insomnia and eating during the night because of it?
I have pretty bad insomnia, it's been like this for several years. It takes me ages to fall asleep and then I wake up several times during the night, usually to go to pee (I don't know if it's because I drink a lot or because of something else but I always wake up at least twice during the night to pee, often times even more). And then it often takes me a while to fall back asleep. I rarely can get a good night sleep without some kind of sleeping pills, at least melatonin or doxylamine. I usually can get through the day eating my planned meals without feeling too hungry. But it's a struggle during the night. I rarely manage to fall asleep if I'm hungry. This is why I now try to have my last meal as close to bed time as possible but sometimes I still start feeling hungry before I fall asleep. And then when I wake up to pee I often can't fall asleep because my stomach is empty and starts to growl... Since I eat at maintenance most days, I think this more a "I haven't eaten for several hours" kind of hunger rather than "I'm really undereating" kind. I try to just eat a small snack like an unsweetened yogurt or drink some soy milk or a small protein shake even, but it doesn't always do the trick. My willpower and judgement are also much weaker during the night. I'm often so desperate to fall asleep that I end up eating whatever I can find that satisfies the hunger and end up going way over my planned calories. I actually think I became addicted to sleep pills because I've been taking them every night to sleep better and reduce the night time snacking. Ideally I'd like to stop both sleeping pills and night snacking.
There's probably no advice, except just grind your teeth and don't eat over you calories (which for me would mean barely getting any sleep and being unable to fulfil my responsibilities), but if anyone struggled with the same problem and has found a solution let me know!
A little background: I'm 29yo female, 5'2'', around 130lbs who has a quite active life (I burn slightly over 2000 cals most days). I am currently trying to eat at maintenance or at a very small deficit. The thing is due to my night time eating I am not only not losing weight but have a difficult time not gaining. I eat mostly whole foods, 25-30%protein, 30-35%fat, plenty of fiber. I have 4 meals (all around 450-550) calories, spread out evenly throughout the day (which helps me to keep hunger at bay during the day).
I have pretty bad insomnia, it's been like this for several years. It takes me ages to fall asleep and then I wake up several times during the night, usually to go to pee (I don't know if it's because I drink a lot or because of something else but I always wake up at least twice during the night to pee, often times even more). And then it often takes me a while to fall back asleep. I rarely can get a good night sleep without some kind of sleeping pills, at least melatonin or doxylamine. I usually can get through the day eating my planned meals without feeling too hungry. But it's a struggle during the night. I rarely manage to fall asleep if I'm hungry. This is why I now try to have my last meal as close to bed time as possible but sometimes I still start feeling hungry before I fall asleep. And then when I wake up to pee I often can't fall asleep because my stomach is empty and starts to growl... Since I eat at maintenance most days, I think this more a "I haven't eaten for several hours" kind of hunger rather than "I'm really undereating" kind. I try to just eat a small snack like an unsweetened yogurt or drink some soy milk or a small protein shake even, but it doesn't always do the trick. My willpower and judgement are also much weaker during the night. I'm often so desperate to fall asleep that I end up eating whatever I can find that satisfies the hunger and end up going way over my planned calories. I actually think I became addicted to sleep pills because I've been taking them every night to sleep better and reduce the night time snacking. Ideally I'd like to stop both sleeping pills and night snacking.
There's probably no advice, except just grind your teeth and don't eat over you calories (which for me would mean barely getting any sleep and being unable to fulfil my responsibilities), but if anyone struggled with the same problem and has found a solution let me know!
A little background: I'm 29yo female, 5'2'', around 130lbs who has a quite active life (I burn slightly over 2000 cals most days). I am currently trying to eat at maintenance or at a very small deficit. The thing is due to my night time eating I am not only not losing weight but have a difficult time not gaining. I eat mostly whole foods, 25-30%protein, 30-35%fat, plenty of fiber. I have 4 meals (all around 450-550) calories, spread out evenly throughout the day (which helps me to keep hunger at bay during the day).
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Replies
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This is going to be hypocritical since I have endured insomnia for over 3 decades without seeing one but you should see a doctor. I have learned how to manage mine (for the most part) and I don't have an issue with eating at night. There are nights that I need a bit of food to get to sleep but usually a couple of cheese sticks is all I need.
