Night Eating Syndrome

[eplascak]

I suffer from night eating syndrome. I will binge uncontrollably at night and have no recollection of doing it. I am apparently a very messy unconscious eater, so I know I am doing it because I leave junk all over the kitchen and wake up with a stomach ache. I am very embarassed that I have this problem. It makes me gain weight and I cannot control it. It is not a matter of will power. I can't even remember it happening. I don't really want to take medication for this, I would prefer to try and solve it other ways.

I recently purchased locks for my fridge, freezer, and pantry. They have not arrived yet. This is the only thing I can think of to do. I am planning on locking these at night and having my boyfriend hide the keys, so I cannot get into food at night.

I was just wondering if anyone else has this problem and what you have done about it. It would be nice to know tha I am not alone.

[DezziePS]

Oh wow. I am fortunate to not suffer from the same affliction- I can not even imagine how frustrating (and frightening!) that would be. I saw a documentary several years ago about this. A man and a woman who both suffered from it talked about how they often ate things that were really strange- a jar of mayo, a pound of raw bacon. If remember correctly, I think both of them ended up doing the locks on the cupboards/fridge thing and that seemed to help. I completely understand your desire to avoid meds- it seems like a lot of meds they have for sleep disorders like this are really just strong sedatives (DH has restless legs and that's what the meds for that are) that probably would make you tired all day to boot. Best of luck with this!

[Hazy]

Luckily I do not eat at night, I can't imagine how awful that must be for you. But if I nap during the day, I frequently begin eating before waking up and regain consciousness in the middle of handfuls of cereal.

Besides not napping (which wouldn't help you as you obviously have to sleep at night), the only thing that has ever worked is eating something right before going to sleep. I know you aren't supposed to eat before sleeping, but it works for me.

I'm not sure if this would help, but could you change the hours you sleep, even by just a little, and see if it does anything? Or if you usually eat around a certain time every night, you could set an alarm for around then so you wake up while eating or before.

Good luck, I am sure if nothing else the locks will work for you!