Super sleepy after meals

No matter what I eat, I'm suddenly so sleepy after a meal that I can barely keep my eyes open. This just started roughly a month ago. Anyone have any ideas why this is happening?
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Replies

  • amnsetie
    amnsetie Posts: 666 Member
    Burger King - Whopper Value Meal(Large), 1 meal 1,590 Cals 224 Carbs

    this in one meal will do it easy

    also this
    Papa Murphy's Take and Bake Pizza - Family Size Chicago Style Stuffed Pizza, 2 slice 734 Cals

    The other days are way under.
    Maybe the zigzag calories are getting to you.
    Maybe it's just the big meals esp the massive carb load in the burger king
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    It could be the size of the meals (try eating smaller amounts more frequently) or the carb content.
  • But this started a month ago and it does not matter what I eat. I'm so sleepy that I have to take a nap. When we had BK the other night, that's the first time in a long time that I had it. Same with the pizza. I just started keeping track on here again so it looks bad in the diary lol.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    Can you go for a walk in the fresh air after your meals?
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    And what's your water intake like?
  • Koldnomore
    Koldnomore Posts: 1,613 Member
    It's highly possible that your deficit is too high - meaning you are not eating enough and quite possibly skipping meals. This has been known to happen if you are doing Intermittent Fasting - not eating for long periods. If you go for too long without something your blood sugar crashes and you feel completely drained.

    Unfortunately your diary can't tell me anything as it is incomplete. If it is NOT incomplete then you are most definitely not getting enough food. The only thing that I do see in what you have logged is that your carbs&sugar are incredibly high - which will also cause that tired feeling.

    I'd suggest eating a little more, having smaller meals and trying to cut your carb/sugar a touch - mostly the sugar. Don't eat 10 pieces of fruit a day - that much sugar will make you crash HARD. Snack on vegetables instead (celery and cucumber are great)
  • In the afternoon when I'm at work (so after I eat lunch), I start to get very tired and my eyes hurt to keep open. I'd be interested to hear some insight.
  • My Mom is a diabetic and she before she know she had it, she would always get really sleepy when her blood sugar spiked. Maybe that's something you can ask your dr to look into.
  • Koldnomore
    Koldnomore Posts: 1,613 Member
    In the afternoon when I'm at work (so after I eat lunch), I start to get very tired and my eyes hurt to keep open. I'd be interested to hear some insight.

    Same with you.. track your sugar. Corn, carrots, bananas, apples.. in the same day = crash. Just try it. If you cut your sugar and are still crashing you can tell me to STFU.
  • natalie412
    natalie412 Posts: 1,039 Member
    That happens to me if I get really, really hungry and then eat a relatively larger meal.
  • nikilis
    nikilis Posts: 2,305 Member
    It's highly possible that your deficit is too high - meaning you are not eating enough and quite possibly skipping meals. This has been known to happen if you are doing Intermittent Fasting - not eating for long periods. If you go for too long without something your blood sugar crashes and you feel completely drained.

    Unfortunately your diary can't tell me anything as it is incomplete. If it is NOT incomplete then you are most definitely not getting enough food. The only thing that I do see in what you have logged is that your carbs&sugar are incredibly high - which will also cause that tired feeling.

    I'd suggest eating a little more, having smaller meals and trying to cut your carb/sugar a touch - mostly the sugar. Don't eat 10 pieces of fruit a day - that much sugar will make you crash HARD. Snack on vegetables instead (celery and cucumber are great)


    80% chance your cals are too low. when I was eating too low I started to feel tired after meals, upped my intake and it went away.
  • amnsetie
    amnsetie Posts: 666 Member
    don't stop logging MJ. if you want an answer you will need a record of what you ate
  • lsmsrbls
    lsmsrbls Posts: 232 Member
    This happens to my partner because he has diabetes.
  • Thanks everyone ^_^

    My doctor said I'm pre-diabetic. I'm really struggling with eating more than once per day to be quite honest. For as long as I can remember, I've only eaten once per day. I feel full all the time and there have been times when I've literally gone 3 days without eating anything because I've felt full all of the time. I'd then eat after getting a terrible headache and it was my mom who noticed this going on years ago.

    How can I feel full all of the time when I'm not really eating? How do I force myself to eat more when I don't feel hungry at all? I had a hysterectomy 8 weeks ago and since then, I feel like everything is thrown way out whack. My sleep schedule is ****. I'm up until 3, 4 or even 6 am, then I sleep all friggen day. Or I'll fall asleep at around midnight and not wake until 2 the next afternoon. This isn't normal for me. Then there have been weeks where I'll sleep maybe 3 or 4 hours a night and be up for 48.

    I need to get everything back into sorts but its been so damn difficult!
  • ry024311
    ry024311 Posts: 1
    Hi can you tell me what the result was as I have the exact same patterns with being sleepy after anything I eat and I had the same sleeping pattern as you as well. Thanks
  • wshultz14
    wshultz14 Posts: 63 Member
    Carbs does that to me... Carbs knocks me out.
  • runner475
    runner475 Posts: 1,236 Member
    My Mom is a diabetic and she before she know she had it, she would always get really sleepy when her blood sugar spiked. Maybe that's something you can ask your dr to look into.

