Night Eating Syndrome Group?

Does anyone else struggle with night eating syndrome? It's making me nuts. Each week, about 2 or 3 nights, I wake up at the same time and head into the kitchen and attack like, peanut butter or frozen yogurt or something. It's awful and I wake up the following morning feeling so gross. Then, I'll force myself to work out to counteract my fat attack. I like bike riding and running so much better when I'm doing it for me, not to erase a bad night. It makes me feel awful. I usually do not feel hungry until lunchtime. I have read some articles that say I need to restart my eating cycle by eating my calories earlier in the day so I am not hungry later in the evening. Does anyone have any tips to help get thru this? i feel like such a failure with no willpower. Does anyone want to create a support group for people with NES??

I don't have the problem, but I have a suggestion that might help.  When I read your post, since this is happening at the same time it could be that your blood sugar is bottoming out at that time.  One of the first things I was advised in my diabetes education class was to have a snack right before bedtime.  It really helps stabilize the blood sugar over night.  The snack needs to be something small with a balance of fat, protein, and carbs -- I have a light yogurt. 

By planning the snack, it's already included in my calorie count and it's light enough that the gross feeling in the morning isn't there.

Hope this helps.

Lisa

Hi Kimpossible

I dont have a night eating syndrome however I get very hungry at night and I do tons better if I eat a late dinner in fact its around 10pm here and I just finished dinner and I still have around 200 cals to eat as a snack. If I don' do this I will also wake up sometimes at night and I have to eat or I cant get back to sleep.

I agree with morning that it could be related to blood sugar I have noticed if I eat simple carbs at night I will wake up early or in the middle of the night extremely hungery and sometimes light headed.

I also used to not be hungry in the morning and not eat breakfast and I have to say that I was worse at night when I did not eat breakfast.

Thanks, Guys. These are good suggestions, I'll try a smallish snack before bed tonight and hopefully I don't wander into the kitchen at 3am. Lol. Morning - you say you eat yogurt before bed, any other suggestions for a good balance of fat, protein and carbs? What about cottage cheese with fruit? Or some Kashi with a banana?

I think cottage cheese is a good idea. I also have eaten an avoacado if I have the cals. the fat really really helps me not be hungry but it is a lot of calories.

I also like olives with some crackers and cheese. Ive also found that meat works well for me. Like a a small peice of chicken and green beans wih olive oil like a mini dinner. Stuff like thif really helps me with cravings.

Kim,

Those both sound good.  I know a lot of people who have peanut butter and crackers or 1/2 of a turkey and cheese sandwich.

Good luck finding one that works for you.

Lisa

Hi Kimpossible,

Although you'll find people's advice helpful, I can tell you that NES is a very specific and highly rare disorder that most people are unfamiliar with. And it's hard to overcome.

If you just started experiencing these night eating episodes, I would advice for you to seek professional advice from a psychologist soon. I've struggled with it for three years, it came out of the blue and it hasn't gone away.

NES is an eating disorder - not a sleep disorder, like insomnia- usually stress-related. So, first and foremost it's not something you have control over, and it's not something you can counteract by excercising or eating less, that will only perhaps delay the weight gain, but it only takes 100 calories extra a day to make you gain 10 lbs in a year. Trust me, GET HELP. I just started seeing a psychiatrist and I've gone on Zoloft, which in studies was proven to work succesfully.

There's a book about Night Eating Syndrome that came out recently, it's sold on Amazon.com (just do a search on amazon for it, I can't find it right now or I'd tell you the full name), that has some good strategies to overcoming and dealing with NES. I bought it and it helped me understand things a little more. You might want to try that before going to a Doc. You might have more willpower than I!

The best of luck, and if you want to start a support group, hey, I'm all for it! I need all the help I can get.

Albermaria -

Thanks for the tip - I went to my library and found the book " Overcoming Night Eating Syndrome" by Kelly Allison. So far, it looks interesting, but I'm really wondering how helpful it will be. Do you think NES is something that can be beat by restructuring your eating and sleep cycles (like the book says)? I was wondering - how frequently do you eat at night? How many times a week? A night? Do you have a particulary stubborn case of NES? Whenever it happens to me, I wake up in the AM feeling awful and I complain to my boyfriend; he doesn't get it. He's like "well you should have woken me up, I would have stopped you." and I'm like "my mind is somewhere else, it's focused on the kitchen, not on anything else." I feel like such an out of control beast. This past month has been particularly bad for me. As of today, I've eaten in the middle of the night for 15 nights out of 22. It's resulted in me gaining 2 pounds strictly from my nightime trips to the kitchen. This upsets me, so I freak out about my weight and stress even more.

Honestly, the book didn't help me much in terms of stopping the night eating, but it did help me understand the problem. I even emailed back and forth with Dr. Allison for a while (the author). I don't know if NES is something that can be stubborn...I bet it has something more to do with how your personality is - for example, I've always bitten my nails, I used to smoke, etc. so it seems like I'm someone that easily gets "addicted" or "used to" things or habits. So because the strategies didn't work for me, it doesn't mean they might not work for you. I would suggest in the very least to keep a food diary with your night episodes in it and what you ate.


