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.
Hi Pluckpear and thank you.
I´m in Scandinavia and we have excellent health care. I have a doctor, a therapist and psychologist and they are helping me working through this. I´m on medication for depression and anxiety and do CBT and talk therapy as well. I used to have a psychiatrist when things were overwhelming as I described.
I have now gone one night without overeating. I continue to drink water through the day.
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!
It´s the same with me, I had job cuts in August and it triggered a new binging episode. On Wednesday I´m not going to eat pastry, chocolate and white bread. I have been binging on those, and it´s addictive and the blood sugar goes way up, only to come crashing down and then I crave carbs. So I´m not having those in my diet as of Wednesday.
Thanks for your lovely and supportive posts. I think it´s a very good idea to start eating breakfast at night. I did that tonight for the first time and had only a bowl of cereal and half an orange. I slept through the night but didn´t get enough sleep.
NES is a real syndrome. I am convinced of it and it is a compulsion just like spending. Here is some more info about NES:
Causes of Night Eating Syndrome
"Night Eating Syndrome can be caused by several different factors, including hormone imbalances, excessive stress, and underlying eating and mood disorders such as depression, anxiety, self-starvation and food addiction.
* Hormone imbalances, such as very low levels of melatonin, leptin and serotonin, can disrupt normal sleep/wake cycles and negatively affect eating patterns.
* Excessive stress at work or home can cause a person to turn to night eating in order to cope.
* Strict dieting throughout the day can lead the person to overcompensate by bingeing at night.
* Depression and anxiety can lead to emotional binge eating. During binges, people typically turn to carbohydrate-rich foods, which have been shown to increase levels of serotonin in the brain and help a person sleep at night.
* An addiction to food can cause many to develop Night Eating Syndrome because they have learned to rely on night binges in order to fall asleep and function during the day."
I 'think' i may have this from what you wrote. This part of the syndrome is the MOST active with me. I have never looked at my 'problem' this way before and it kind of makes sense to me.....
Depression and anxiety can lead to emotional binge eating. During binges, people typically turn to carbohydrate-rich foods, which have been shown to increase levels of serotonin in the brain and help a person sleep at night.
* An addiction to food can cause many to develop Night Eating Syndrome because they have learned to rely on night binges in order to fall asleep and function during the day."
"They" also say that you shouldn't eat late at night/before bed. I disagree. If I have a glass of milk and a piece of laughing cow cheese before bed, I feel less anxious about being hungry during the night.
I think we are all saying that you need to do what works for you. Customize your plan so that you get the most comfort and the least overeating possible.
We just got back from Christmas dinner at the neighbors. I ate too much and before we went over there I made some cookies to take along, and ate quite a few, so I am not exactly following my own advice.
Just got back from another Christmas party where I overate again, but I´m going to try not to eat much during the night. I have the pre-breakfast in mind, bowl of cereals, a few grapes and one banana.
I think it is necessary to realize why the need to binge is there, obviously there are deepsided issues, at least for me. The people in my twelve step group feel the same way. We often talk about this deep hurt that makes us want to get "love" from the world by buying or comfort eating.
I think the bottom line is that I try to avoid pain or discomfort and to avoid it I binge at night. I also think that I´m still coping like a child or a teenager. My teen at 14 is more mature about some things than I am. I want everything now, like a child, and I cannot face things head on with self confidence.
I´m learning to do so in therapy and it has taken such a long time. But I need to know how to cope, so I won´t go back to overeat and overspend.
I am also buying things all the time. Small things mainly for my daughter, but somehow buying makes me feel better. As is eating at night. I know exactly what my problems are right now but i have no way of dealing with them. Primarily because one of them is a problem for the whole country that is bending all of us in half and secondarily my marriage. And that is a big problem that cannot be easily solved. So there goes the night trips to the fridge again and again. My ticker isn't going anywhere by the looks of it, but at least i have started bicycling every night for half an hour.....at least i am doing something else besides eating.