I need to run some errands but I will look over your post again when I get back to see if I have any short term ideas other than taking magnesium.
Oh and sleeping pills have never worked for me for more than 2 nights in a row.
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Sleeping was tough but i didnt have a good work life balance so I was always stressed and couldnt sleep, mind always racing. The food before bed calmed me down, as well as the melatonin. Sort of same boat. I just changed my lifestyle but its easier said than done. I went to see a doctor and I was given triazolam but im actually good now. I sleep fine. Id go see a doctor. There is alot that can factor insomnia! your diet seems good.
Maybe these will help
-reserve you bed for sleeping only
-have the temperature set to 70-71 F
-no electronics before bed such as screens or anything mind stimulating
-healthy fats (if anything before bed)
-go to bed wake up same time( hard sometimes)
-sleep relaxation app ( although sometimes they can be distracting)
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This is going to be hypocritical since I have endured insomnia for over 3 decades without seeing one but you should see a doctor. I have learned how to manage mine (for the most part) and I don't have an issue with eating at night. There are nights that I need a bit of food to get to sleep but usually a couple of cheese sticks is all I need.
I need to run some errands but I will look over your post again when I get back to see if I have any short term ideas other than taking magnesium.
Thank you for your reply. Yeah, it's getting pretty bad, so I think I will definitely go see a doctor as soon as I sort out my health insurance issues. Though I'm not sure what a doctor can do with a chronic insomnia besides prescribing stronger sleeping pills.
I am actually taking magnesium. And funnily enough, I can make things worse for me, if I'm taking it in the evening. I know magnesium is supposed to have a relaxing effect on the muscles but for some reason for me it has a completely opposite effect and makes me feel this strange tension all over the body. I actually forgot about it yesterday and took 400mg before bed and I think that was part of the reason I could fall asleep until 3am yesterday and kept waking up until morning.0 -
Having years with bad insomnia would prompt me to see my doctor, have him/her do blood work and have your labs analyzed for deficiencies. Get referred to do a sleep study.
An active lifestyle and running low on sleep has to be really hard to do and make your daytime activities a struggle. Fueling through the day can surely help but you are not running at optimal balance since sleep is compromised
Have you really tried to work on your sleep habits, do you wind down properly before bed, get really still and no running around before bed, shut down all electronic devices 2-3 hours before bed, make your bedding and room as comfy as needed for sleeping? Eating/drinking later in the evening and then again when you wake up will probably have you needing to get up many times in the night to go to the bathroom.
Other than see your doctor, I might adjust meal timing, macros, try to keep your intake where you are not eating in a surplus, gaining weight surely has to be something else to add stress on top of an already active lifestyle. And if magnesium is causing an opposite effect, move it to earlier in the day, lessen the amount you take, etc. Maybe/hopefully the sleep supplements are more psychological and not habit forming other than mentally.0 -
I'm back.
Can you give us an idea of what you are doing and eating 8 hours before bedtime? What time of day are you feeling sleepy? Do you get more gradually awake as the night progresses? Is your mind racing and not allowing you to fall asleep?
I take my magnesium (250 mg) with lunch. Since I have a bit of a hair trigger I don't take anything extra at night except melatonin which has recently started working again for me.0 -
Hi, I don’t have a problem with insomnia, but I used to have a problem with eating too much at night. What helped me was to set an eating schedule, where I ate breakfast as soon as I woke up and ate my last meal (or evening snack) at 8pm and then nothing else for the rest of the night. Whenever I got hungry I would just drink tea, without sugar or with just a tiny bit of milk.
I agree that maybe you should see a doctor about this. This may be tmi (and may not be the case for you) but I used to wake up to pee at night too, and I had overactive bladder syndrome.
I think another thing is distraction. You need to distract yourself and stop yourself before you go to the kitchen. Maybe log onto MFP at that time? Write about how you’re feeling? Go on the message boards? Or find a hobby or craft you can do at home, like colouring, knitting, drawing, anything really, even reading or watching tv would be good, as long as it gets you out of the kitchen and gets your mind off eating.0 -
NickyGee2015 wrote: »Sleeping was tough but i didnt have a good work life balance so I was always stressed and couldnt sleep, mind always racing. The food before bed calmed me down, as well as the melatonin. Sort of same boat. I just changed my lifestyle but its easier said than done. I went to see a doctor and I was given triazolam but im actually good now. I sleep fine. Id go see a doctor. There is alot that can factor insomnia! your diet seems good.