I made my boyfriend put a lock on the door and hide the key, and I would still get up and find it, or make him open it. I was really "thirsty" I said.
I typically wake up twice a night, every night. If I have been drinking, where my self control and defenses are down, then I will eat more, so I try to restrict my drinking as well. I wake up feeling horrible, and bloated and GUILTY! So I know how you feel, and I know the feeling of stressing about your weight (which is also one of my obsessions).


If you can get your boyfriend to help you, to stop you when you wake up and you think that might help, try doing that. You'll find that you go for carbs and fats - things that are comforting and raise your levels of feel-good hormones. So maybe try separating one snack that  you're ok with eating that night. If this just started for you, you might be able to beat it on your own. Try following the excercises in the book, and if not, I strongly urge you to see a therapist, as you have to realize that this is a response to a stress inside of you, something that's upsetting you. I waiting a long time, so maybe that's my problem! :( But, keep writing to me, I did this alone for a long time and I feel better knowing that I'm not the only one out there! :)

I have a similar problem, but I just want to eat a lot before I go to sleep. No idea what to do with that, but try putting something in front of your door so you can't get out? Or if you really want to cure it, put a laser alarm (the kid's toy kind) that goes off when you step in front of it. At least you'll be very awake and realize what you're doing?

Albermaria - Usually what I do is keep like a cracker and a hershey kiss on my nightstand as a just in case I wake up snack. Some nights it works fine and Ill just eat that and then go back to sleep; other nights I won't wake up at all (yay!!), but then on a bad night I'l eat the cracker, the kiss and venture down to like attack the peanut butter or something.

I think my NES developed about 2 years ago, for the longest time I just thought it was me just lacking willpower or just eating out of control. It makes me feel a little better knowing it's actually a disorder, but at the same time, it makes me feel hopeless that I can't beat it on my own.

Did anyone else in your family have this problem? My sister did...and according to the book, this might be a genetic disorder? How scary was the whole section about how NES sufferers wind up eating like a ton more calories than those who don't suffer from NES? The guy in the example ate good all day, and then blew it majorly that night.

Phoenix - lol, believe me, I'll be at that point soon. It's either gonna wind up that the kitchen gets locked up, or certain foods (like peanut butter and frozen yogurt) won't even be brought into the house anymore.

I guess my problem is that I restrict my eating during the day, so at night, it's not just that I'll go for the cracker and the hershey kiss, I'll go get whatever I want. For example, last night I ate some ice cream and a left over mini-fruit-tart from the weekend that I've been wanting forever. It's not really hunger...it's something else.

Like I said, I tried the lock on the door and it didn't work. I really try not to keep any trigger foods - like ice cream!! - in the apt at all, but, I live with my boyfriend and he has to eat! If it were up to me I'd have water and fruit only, but that's not the solution either. I want to try to have more control over what I eat at night, or, ideally, not eat at all.

Nobody in my family has this problem, although eating disorders are common - my mom was bulimic for most of her life.

I actually bought a little mini fridge where I will have sodas and some skim cheese, so maybe if I don't get up to go into the kitchen I will be able to sleep better. Or, not wake up at all.

As a note, I juts started on Zoloft three days ago, and so far I've woken up everynight. I'm feeling really discouraged today, I have to go to the gym and burn all that off!! :( At least I have shrink today and I can vent.

When I had an especially bad night and I felt icky in the AM, I would usually end up fasting until about dinner time. I'd eat dinner, then a snack, then another snack and I'd have this rationale in my head like "Oh, I haven't eaten all day, so it's ok to have these snacks." But it was like this rationale became an excuse to oink out. The more I'd keep repeating it, the more ingrained in my mind it is. Then I'd wake up at 2am, and still be feeling that I was allowed to eat since I haven't eaten alot all day. Before I knew it, I'd eat like all day's calories (and then some) between dinner's end and 2am. That frame of mind seems to be nothing but trouble for me.

The NES book had a good sugestion - shift calorie intake into the day - even though its hard. So, last Sunday, I had a bad night. ANd I totally didn't feel like eating breakfast or lunch. But, I made myself. I had a few more snacks during the day. I;ve been doing this for Mon and Tues, and I haven't woken up either night to eat (not even for the hersehy kiss). I'm so wary though, b/c I can usually go like 1 or 2 days without waking up and then I'll have like 2 bad nights. Anytime I get excited that maybe the nightime eating has gone away, it rears its ugly head.

Are you taking zolofot stritcly for the NES or did your doctor prescribe it as an anti-depressant for you? Does your boyfriend sympathize with you or does he think NES is like a really simple solution ("just don't get out of bed"). It makes me feel like ashamed and like I have no willpower b/c there are times when I get so down on myself for eating at night and my boyfriend is just like "I don't understand why you do it and I wish I could do something to help you."

I knew it! I went 2 days without waking up and last night was bad night It's like physically impossible to go more than 2 or 3 days without doing this!

