Hi, I´m a newbie from Europe.

I´m 54 years old and have suffered from Night Eating Syndrome for as long as I can remember. I´m tall so I could get away with it when I was younger, but for the last 10 years I´ve been on a rollercoaster, going on diets, losing a lot, but gaining everything back in six months, because I consume almost all of my calorie intake at nights.

I had to deal with job cuts and serious financial problems this summer, so have gained weight steadily since fall. I weigh now 191 pounds and my BMI is 27.

My goal weight is 171 pounds, BMI 24.

I have never before admitted this because I feel so much ashamed. Friends have commented on my weight gain and yesterday when I was doing Christmas shopping, I saw myself in a mirror in one of the stores and realized how fat I have become.

I need support very badly and some tips as to how to beat this problems. Please share if you have a similar problem.

Thanks for reading.

I had a huge struggle with eating at night also and just want to encourage you that the habit CAN be broken. I just made sure I ate a good, healthful dinner and just made up my mind that I would NOT eat anything afterward. Sometimes an exception would be an apple or a few chopped veggies. Now, just a few months later, most of the time I don't even think about eating at night and when I do I just remind myself of my commitment and don't do it. I don't quite understand your calling it a "syndrome" -- IMO it is just a very bad habit and one that can be broken with some determination and a *decision* not to do it.

Hang in there... you can do it!

Hi Misti in Seattle,

Thank you so much for your support. I really appreciate it. By the way, I have been to Seattle and it´s a beautiful city I would love to visit again.

I thought Night Eating was a bad habit as well, but my doctor diagnosed me with this condition and told me it is a compulsive disorder caused by various complicated factors. That is why it is so difficult to break the bad cycle.

Here are the symptoms:

"People who suffer from Night Eating Syndrome will typically limit the amount of food they eat throughout the day and then compensate by binging just before bedtime or by waking up in the middle of the night in order to eat. This pattern of self-starvation and over-consumption causes many individuals with NES to develop insomnia or other sleep disturbances. Many people with this disorder will feel as if they cannot fall asleep unless they eat right before going to bed; however, some individuals suffering from NES will not even be aware that they are eating at night because they are waking up and eating in a sleep-walking state.

Other symptoms of Night Eating Syndrome are:

* Binge eating right before bed or continually eating during the night
* Feeling guilty, anxious or upset while eating
* Difficulty falling or staying asleep
* Uncontrollable desire to eat during the night
* Eating over half your daily calories after dinner
* Little or no appetite in the morning
* Feeling nauseous in the morning
* Anxiety
* Depression
* Excessive weight gain
* Feeling out of control over the ability to stop

I have all these symptoms, but am determined to overcome them. I just don´t know how yet how to do it.

Hi Jojo and thank you for your supportive post.

I loved the tip about using chewing gum, but the problem is I get so hungry I cannot sleep, so I go half dazed into the kitchen and eat and eat and eat until I feel full. Only then can I fall asleep.

I´m going to try limiting my calorie intake and drink more water during the day. I have already been out for a 15 minutes walk and had an OK lunch.

I don´t feel hungry at all during the day and even if I do, I can deal with it without any problems.

Then when I relax at night, I get into incontrollable binge eating. I really don´t know what to do.

I was going to suggest the opposite: eat three balanced, wholesome meals during the day, even if you don't feel like it initially. The only way to reset your current eating clock is to consciously shift your caloric consumption toward the earlier part of the day, IMO. You've got nothing to lose by trying it.

F.

Hi Rosamaria,

I just want to say I support you 100% because I have all of these same symptoms you have. This is not the same thing as eating too much after dinner or snacking late at night.

This has been going on for me since about April and in that time I've gained about 30 pounds. Sometimes I'm aware of eating and simply (feel as if I) can't control it because I'm half a sleep and feel a true compulsion to do it OR I actually wake up the next morning with an empty bowl on the nightstand next to me with no memory of actually eating anything in the night. I've actually been woken up by the buzz of the microwave: I had gotten up and out of bed, pulled something out of the freezer, put something in the microwave, and stood waiting in front of it in my sleep. It's awful. It's awful to work so hard during the day on exercise and calorie counting to have it all go out the window in the middle of the night.