PS:Something i haven't mentioned before is that i was at the brink of anorexia neurosa when i was in my low 110...okok i lied i reached 103 at one point and i thought i was heavy, i wore loose clothing to hide my body and i barely ate anything during the day. I suppose the same problems back then, are present now (in another more fresh form right?).....problem is i cannot seek psychiatric help because i have no money for that. I have to deal with all this myself But i suppose i 'used' to have an eating disorder back then, so did this eating disorder transfigured itself into a different one in the form of binging?.....I want to believe that no, and that i am simply eating in order to relax and sleep. And that maybe i caused a pattern around me......i want to think positive. I don't want to believe that the past eating disorder is hunting me at this point.
Last edited by Ellemphriem; 12-26-2012 at 08:54 AM.
I think it is possible to manage the symptoms of the eating disorder and maybe realize what the triggers are so you remain aware of them. If you haven´t got money for a psychiatrist, use the support system here or maybe go to OA groups. The twelve step system has been working for me so I recommend it.
Tomorow I´m going to the swimming pool and will go on the scales.I don´t expect anything to change, but I will weigh myself weekly. For two nights I have reduced the calorie intake and I´m really hoping not to slip.
Tonight I had one bowl of cereals, one yogurt and some grapes. I slipped just before falling asleep and had some Belgium Chocolate, six pieces.
I remember my psychologist told me to have a special bracelet at nights to remind me not to eat. I will find a yellow bracelet I used to have for this purpose.
Small victory: I had a second night without waking up and eating (Second night since about late March). I didn't wake up and eat until 5am, which I consider breakfast . So maybe the meds are finally working.
It is my firm belief that this is both an eating disorder and a sleep disorder. It is real. And it has a real impact on your life. Not just on your weight, but on your ability to function during the day due to the disruption to your sleep.
Small victory: I had a second night without waking up and eating (Second night since about late March). I didn't wake up and eat until 5am, which I consider breakfast . So maybe the meds are finally working.
It is my firm belief that this is both an eating disorder and a sleep disorder. It is real. And it has a real impact on your life. Not just on your weight, but on your ability to function during the day due to the disruption to your sleep.
Keep up the good fight, Rosamaria .
Wow, that is so great, LoveBassets. Second night here too - but on a low calorie intake.
Yes, it is a disorder, but it is possible to overcome it by changing your lifestyle and get support.
I think it is possible to manage the symptoms of the eating disorder and maybe realize what the triggers are so you remain aware of them. If you haven´t got money for a psychiatrist, use the support system here or maybe go to OA groups. The twelve step system has been working for me so I recommend it.
Tomorow I´m going to the swimming pool and will go on the scales.I don´t expect anything to change, but I will weigh myself weekly. For two nights I have reduced the calorie intake and I´m really hoping not to slip.
Tonight I had one bowl of cereals, one yogurt and some grapes. I slipped just before falling asleep and had some Belgium Chocolate, six pieces.
I remember my psychologist told me to have a special bracelet at nights to remind me not to eat. I will find a yellow bracelet I used to have for this purpose.
This evening I start doing yoga, using a DVD.
Holiday hugs to all of you.
Last night i ate 3 kinder eggs.....my daughter's treat Other than that i ate some salad and a small bowl of pasta the size of my fist with a slice of home made bread.....i wish you good luck on the yoga dvd!...
I thought NES was only sleepwalk eating, but I've woken up to eat or eaten virtually all my calories just before bed off and on for many years. I haven't done it in a while tho, so maybe some of the changes I've made could help. The diet I've chosen for myself (fulplatediet.org) focuses on high fiber eating. I've found that eating lots of fiber (fruit & veg, whole grains, nuts, legumes) and a bit of protein in the morning starts me off not hungry and makes it easier to make better choices throughout the day. I find I don't feel hungry at all until about 9pm if I don't eat or if I start the day with mostly carbs.