Don't get discouraged! At least you went 2 days without doing it, that's great! I guess you just have to work at it, it does seem like you have a great chance of doing this on your own. Try doing the visualization excercises in the book, those helped me a little bit.

I am taking the Zoloft strictly for NES, I'm not a depressive person but I definitely have a lot of anxiety in my life - just a natural anxious person I guess. My bf sympathises, but, he really doesn't understand the problem, and even though he tried to help, it didn't really work - following me into the kitchen, making sure i didn't eat some nights. Unfortunately, he needs his sleep too!

I know you feel ashamed, I do too. Like it's something you're causing or creating in your life. However, I refuse to give in to those feelings too much, whenever I start feeling like that I have to tell myself to stop. As long as you're doing something about it, right?I'm pretty much doing all that I can.

Last night I setup the little fridge I bought, and put one soda and one luna bar in it. I was pretty happy that all I did was drink the soda and the luna bar...of course, at 3:30am I got up TOTALLY awake! Couldn't get back to sleep! But, I did realize that there's a huge difference being "awake" and "getting up" (to eat). While I am pretty much sleepy when I get up to eat, when I woke up at 3:30am I didn't eat or want to eat at all. I was just, awake and conscious and alert. I don't know what that means...but I'm sure it means something!

Let me ask you something. Have you always been conscious of what you eat?

Lol - our poor boyfriends probably think we're crazy. I'm really grateful mine is so patient when it comes to me whining in the AM about being an out of control, fridge raiding beast. Hmmm..you had your soda and snack bar and then you fell back asleep? And then you woke up again at 3:30am? Maybe your body knew you had a snack already, so you didn't have the urge to eat? That's a good sign that you didn't eat anything else at 3:30am - the book said there are some people who get up repeatedly throughout the night and eat each time. For the most part, I am aware of what I'm eating at night. Some nights I'm fine with just grabbing the cracker and hershey kiss from the nightstand; other nights I'll eat those and then just make a decision to hit up the kitchen - it's usually when I know there's a dangerous food in the kitchen. Like, a food I've avoided like the plague and then I wake up just wanting it so much. It's not like a rational decision, it's more like a habit. During the whole episode, I'm aware that what I'm doing is wrong, but at the same time, I'm indifferent (until I get back into bed that is).

OMG, my boyfriend totally KNOWS I'm crazy! I try to make it up to him though, lol! His eating habits are much healthier now that he isn't allowed to have junk food in the house, and instead of big packs of the stuff he likes, he buys just what he's going to eat (like, ONE small pack of chips, instead of the big one). So, he really should be THANKING me!

I usually wake up a couple of times a night, last night I woke up and drank the soda in the mini fridge, then went back to sleep. But I woke up again, still thirsty (and my 90lb lab jumping in the bed probably didn't help), so I went to the kitchen fridge and got some crystal light (my boyfriend LOVES that). Of course, I saw the left over brie...and well, cheese and I are dear, dear enemies. It wasn't that much though, ANd I didn't go for the bread - and I love bread! The luna bar is still intact in the fridge, so I guess that's pretty good, i just had the cheese...too bad it's super high in fat! Yet, low carb ;)

I think the pattern here is that we always have things that we deny ourselves during the day, "unhealthy" yet delicious things - like peanut butter, cheese, bread...

I also think it totally is a habit, and it's really hard to break! But I do think once the habit is broken, it can be gone...I quit smoking after a ton of years, and it's been almost a year...so, I have faith!

Just wishing you good luck! I'm going on vacation with my boyfriend for the week. Talk to you soon!

I have the same problem, its like 1:30am and I couldn't stop thinking about food, i jsut had pita and hummus with vegetable juice.  I hate HATE eating at night because i dont like the way it makes me feel to eat and then go to bed. 

I have been a night eater for years.  I seem to wake up one hour after I fall asleep and immediately go tothe refrigerator and eat whatever is high in carbs.  My solution, when I think of itm is not to buy foods that will interest me at night.  This is a very depressing syndrome and I wish I could get rid of it.  I think very little research has been done on it.

I have found this very interesting. I have Fibromyalgia which I think has caused my body to react to additives and preservatives.

2 years ago I gave up all diet drinks and went through withdrawal for a couple of months. Then found that a lot of foods upset me.

If I eat or drink something with additvies or preservatives in I find at bedtime I am restless and do not want to go to sleep, when I do relax The symptoms start can be from a mild burning sensation of the feet and shins to the twitching of nerves.

If I have a good night I usually wake up once and am satisfied with a digestive biscuit and a glass of water.

On a bad night I get up and have a couple of digestive biscuits and a couple of tablespoons of jam, plus a couple of large glasses of water. I can then actually feel the symptoms subside.... weird.

Thinking back as a teen I used to have a burning sensation in my feet a lot of nights. My mother had the same symptoms as me... she had died by the time I discovered my problem so cannot look back at the family history.

Will just try and eat what I know will not upset me, but I do find the flavour of food is so bland.