I've had some success in the last two weeks by simply not having any/much food in the house (this was at the suggestion of my doctor). She suggested buying food daily. The only food I do have permanently in the house is things like carrots and bananas, so when I am eating in the middle of the night, it's low-calorie food.

I also recently re-started Topamax, which is a med I've been on before. It's also known as "dopamax" because it can make you really stupid. It made me incredibly dopey last time I was on it so my doctor and I are going very slowly with it this time. It treats addictions and has as a side effect appetite suppression. The last time I was on it I forgot to eat completely. But like I said, this time we're going very slowly with dosage so my appetite hasn't changed much. I'm taking it right before bed and the hope is that eventually it will help me to be able to sleep through the night without eating.

I'm starting to have some success I think, because Saturday night I slept through the night without eating for the first time since about March. It felt so good. I was SO well-rested when I woke in the morning. I was hoping to sleep through the night last night, too, but I was up again, eating....

I wish you the best of luck. You're not alone.

Same here

I believe NES is a "real" thing. I believe if your doctor prescribes meds, you should take them. What follows is what happened to me. I don't know if I really have NES, lie somewhere on a continuum, or just have a bad habit. I am pretty sure I do have some form of sleep apnea and I read that sometimes NES and sleep apnea are related.

I started eating at night when I first had children. They weren't good sleepers, so I was up a lot. Because of nursing and the stress of two small sleepless children, I lost quite a bit of weight and needed all that extra food.

Fortunately, the children, who are now in their 40s, finally learned to sleep, but I had developed this horrible habit which has contributed to my weight problem over the years.

My friend's daughter was diagnosed with NES. Her doctor put her on some medication - I forget what it was at the moment. The daughter apparently felt like she was instantly cured of the NES. My friend was encouraging me to see a doctor and get meds. Somehow, I had this kind of epiphany that I didn't want to be on psychotropic drugs. Since then, probably about two years, I haven't had the problem of eating at night. I can't say I never eat during the night, but I do it infrequently enough that it's not a problem any more.

I don't know how to explain this, but obviously something happened inside my head.

I still overeat during the day and I am still overweight. I find that the one thing that really helps me to stay on track is to eat scrupulously well [curtailing the refined sugar and wheat helps me] and adequately during the day. No more 1000 calorie limits. So far, I seem to be doing well on about 1400 calories. When I am "on track", I eat a couple of gigantic salads, and add a lot [maybe two cups at 40 cal/cup] of veggies to my main meals. I believe all the veggies really help. I think that for me, eating enough during the day was key to not eating at night.

In general, I think that if you hate breakfast, don't eat it. In my case, where I was eating so much at night, I think I need to eat breakfast, and I have trained myself to do it. It can be done - I am proof. I actually like eating breakfast now.

I am grateful that, for whatever reason, I am not so compelled to eat during the night like I used to. Somehow, the night eating is much harder to cope with than over eating during the day. I don't feel so powerless anymore.

I wish you the best however you do it - meds, yoga, or a spiritual awakening. You will feel much better if you get a handle on this unhelpful behavior. I feel better even when the weight loss doesn't go well. I used to wake up with a sort of hang-over from eating during the night.

Hello again

Actually I have read about the "disorder" online and, sorry to say, I do not buy it. Having a "syndrome" or disorder makes it not our fault and not something we can control, and I just think that mindset is a recipe for failure.

Please know that I understand... I was the world's WORST night eater, and it was not an easy habit to break. But it can be done and is so worth it!!!

Just a suggestion... but one thing that helped me was being in a daily check-in thread here. I started out (as several others did) writing down every bite I ate and posting it in the thread. Believe me, if you know you are going to have to go post it publicly, there are a lot of times this keeps you from eating... at least it sure did me! I am not going to come online and admit that I ate 3 candy bars, a bag of chips, half a chocolate cake and 4 cups of coffee (just an example; don't think I ever actually at that, but you get the picture).