Maybe these will help
-reserve you bed for sleeping only
-have the temperature set to 70-71 F
-no electronics before bed such as screens or anything mind stimulating
-healthy fats (if anything before bed)
-go to bed wake up same time( hard sometimes)
-sleep relaxation app ( although sometimes they can be distracting)Having years with bad insomnia would prompt me to see my doctor, have him/her do blood work and have your labs analyzed for deficiencies. Get referred to do a sleep study.
An active lifestyle and running low on sleep has to be really hard to do and make your daytime activities a struggle. Fueling through the day can surely help but you are not running at optimal balance since sleep is compromised
Have you really tried to work on your sleep habits, do you wind down properly before bed, get really still and no running around before bed, shut down all electronic devices 2-3 hours before bed, make your bedding and room as comfy as needed for sleeping? Eating/drinking later in the evening and then again when you wake up will probably have you needing to get up many times in the night to go to the bathroom.
Other than see your doctor, I might adjust meal timing, macros, try to keep your intake where you are not eating in a surplus, gaining weight surely has to be something else to add stress on top of an already active lifestyle. And if magnesium is causing an opposite effect, move it to earlier in the day, lessen the amount you take, etc. Maybe/hopefully the sleep supplements are more psychological and not habit forming other than mentally.
I'm a graduate student with 2 jobs and all kind of everyday problems, so yes, it's not easy to not run around or not have electronic devices before bed. Some days, I only have time to work on my thesis before bed, so it's complicated. My work schedule is all over the place and I do night shifts 2 or 3 times a week where I can only sleep a few hours. Sometimes I come how pretty late, too. So yeah, unfortunately I have to deal with a stressful life and a crazy schedule for a while. I have a hard time winding down before bed and yes, often times I can stop my thoughts from racing. I try to think about something relaxing but my thought keep going back to my everyday problems, what I have to do tomorrow etc, the usual stuff.
I have periods where I can manage do develop more or less consistent sleep schedule, but life always gets in the way. I will try to be more disciplined with it again and see if it helps.
The sleeping pills that are take (doxylamine and melatonin) are not physically addictive per se, as far as I know. But I feel like I'm addicted to them because I feel almost unable to get more than a couple of hours of sleep without them...1 -
I'm back.
Can you give us an idea of what you are doing and eating 8 hours before bedtime? What time of day are you feeling sleepy? Do you get more gradually awake as the night progresses? Is your mind racing and not allowing you to fall asleep?
I take my magnesium (250 mg) with lunch. Since I have a bit of a hair trigger I don't take anything extra at night except melatonin which has recently started working again for me.
Like I said in the above post, I am a student with 2 jobs and my schedule is not consistant. Sometimes I am at work in the evening, sometimes I work on my thesis in the library or at home until bed time. If I'm working on my computer most of the day, I often go for a short run or walk in the evening, a couple of hours before bed or so. I don't find that it makes it easier or harder to fall asleep though.
My meals vary a lot. I am a vegetarian so I don't eat anything heavy usually. My last two meals can be anything from a protein muesli bowl with greek yogurt and fruit or a bowl of porridge, to a stir fry, rice and beans, curry with couscous, some soup and toast, a salad, a stew... I usually try to get at least 20-30g of protein per meal, a decent amount of fat and either fruit or veg with every meal. I usually feel pleasantly full (but not too full) after a 450-500cals meal for 2-3 hours. I developed a habit of drinking a glass of water every hour or to and I feel thirsty if I don't. I drink mostly water and tea, though I try to avoid caffeinated tea after 5-6pm.activeadriana wrote: »Hi, I don’t have a problem with insomnia, but I used to have a problem with eating too much at night. What helped me was to set an eating schedule, where I ate breakfast as soon as I woke up and ate my last meal (or evening snack) at 8pm and then nothing else for the rest of the night. Whenever I got hungry I would just drink tea, without sugar or with just a tiny bit of milk.
I agree that maybe you should see a doctor about this. This may be tmi (and may not be the case for you) but I used to wake up to pee at night too, and I had overactive bladder syndrome.
