I have been struggling with bulimia/anorexia for over 5 years. With the last year I have slowly self recovered from them, gaining eventually and reaching a happy healthy weight. BUT the last 7 months I've been suffering from NES. I wake up about 3-5 times a night to eat even when I'm not hungry at all". I have gained 42 pounds since this has started!

Does anyone experience this or know anything of it?

I've never heard of anything like it. Must you give in to the desire to eat when you wake up.

I'd be going back to the dietician or treating doctor/therapist if i were you. A CBT therapist would probably be able to work best with this I would think.

And are you able to eat things that are less unhealthy in the middle of the night and not eat too much when you do eat. What are you eating?


Sounds like you might have some stress of anxiety going on. I"d focus on getting that under control if its the case.

I've done lots of stuff with therapists and personal growth, that's where i'm coming from in my replies.

I do not know anything about NES but I wonder if you could take a sleep aid that might prevent the waking? Definitely recommend seeing your doctor.

Is this the one where you overeat/binge at night or the other one where you have no clue that you are eating? Like you are sleep walking and consuming large amounts of food with no recollection.
A year and a half ago I lost a lot of weight and I started to have major binge problems in the middle of the night. It was related to frustration with sleep, high levels of anxiety, being underweight, and hunger.
You probably need professional help. I am sorry you are struggling with this. These problems are no fun. Know that you are not alone.

I am slowly weaning myself from the same thing. I would take melatonin to help me sleep throughout the night. My problem was that I didn't eat much during the day so come night time I would be very hungry. I guess you can try pausing and asking yourself if the extra calories are really worth it, and if you are eating because you're bored. Some people when they have the urge to eat when not hungry will decide to exercise instead. If you do go the melatonin route, you might not want to take it long term. Even though it is a natural sleep aid and not a drug, I noticed it tended to wear off as my body got used to it.

Megpie - I've not heard of this disorder either, but I am so sorry to hear that you are struggling with it.

Are you saying that you can't get back to sleep unless you eat? Even if you aren't hungry? If so, perhaps some of the other posters' suggestions might be helpful.

Your post caught my eye because I "suffer" (if you even want to call it that) from the opposite. If I wake up in the middle of the night, hungry or not, I absolutely CANNOT eat anything. If I'm not hungry, of course it's not a problem. And most of the time it isn't - it's just insomnia. But if I AM hungry and need to eat in order to sleep, I find it impossible to put food in my mouth. A little strange, but again, it's not a huge problem for me since I rarely wake from hunger. But I've always found it odd that I can't eat at all in the middle of the night.

I have started taking one Advil PM every evening with my nighttime meds, and that has really helped me sleep through the night. Probably not the best idea, but I take a medicine called Niaspan which causes a lot of flushing and it's important for me to sleep through that so I don't wake up with these side effects as it causes me to start a horrible itch/scratch cycle. For me the positives outweigh the negatives.

I hope you can find some answers soon. It must be horribly frustrating to have this weight gain and feel so powerless to stop it.

I have that problem myself.I hate myself for it too.I have to take sleeping pills so I don't get up in the night and invade the food.It's a form of a seizure that epileptic have