When I work pretty hard during the week there are a few times where I get insomnia. The question really isn't about what to do about insomnia, but what should I do when I get hungry while having insomnia? I've lost weight by not eating after a certain time (5:30-6:00 usually for me) but when I just wake up at these weird hours like 2-3am I'm really hungry. I usually get up at 5am anyway but I'm not sure if I should be eating any earlier.
Umm I think the best thing to call it is sleeplessness.... Insomnia isn't something you "get" one or twice a week, and although you'll get some hours when you sleep. Insomnia is an on going condition, I've suffered from insomnia since I was 13 years old and as much as I would like to just "get" it a couple of nights a week... it just doesn't happen. Obviously some people are affected lightly while others go four five nights a week without sleep continulously. I used to be lucky to get an hour a night... luckily with changing my diet and doctors and pills I'm getting a reasonable amount of sleep a night.
If you have insomnia your Doctors would have been involved by now but as for sleeplessness try drinking a warm glass of milk before bed, don't eat after six in the evening, drink loads and loads and loads of water because that will keep you full. From December through to April I was literally going on less than an hour a night and by April I was in a total dream state - I would eat dinner at 6 and then at 11 and then again at 3 or 4ish... I put on 14 pounds in those few months. Don't give into the hunger but if you must have an apple, orange some sort of fruit but please don't make a meal, maybe you can even have a small bowl of cereal. If you think that you have insomnia I think you should go to your Doctor because it will need to be treated before it becomes severe.
Wow, I had no idea. I barely sleep at all anymore, maybe 3 or 4 hours a week if I'm lucky. I haven't been to a doctor for it because I didn't realize it could be such a serious problem. I'm not sure if it is insomnia, but it is becoming a problem. I just completely go haywire with my eating at night and it seems like I don't realize I'm doing it while in the process, but the repercussion of it makes it harder and harder for me to lose weight. I also didnt realize that loosing sleep could result in gaining weight (even if you dont eat a lot at night). Thanks for the advice, I should probably go to the doctor just to be certain it isn't something I need to take care of.
Keep water handy. I don't have insomnia, but the past month I've had major sleep issues and have the same problem - 2 or 3 rolls around and I'm starving. If you can help it, don't eat anything. If you do, eat something that isn't super high in sugar, and definitely avoid caffeine. Vegetables, a few crackers, some almonds... you might find that even eating something really small will make you feel better.
Only issue with water is that it can make you have to go pee throughout the night :/ It really seems like you ARE having major problems though, so I agree with seranab; see your doctor. I was prescribed Ambien CR to be used temporarily (2 weeks) so I can eventually get myself on a good sleep schedule. Then I can use it sparingly when I am thrown off.
Prolonged sleep deprivation can have very serious long term consequences. I spent many years working ungodly hours (had to prove to myself and my bosses that the fat chick wasn't lazy). Now my brain spends almost no time in the restful deep levels of sleep. My neurologist says the burning the candle at both ends could have had a role in this, and almost definitely my fibromyalgia and autoimmune disease. (Studies with rats show, that if they're deprived of sleep they die of infection and other diseases of faulty immunity).
Sleep deprivation and disorders are also considered a large factor in fibro, and if you deprive healthy people of sleep, they get symptoms very similar to fibro (not just fatigue and confusion, but muscle and joint pain).
Some people really do just have short sleep cycles, but a sleep study is the only way to tell if you're getting the quality and quantity of sleep you need.
I have insomnia .. my doctor prescribes two different medications, but I find they are not very effective and leave me dopey for hours after waking up, so I often do not take them unless I have to.
What I do ... my weight loss is done through counting calories ... is I assume that I will be up at some point during the night, so I leave about 200 calories just for that.
That allows me to either have a small meal during the early hours, or a great sinful snack LOL. Like popcorn WITH butter rather than plain.
But I do try not to eat, and if I can save the calories, than after a week or so I *spend them* on a craved meal that I couldn't normally have.
I read another thread on the calorie counters board, too, in which the author started counting her calories at dinnertime rather than the morning, because it was easier for her not to splurge in the morning and afternoons and more difficult in the evenings/nights. You could try that, even if you count points or carbs.
Just wanted to add .... Kaplods is right. You should mention this to your doctor and ask for a sleep study. You may have sleep apnea if you are waking up
during the night or any other sleep disorder that could be dangerous.
For me, I just thought it was one of those things that I had to deal with. But after a few sleep studies, they realized that my brain doesn't go deep enough into sleep ... so I wake up or don't even get there most times without medication.
Insomnia..Any suggestions?