I think another thing is distraction. You need to distract yourself and stop yourself before you go to the kitchen. Maybe log onto MFP at that time? Write about how you’re feeling? Go on the message boards? Or find a hobby or craft you can do at home, like colouring, knitting, drawing, anything really, even reading or watching tv would be good, as long as it gets you out of the kitchen and gets your mind off eating.
Thank you for your reply. I looked up overactive bladder syndrome and it doesn't sound like what I have. I mentioned frequent urination and thirst to my doctor a couple of years ago. They tested me and didn't find anything abnormal about it. However I still feel like I pee too often at night. I mean, I need to go to the bathroom a lot during the day as well, but I also drink constantly during the day and I try not to drink at night and still need to pee almost every hour. It's as if my body hold on a little to extra water during the day and then lets it all go at night...
Distracting myself works sometimes, during the day. But at night it's kinda hard to distract myself from the fact that I should be long asleep because I need to be up in a few hours and have a long day ahead of me...
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NickyGee2015 wrote: »Sleeping was tough but i didnt have a good work life balance so I was always stressed and couldnt sleep, mind always racing. The food before bed calmed me down, as well as the melatonin. Sort of same boat. I just changed my lifestyle but its easier said than done. I went to see a doctor and I was given triazolam but im actually good now. I sleep fine. Id go see a doctor. There is alot that can factor insomnia! your diet seems good.
Maybe these will help
-reserve you bed for sleeping only
-have the temperature set to 70-71 F
-no electronics before bed such as screens or anything mind stimulating
-healthy fats (if anything before bed)
-go to bed wake up same time( hard sometimes)
-sleep relaxation app ( although sometimes they can be distracting)Having years with bad insomnia would prompt me to see my doctor, have him/her do blood work and have your labs analyzed for deficiencies. Get referred to do a sleep study.
An active lifestyle and running low on sleep has to be really hard to do and make your daytime activities a struggle. Fueling through the day can surely help but you are not running at optimal balance since sleep is compromised
Have you really tried to work on your sleep habits, do you wind down properly before bed, get really still and no running around before bed, shut down all electronic devices 2-3 hours before bed, make your bedding and room as comfy as needed for sleeping? Eating/drinking later in the evening and then again when you wake up will probably have you needing to get up many times in the night to go to the bathroom.
Other than see your doctor, I might adjust meal timing, macros, try to keep your intake where you are not eating in a surplus, gaining weight surely has to be something else to add stress on top of an already active lifestyle. And if magnesium is causing an opposite effect, move it to earlier in the day, lessen the amount you take, etc. Maybe/hopefully the sleep supplements are more psychological and not habit forming other than mentally.
I'm a graduate student with 2 jobs and all kind of everyday problems, so yes, it's not easy to not run around or not have electronic devices before bed. Some days, I only have time to work on my thesis before bed, so it's complicated. My work schedule is all over the place and I do night shifts 2 or 3 times a week where I can only sleep a few hours. Sometimes I come how pretty late, too. So yeah, unfortunately I have to deal with a stressful life and a crazy schedule for a while. I have a hard time winding down before bed and yes, often times I can stop my thoughts from racing. I try to think about something relaxing but my thought keep going back to my everyday problems, what I have to do tomorrow etc, the usual stuff.
I have periods where I can manage do develop more or less consistent sleep schedule, but life always gets in the way. I will try to be more disciplined with it again and see if it helps.
The sleeping pills that are take (doxylamine and melatonin) are not physically addictive per se, as far as I know. But I feel like I'm addicted to them because I feel almost unable to get more than a couple of hours of sleep without them...
No way, as am I!. Electronics before bed is tough to give up. If you absolutely have to then do it! I just dont have any in bed. When youre trying to sleep in the same environment you sleep, your brain can mix up both environments, making it a bit more difficult to sleep.0 -
@oat_bran
Lack of consistency before bedtime exacerbates insomnia. Since there is not much you can do about that it still leaves the doctor as your best hope. I do find that drinking too much water a few hours before bed also tends to keep me up. I usually drink most of my water during the day and only sip water at night. It is not just because I have to pee more often either it really keeps me up.
The other thing that works for some people is meditation near bedtime. There are plenty of apps and videos for guided meditation. It helps a lot of people. I am just not one of them. When I find time to meditate it is before my nighttime ritual.
