any night time eaters out there

[melimeli]

So I really think I have night time eating syndrome and it is something I have battled my whole life... I wake up in the middle of the night and want to eat.. and it is almost uncontrolable. and I always desire carbs or sweet foods. It doesn´t matter if I am eating low carb or not the cravings are always the same and always strong. When I lost my 100 lbs I had to limit my day time calorie intake to 700 calories to allow for night time eating. It is like waking up 2 to 3 times.. it sucks... you can google if you have never heard of it.. I have tried to use some melatonin to combat it and it helps some but I think it is a hormonal issue or something although drs wont do anything for me... any of you have this?

[Elizellen]

I don't know anything about the condition, but if you know you will need to get up in the night and eat then you need to plan your menus and prepare food so you have easily accessible 'legal' snacks ready for those times in the night.

And make sure you do not have any 'illegal' foods prominent that you could choose in a weak moment so you will have nothing to regret in the morning.

You might well find the urge to eat at 'inappropriate' times lessens once you get into ketosis, but till then be prepared!

[sallyseachange]

Wow... I'd never heard of this condition.
I agree with Elizellen... it might get better when ketosis kicks in, but in the meantime, be well prepared.
Also, have you thought about maybe keeping a food diary? It might just give you a few clues as to which foods (and when you eat them) cause you to wake up more at night.

[susan423]

Yes, I've done this most of my adult life. Don't remember so much as a kid. But I always crave sweets. I've been keeping a can of sweet tasting soda by my bed (diet root beer, orange) and that seemed to help. My reason for waking up is either to empty my bladder (doesn't matter when I stop drinking, I still have to) or to let my dog out to do his thing.

[ceemarie]

One suggestion I have is to go to a sleep clinic. We studied this briefly in one of my psych classes. It can be related to a sleeping disorder similiar to sleep walking I believe. It might be worth your time to check it out.

[melimeli]

yes it is so bad... I feel horrible and it is my dirty secret that even my parents don´t know... I have never slept through a entire night I always wake up 3 to 4 times... I was always skinny as a kid... 130 until I was 22 but I have always battled this. The problem is getting drs to understand. They just dont believe. When I am at someones house like inlaws it takes all my strength not to go through their cupboards in the night... it is almost like an obssive cumpulsive thing where you just don´t feel right if you don´t do it... it is hard to explain. but it is very hard to live with and not baloon up... when I ate normal during the day and ate at night I ballooned up tp 287 so I have had to limit daytime eating to stay reletivly normal but if I could get over this I could loose weight so much easier but really it is somewhat uncontrolable

[Elizellen]

Oh what a horrid thing to have to cope with Meli

I often awake in the night but luckily dont have the same compulsions. The suggestion of finding a sleep clinic seems a sound one, as they at least will have come across others with the same condition.

[Lyssie]

So what happens when you go cold turkey without eating at night for a few days? Do the cravings get better?

I used to flip my schedule back and forth while sleeping with someone noctural (we would sleep about 3p-2a) on weekends. I would wake up around 6p *NEEDING* to eat something, it didn't really matter what. My body was so used to the schedule that I kept during the week that I *had* to eat at that time. It was really horrific, I would be exhausted, but not be able to fall back asleep until I had eaten something.

I know this doesn't explain why it would have started, but maybe breaking your body of the habit of eating something would help?