Sleep disorders and weight loss/gain

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elinsofie
elinsofie Posts: 69 Member
in Motivation and Support
Anyone else here with sleeping disorders (narcolepsy, hypersomnia, apnea etc.)? How is it affecting your weight and your eating and exercise habits? Are there any foods that will make you feel more tired or more awake? How about food/sugar cravings?

I have narcolepsy which not only makes me tired all the time, but it also affects my metabolism and sometimes gives me huge food/sugar cravings. If I don't constantly watch what I'm eating, I will always gain weight. On the bright side, I always lose weight if I keep track of what I eat :) The more sugar/carbs I eat, the more cravings I get, so I'm trying to reduce that. I used to be a big time carb junkie and I still have slip ups, but it's improved a lot. I'm trying to figure out whether coffee is a (relatively) good thing or just a quick fix, but I haven't come to any conclusion yet. Most of my exercise comes from dog walking and working out on the Wii. That way I can exercise whenever I feel up to it, without spending a lot of money on gym memberships that I'll never use.

I can't make the narcolepsy go away, but my goal is to try to make the rest of me function as good as possible. I would love to learn more about how other sleepy people are coping!

Replies

  • kennysrush
    kennysrush Posts: 124
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    I have sleep apnea and use a CPAP machine and I also suffer from Hypothyroidism which messes with my weight. I keep to a healthy diet and exercise in the mornings and I have energy to go all day. I've even cut down on my coffee consumption.

    Best of luck!
  • jlmoss1973
    jlmoss1973 Posts: 2 Member
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    Have you tried taking some B vitamins? I'm a coffee junkie, but have been trying to ween myself. When I need a boost I drink water with some vitamin powder in it. The B vitamins give me enough pep/alertness to push through.
  • justcraziness
    justcraziness Posts: 7
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    Hi there! I have chronic insomnia. I am worried about how it will affect my weight loss as well. I quit taking medication for it about 6 months ago because I can't stand having to take a pill every single night, and truthfully they don't work that well anyway. I probably average about 3-4 hours of sleep a night.

    To be completely honest with you I thought that adding all of this exercise would help me sleep, but it has had the opposite affect, lol. I am now more wide awake than ever.

    I am also a carb junkie! I love pasta so much!! I work out on my xbox kinnect and on my treadmill. There are a lot of days I don't feel like doing a thing because I am sooo tired, but I force myself. I will make myself do at least 30 minutes a day no matter how crappy I feel, and I think that helps. Most days I hit between 45-60 minutes a day because once I hit that 30 minutes I start to feel better.
  • kaytedawg05
    kaytedawg05 Posts: 209
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    i have insomnia... the inability to fall asleep. but i can stay asleep... most of the time... if i don't get enough sleep I am cranky, stuffing my face... because i'm in search of energy & mood boosting... i put on a crap ton of weight a lot to do with that... i find that if i avoid carbs, especially sugar I have more energy during the day, better moods overall, less mood swings, and better sleep patterns.. that and exercise... i also take a melatonin tablet if i think i might need help falling asleep or I know I MUST get a good night rest for a busy next day.. research has shown that lack of sleep reduces your ability to fight off calories too... some have said as much as 30% that I have read.

    i can't imagine dealing w narcoleptcy I had a boss once who fell asleep standing up and burnt his face on a heat chute.
  • elinsofie
    elinsofie Posts: 69 Member
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    Have you tried taking some B vitamins? I'm a coffee junkie, but have been trying to ween myself. When I need a boost I drink water with some vitamin powder in it. The B vitamins give me enough pep/alertness to push through.

    I used to take B vitamin supplements when I was a vegetarian, but I didn't know you could take B vitamins as an energy boost! I did some googling and it seems that the body uses vitamin B for metabolizing food to energy, so I guess that makes sense. They also say that "B-vitamins can have a direct effect on important neurotransmitters in the brain, such as serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine" - just what I need :) I'll look further into that. Thanks for the tip!
  • MidnightRadio
    MidnightRadio Posts: 56 Member
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    I've been suffering from chronic insomnia since I was a kid. The doctors and specialists haven't been able to help me, and the drugs rarely work. I tend to gain more weight when I go through a particularly bad stretch of sleeplessness. I've started exercising late at night to try to tire my body out.
    I remember seeing all the narcolepsy patients at the sleep clinic... That must be hard to cope with.
  • deseablev
    deseablev Posts: 26
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    I would try changing the time you work out. Also try melatonin


    Hi there! I have chronic insomnia. I am worried about how it will affect my weight loss as well. I quit taking medication for it about 6 months ago because I can't stand having to take a pill every single night, and truthfully they don't work that well anyway. I probably average about 3-4 hours of sleep a night.

    To be completely honest with you I thought that adding all of this exercise would help me sleep, but it has had the opposite affect, lol. I am now more wide awake than ever.

    I am also a carb junkie! I love pasta so much!! I work out on my xbox kinnect and on my treadmill. There are a lot of days I don't feel like doing a thing because I am sooo tired, but I force myself. I will make myself do at least 30 minutes a day no matter how crappy I feel, and I think that helps. Most days I hit between 45-60 minutes a day because once I hit that 30 minutes I start to feel better.
  • deseablev
    deseablev Posts: 26
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    I have idiopathic hypersomnia with mild sleep apnea. (At one time they diagnosed me with narcolepsy but that's a whole other story). It's been soooo hard to lose weight for me. In addition to my busy schedule, I have a very difficult time trying to get enough energy to work out. For awhile I found that my work outs are much for efficient in the morning. The problem is I have a very hard time waking up in the morning early enough to work out before work. But when i do, I eat a very light breakfast and at least 30 minutes later I work out. It works better for me than trying to work out in the evening after I am exhausted from a long day.
    I haven't found a connection really between foods and how I feel, except during class I sometimes woudl eat to keep my from nodding off.

    Any advice would be great!!!! My pills are just not cutting it out anymore (in general) and my physician won't put me on Xyrem just yet so I need to find other ways to get more energy!

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