Oh and the one thing they tell you never to do has worked for me for years and years... leaving the TV on. For me it has to be something I know so well that I don't become interested.0 -
@oat_bran
Lack of consistency before bedtime exacerbates insomnia. Since there is not much you can do about that it still leaves the doctor as your best hope. I do find that drinking too much water a few hours before bed also tends to keep me up. I usually drink most of my water during the day and only sip water at night. It is not just because I have to pee more often either it really keeps me up.
The other thing that works for some people is meditation near bedtime. There are plenty of apps and videos for guided meditation. It helps a lot of people. I am just not one of them. When I find time to meditate it is before my nighttime ritual.
Oh and the one thing they tell you never to do has worked for me for years and years... leaving the TV on. For me it has to be something I know so well that I don't become interested.
I think I will try to gradually decrease my fluid intake in the evening and see if it makes any difference. I'm not good with mediation, I feel like it has the opposite effect of making me hyper aware of my stress and anxiety. But I think I need to try and work on it more.
I don't own a TV and can't have any noise or light in my bedroom when I'm sleeping so that's the TV is not the reason.
Thank you for all of your suggestions! I'll try different things and will try to see a doctor as soon as I can.1 -
NickyGee2015 wrote: »Sleeping was tough but i didnt have a good work life balance so I was always stressed and couldnt sleep, mind always racing. The food before bed calmed me down, as well as the melatonin. Sort of same boat. I just changed my lifestyle but its easier said than done. I went to see a doctor and I was given triazolam but im actually good now. I sleep fine. Id go see a doctor. There is alot that can factor insomnia! your diet seems good.
Maybe these will help
-reserve you bed for sleeping only
-have the temperature set to 70-71 F
-no electronics before bed such as screens or anything mind stimulating
-healthy fats (if anything before bed)
-go to bed wake up same time( hard sometimes)
-sleep relaxation app ( although sometimes they can be distracting)Having years with bad insomnia would prompt me to see my doctor, have him/her do blood work and have your labs analyzed for deficiencies. Get referred to do a sleep study.
An active lifestyle and running low on sleep has to be really hard to do and make your daytime activities a struggle. Fueling through the day can surely help but you are not running at optimal balance since sleep is compromised
Have you really tried to work on your sleep habits, do you wind down properly before bed, get really still and no running around before bed, shut down all electronic devices 2-3 hours before bed, make your bedding and room as comfy as needed for sleeping? Eating/drinking later in the evening and then again when you wake up will probably have you needing to get up many times in the night to go to the bathroom.
Other than see your doctor, I might adjust meal timing, macros, try to keep your intake where you are not eating in a surplus, gaining weight surely has to be something else to add stress on top of an already active lifestyle. And if magnesium is causing an opposite effect, move it to earlier in the day, lessen the amount you take, etc. Maybe/hopefully the sleep supplements are more psychological and not habit forming other than mentally.
I'm a graduate student with 2 jobs and all kind of everyday problems, so yes, it's not easy to not run around or not have electronic devices before bed. Some days, I only have time to work on my thesis before bed, so it's complicated. My work schedule is all over the place and I do night shifts 2 or 3 times a week where I can only sleep a few hours. Sometimes I come how pretty late, too. So yeah, unfortunately I have to deal with a stressful life and a crazy schedule for a while. I have a hard time winding down before bed and yes, often times I can stop my thoughts from racing. I try to think about something relaxing but my thought keep going back to my everyday problems, what I have to do tomorrow etc, the usual stuff.
I have periods where I can manage do develop more or less consistent sleep schedule, but life always gets in the way. I will try to be more disciplined with it again and see if it helps.
The sleeping pills that are take (doxylamine and melatonin) are not physically addictive per se, as far as I know. But I feel like I'm addicted to them because I feel almost unable to get more than a couple of hours of sleep without them...
Oh my you are a busy bee! Night shifts 2-3 days week, lots of stress is surely combating all things balanced in your life. Seeing this only makes me think that when your schedule changes, things are calmer you might sleep for a month.
I see a sleep doctor, I was prescribed an off label non habit forming medication I take on occasion and has been a life saver for me as my job entails a high level of mental focus and functioning and sleep became a problem. I am one that only takes Tylenol for headache and hate medication, so I understand how you feel about taking your supplements. I hope you find things that work better and definitely reach out to your doctor.1
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