    ^^ this^^

    Absolutely. After the meal sleepy indicates signs of blood glucose spike. You really want to talk to your doctor.
  • dpwellman
    dpwellman Posts: 3,271 Member
    Simple physiology: blood goes to gut to help digest food. Leaves brain. You feel sleepy.
  • s1rens0ng
    s1rens0ng Posts: 127 Member
    I have been the same and found out im prediabetic and an underactive thyroid .. i thought it was just the blood rushing to my stomach or high carbs high sodium foods but it wasnt. Please get checked at your doctors.
  • jeannevdl
    jeannevdl Posts: 33
    I'm not a doctor or nutritionist, I have however seen my fair share of doctors about things concerning weight/body/nutrition and have done excessive reading and research about nutrition and weight loss.

    Being sleepy after a meal is usually to do with glucose levels. Chromium is a mineral usually found in various veggies/fruits, tap water and in the food we cook in stainless steel pots and so. It is also available at your pharmacy.

    Chromium moves glucose from the bloodstream into cells to be used as energy. Lack of chromium in your body may cause that your body is low on calcium as well, your body is perhaps insulin resistant and needs a little help for those glucose levels to be switched over from in the blood stream to into cells to produce energy.

    Chromium also helps with sugar cravings.

    If you do not have diabetes, and you just struggle with post-meal fatigue/cravings for sugar (i.e. carby or sweet things), ask your doctor about chromium.
  • jeannevdl
    jeannevdl Posts: 33
    And it is important to consult your doctor or pharmacist about chromium if you want to use it, since too much chromium in your system may have side effects.
  • evileen99
    evileen99 Posts: 1,564 Member
    It's normal. Why do you think some European countries have siesta after lunch, the largest meal of the day? Because they're sleepy! It's why wolves, lions, etc. sleep for hours after a big kill.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    But this started a month ago and it does not matter what I eat. I'm so sleepy that I have to take a nap. When we had BK the other night, that's the first time in a long time that I had it. Same with the pizza. I just started keeping track on here again so it looks bad in the diary lol.
    I looked at about a month of your diary and it's completely empty.

    Have you spoken to your doctor about this? If it started a month ago and you are eating the same as you always have, then the internet is not the correct place to get advice.

    Please go to your doctor.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    It's normal. Why do you think some European countries have siesta after lunch, the largest meal of the day? Because they're sleepy! It's why wolves, lions, etc. sleep for hours after a big kill.
    No, it is not normal to feel so tired you want to close your eyes after eating a large meal. That's a sign that something is going on.
  • s1rens0ng
    s1rens0ng Posts: 127 Member
    It's normal. Why do you think some European countries have siesta after lunch, the largest meal of the day? Because they're sleepy! It's why wolves, lions, etc. sleep for hours after a big kill.
    No, it is not normal to feel so tired you want to close your eyes after eating a large meal. That's a sign that something is going on.

    i second that.. i used to think the same, that its normal to feel tired after a meal, it not and i believe people have siesta in some countries because its too hot to work at that time of the day???? i could be wrong, someone might be able to clarify lol.
  • You're getting tired from inflammation and glucose.
    http://selfhacked.com/2014/04/13/people-get-tired-even-enough-sleep/
  • annajazz11
    annajazz11 Posts: 9 Member
    Feeling sleepy after eating can indicate onset of diabetes.

    But it can also be a symptom of gluten intolerance if you always feel it after eating wheat. Try eating a few meals without wheat to do a quick check if its gluten related or not.
    For the other, you should go to the doctor to get a blood test.
  • laratacita
    laratacita Posts: 53 Member
    Just use Occam's Razor here. Most people actually aren't gluten intolerant, and carbohydrate overload is far more likely. If the doctor has already told you that it's a prediabetic recommendations, go with his or her recommendations.

    Don't cut out gluten unless you are absolutely sure you have Celiac's Disease. Otherwise, you are just raising the price of these foods for the people who actually *do* need them.
  • pratro
    pratro Posts: 1
    Ok - So I have been suffering from this for a while. I get super super sleepy and fatigued as soon as I eat anything. It was debilitating and I pretty much stopped having most foods.

    Doctors do not have the answer. Everyone says its normal. Its not.

    I won't stretch this out. For me the solution is Digestive Enzymes. Go get them, eat a capsule with a meal and it will digest your food.

    I hope this helps.
  • 2013sk
    2013sk Posts: 1,318 Member
    Sounds like maybe your eating too many carb heavy foods, especially only once a day.

    You need to get lots of protein, veggies, fruit & water into your diet.

    One meal a day, and if its carb loaded... Of course that will knock you out.

    Your probably lacking in some iron/vitamins/minerals.

    Maybe try & take a good multivitamin to boost your system??

    Maybe got to the doctors & get a blood test. Check your thyroid glands etc