Fixing my sleep disorders, still a work in progress, but the progress I've made has helped a lot. I use an APAP for apnea, and melatonin to get to sleep at an appropriate time if I need it. I often eat to stay awake, so working on not being tired and getting things done more efficiently during the day, as well as adjusting my expectations of what I 'should' accomplish during the day has helped. Stopping late night screen time also helps, the tv and monitor flicker stimulates our brains to stay awake and makes going to sleep harder. Daily excercise helped too. Having better sleep patterns stopped me from getting up in the middle of the night to eat.
The most direct thing I did to combat night time snacking was change the type of food I'd eat. No food after 8 pm or whatever seemed completely unreasonable, so I changed it to no high carb/ processed stuff after dinner. My tendency was to have sugary or starchy things, not filling and very binge worthy foods, so only eating more filling, more nutritional, less energy swing-y foods really reduced how much I wanted to eat. Getting the stuff I liked to eat at that time of night out of the house entirely was key to this working. Most of it was food I only craved late at night, so there wasn't much reason to keep it around. Taking some supplements - especially vit D and B12, B6, and iron, also helped.
I still find it hard to stay on track with some of those things, but even if I'm not prefect doing about 80% of all that seems to work well and keep my night eating in check.
Thank you so much for your input and tips. I talked to my nurse and she adviced me to eat more over the day and eat five times a day rather than 3 times a day.
I went to the swimming pool and I´m heavier than I thought. I currently weigh 194 lbs but I have started on a diet and will reach my goal weight, even if it takes a few months.
3 nights into my diet, I had the usual bowl of cereal and a banana, then went to sleep, but woke up and ate some fat cheese
Tonight I slipped and had three crackers with fat cheese and six pieces of the Belgian Chocolate.
Now I´m over the calorie limit, just because I had to stay late at work to finish a job before the big weekend and forgot to eat. It made me hungry and although I had already had my 500 calories I decided to have at night, couldn´t resist temptation and ate it half asleep.
Well, I have to get myself back on track and tomorrow I´ll go swimming. I´ll try to do more lapses than usual to make up for this and tomorrow I will have eat well during the day.
Well, I have to get myself back on track and tomorrow I´ll go swimming. I´ll try to do more lapses than usual to make up for this and tomorrow I will have eat well during the day.
It seems that last night eating makes you feel guilty, and it may recycle the problem into an infinite loop. You'll probably do some more lapses on the swimming-pool, but it will make you more hungry later. Guess what may happen next...
I don't know what kind of diet you do now, but I can share some comments basing on my own experiences. I was eating late as well. I was bingeing as late as 1 am. It all magically disappeared when :
1. I began to eat 3 huuuuge meals a day
2. My breakfast was overloaded with simple carbs [fruits]
3. I got enough hydration [especially 2-4 glasses before sleep]
4. I got to bed early [10 pm the latest].
5. I was just doing all this, not worrying every day why the effects are not visible already. They became visible after a week or two, and now I have all my life to enjoy the results.
I have a medical condition with the word "syndrome" in it [Prune Belly Syndrome], and it's something what I was born with and what will be with me all my life. I'm amazed when someone calls a "syndrome" an obvious effect of a bad lifestyle [whether it's food or stress], relatively simple to overcome.
English is not my first language, so the word syndrome is just a word. It can be a bad habit or a syndrome, but I do know that my night eating is a compulsion that fuels a bad habit even more.
My work starts at one o´clock and I work late, sometimes until midnight. I have two jobs. I don´t go to sleep until 2 AM and get up at 10 AM.
I have decided to eat good meals during the day and have allowed myself to eat 500 calories before bedtime instead of the 2500 to 3000 I ate before.
I realize it will take time to kick the habit, but I´m going to keep on trying.
But i suppose i 'used' to have an eating disorder back then, so did this eating disorder transfigured itself into a different one in the form of binging?.....I want to believe that no, and that i am simply eating in order to relax and sleep. And that maybe i caused a pattern around me......i want to think positive. I don't want to believe that the past eating disorder is hunting me at this point.
.