Even now there are times when I wake up in the night... I am a real night owl... and I will come to the forum and do "personals" to the people in my thread or go to the Intro section and write welcome messages to the newbies, etc. I will come here and post rather than eat.

I am certainly not going to try to dispute it if you believe you have a disorder; it is just my personal opinion that a lot of things people fall into are now classified as illnesses. Personally I stand by my comments that it is up to me to take personal responsibility for what I do/do not put into my mouth.

I would also add, though, that if you have a doctor whom you trust, you should follow his/her advice and take any prescribed medication. I am personally under medical supervision with my eating and health plan and highly recommend it.

In any case, I truly wish you the best of success!!!

I agree! AND make sure the food eaten is healthful, with lots of fresh fruit and veggies, etc. It is amazing how much my cravings have decreased now that I am getting actual nutrition out of my food instead of just empty calories and stuff filled with addictive chemicals, sugar, fat, salt, etc.

Ι have the exact same problem although when i read the symptoms i don't have all of them........so i don't know if i have the syndrome or if i simply have created a very bad habit for myself. I just know that i eat a lot before going to bed and then i eat during the night. I wake up and eat. It's like a timer goes off in me and pop i am off the bed and into the kitchen. I lean on calling it habit, and it gained me MOST of my 50 pounds up....... Cannot seem to be able to break it though..........during the day i rarely overeat.....and i cannot banish sweets and such from the house completely since my daughter loves kinder eggs. I cannot punish her (who is also thin as a pin) just because mommy is a bloody idiot that cannot control her urges. I need to find a way NOT to eat at night - around the hard 'corner' of my daughter's small sweet treats.

Hi all and hugs to you.

I just came home from a Christmas feast - the 24th is the big Christmas evening in my country -an I probably had about 3000 calorie meal, if not more.

I´m so happy to see all the replies and will reply to all of you tomorrow.

First let me correct something: Freelancemomma and Misti, I meant I´m going to lower the calorie intake at night! Not during the day. I´m going to reverse the cycle, but I don´t think the right way is to do it suddenly.

My doctor gives me two types of AD for my condition, I´m also prone to anxiety and depression. Some years ago I bought a house and then lost my income and savings, so I have major financial problems, which I´m sorting out with a lawyer. I almost had to file for bankruptsy and I´m not out of the woods yet, but I have gotten my job back.

I look at this condition of night eating as a syndrome, not because I want to be in a victim mode, but because I believe it´s a disorder. I aknowledge my responsibility when I believe it´s right, but food is not my only problem.

I spend and work compulsively, and right now I´m sorting through my clutter that has filled my house for almost four years. People think when they visit me that I live in a beautiful house with a perfect garden, but that is not so. The living room is the only room I can invite guests to.

The toll it has taken on my family is another project to work on.

During the year I was out of job with debts piling up, I was mostly inside and didn´t want to face the world. My place was cluttered and I was so ashamed. I did nothing but eat and overspend.

Now I´m getting my life back on track. Since my Visa cards are all maxed out and I´m paying them back, I have stopped spending, because I cannot afford to live beyond my means. I pay everything in cash. That has not cured my spending addiction, it has only modified my behavior. If the banks would give me my Gold and Platinum cards back, I would start spending in a matter of months. I go to twelve step meetings once a week for that.

I believe these disorders are related and it will take a long time to sort all of this out. I´m so glad I found this forum. This is not easy for me to admit, the clutter, the overspending and the binging - but I need to address it so I can keep some sort of balance in my life.

Hi rosamaria. I understand you are suffering. I just want to say there are many people here who are supportive. Many have given good tips but for a disorder I wonder if you have received therapy from a trained professional like a psychiatrist. I have friends who go and it has worked miracles, miracles of science or psychology. the best kind.
Where in Europe are you from? I understand in many European countries the health benefits are quite good and therapy maybe covered.
Please be well and keep us posted.

I have had a horrible problem with night eating lately! I lost my job in September and completely gave up on my diet and working out because I was so depressed and I didn't have any money to buy my healthy foods. I've gained about 15 pounds! I have it planned that on Wednesday I'm kicking my butt back into action! I really need to sit down and get a plan together. Mind over matter!