Waking and eating in the middle of the night - help?

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kirdyq
kirdyq Posts: 165 Member
in Food and Nutrition
For years I have had problems with this. Usually at least once a night, I will wake up and automatically get out of bed and go to the kitchen and eat a snack. This usually happens around 2am or so. Sometimes it's twice a night. When twice, it will be about an hour after I go to bed, then again around 2ish or so. This happens almost every single night.

I am aware that I'm doing this in some sense, although I'm very sleepy when I do it. And I feel like I have no self control to stop doing it, I think because I'm so tired when it happens since I've been asleep. The next day, I DO remember that I've been up and eaten. Very rarely I will find dishes in the sink that I don't remember putting there, although on occasion it happens.

I feel that this is keeping me from hitting my weight loss goals. I feel like I'm eating back a bunch of calories and it's preventing me from losing the 15 pounds that I want to lose. Mainly what I snack on in the middle of the night is stuff like cottage cheese, regular cheese, and bread. So it's not like I'm eating complete trash like chips and chocolate, but I'm grabbing stuff with carbs and fat.

Does anybody else struggle with this? Any thoughts on how to break this cycle? I keep a glass of water on the nightstand, but it's like I have no control to just take a drink of water and go back to bed. It's like I'm compelled to get up and eat something.

Replies

  • MelaniaTrump
    MelaniaTrump Posts: 2,694 Member
    edited April 2016
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    Are you taking any medications? Alcohol at night? Herbals? Supplements? Diet pills? Drinking caffeine products after 4pm? Even chocolate has caffeine. Serious stress in your life will do it ! Depression? Shift worker? Sedatives? Sleep apnea? Restless leg syndrome? Acid reflux? Hyperthyroism? Head injury? Anxiety?

    In other words: It's time to go see a doctor.
  • kirdyq
    kirdyq Posts: 165 Member
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    The only prescription medicine that I take is the blood thinner Coumadin. I also take 1/2 to a full Unisom sleep tab at night (which never keeps me asleep), and then an herbal supplement called astragalus which is supposed to boost your immune system. I've been on all of these well over a year now, and this issue I have with night eating stems back further than that.

    Other than that, I do not take diet pills and don't drink caffeine at all in the evening. Any caffeine that I have during the day is usually consumed prior to 1pm.

    I suppose I have stress - I'm a full time working mom. So I feel like stress is going to be common there. I don't feel like it's out of control stress though.

    I don't think I'm depressed, although I have gained 15 pounds in the past year and a half that I can't seem to lose. None of my clothes fit, and that makes me feel like crap.
  • csuhar
    csuhar Posts: 779 Member
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    Just my opinion, but if you're doing something that you feel little or no control over, you might want to consider seeking professional medical advice. We could give you all kinds of pointers, but if your body's running on auto-pilot, you may need more than we can offer to help you wrestle control back from whatever's currently driving things.
  • MelaniaTrump
    MelaniaTrump Posts: 2,694 Member
    edited April 2016
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    Magnesium deficiency could do it. Forgot to mention that.
    Foods: Dark leafy greens (spinach,kale), almonds, salmon, avocados, beans, yogurt, bananas.
    Fast foods/high processed foods contain very little. Take a multivitamin as a bit of insurance?
    Ever tried an epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) bath at night?
  • kirdyq
    kirdyq Posts: 165 Member
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    csuhar wrote: »
    Just my opinion, but if you're doing something that you feel little or no control over, you might want to consider seeking professional medical advice. We could give you all kinds of pointers, but if your body's running on auto-pilot, you may need more than we can offer to help you wrestle control back from whatever's currently driving things.

    This is true. I try not to consult Dr. Google more than I have to, but there is something called NES (night eating syndrome) that I read about. It sounds pretty much exactly like what I'm struggling with. It sounds like they treat it with drugs that I have had past experience with (for other issues!) and I know that these drugs make me sick. So I would like to find something where I'm not cranking prescription meds into myself. But yes, I very well may end up making an appointment with my doctor to discuss this, especially now that I seem to have gained this weight and I'm having problems getting rid of it, since all of my hard nutrition work during my waking hours seems to be undone by eating in the middle of the night. :(
  • kirdyq
    kirdyq Posts: 165 Member
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    JanetYellen wrote: »
    Magnesium deficiency could do it. Forgot to mention that.
    Foods: Dark leafy greens (spinach,kale), almonds, salmon, avocados, beans, yogurt, bananas.
    Fast foods/high processed foods contain very little. Take a multivitamin as a bit of insurance?
    Ever tried an epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) bath at night?

    There was a period of time within the past year where I was taking magnesium glycinate each day. I was taking it for headache issues. I did not notice any change while taking it in the way that I was sleeping, and I was still waking in the night doing as I always do.

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