Night Eating
Dear all, I have moderate complex apnea, and have used a PR System One BiPAP AutoSV Advance machine for 4 years. Attached is a stats sheet from the Sleep Head software. I have a decades long history of night eating with symptoms that have been classified as "Night Eating Syndrome." My sleep apnea seems well treated with my machine. Nevertheless, I wake up multiple times per night and feel I won't be able to sleep unless I eat something. I don't have any trouble with glucose control and don't think that is what awakens me. Do any of you have any insight on how night eating and sleep apnea may be related? Thank you.
RE: Night Eating
Just free-wheeling here...do you by any chance have the odd encounter with aerophagia? Do you swallow a lot of air some nights?
I don't awaken often, and almost always go right back to sleep. I do get hungry as a night owl and will often eat between 2300 hrs and the time I go to bed, usually near midnight. It's not a great habit for those in retirement who sit at the TV or at a computer.
How is your weight? I do know that many experience weight gain once they successfully commence PAP treatment.
RE: Night Eating
kevin, a kindred soul! the first I've heard with a story like mine. I can commiserate but don't have a solution. would love to find one though. I've never heard of night eating syndrome but assume it's not the eating parasomnia. I mentioned night eating to my sleep doc one time and he got visibly excited and got ready to take copious notes until I told him no, not the parasomnia. more like a compulsion. oh, he says, clearly crestfallen, comfort food eating. well, maybe but I always thought that was to soothe emotional issues. mine feels like a physical compulsion. if pressed, I'd say I'm drawn to salty foods during these escapades. I figure that's a clue but don't know enough to figure out what it means. I've had lifelong apnea, initially moderate and central, now severe and mixed, untreated until age 61. I started this eating thing at least 7 years before pap when I woke up even more often than now. even with decent pap treatment (low ahi) I still come fully awake 5 - 19 times per night. I believe but can't prove yet that disordered breathing and maybe periodic limb movement contribute to these awakenings. it's not hunger, but often I am on my feet heading for the kitchen before I remember I'm trying to break the habit and force myself back to bed or consciously choose to keep going to satisfy whatever it is that wants satisfying. it has definitely contributed to weight gain these last 7 years. sleeping through the night would solve the problem but that's not happening. maybe it's some imbalance indicated by my interest in salt, but that's beyond me. meanwhile, I'm guessing the only solution is same as dieting; resist, resist, resist. overcome bad habits through sheer force of will. meanwhile, I'm interested in hearing more about your experience.
RE: Night Eating
Thanks for the reply mesenteria. No, I don't swallow air. And yes, I am a bit heavy. Should be 30 pounds lighter.
Thank you sheepless for your experience. I can relate with much of what you said. I liked your comment, "often I am on my feet heading for the kitchen before I remember I'm trying to break the habit and force myself back to bed." That seems so true for me. I am not sleep eating but my level of consciousness makes it hard to make proper choices during the night. I am more drawn to carbs than to salt. I had hoped that once on PAP therapy, I wouldn't wake and eat as often. I have gone through months long stretches of not having to eat at night but for the most part, I awake and eat 2-4 time nightly. Interestingly, I fast once a month and even during bad stretches with night eating, when I fasted, my body knew that I needed to fast and I would not feel like I had to eat during the night. I have tried to "fake myself out" and pretend I was going to fast each night but that did not work. Night eating syndrome has fairly limited research to date from what I can tell. I would love to understand it better myself.
RE: Night Eating
My problem exactly wake up 4-7 times a night.Think I have to eat to get back to sleep. Ahi 2-4. Never feel rested
RE: Night Eating
don't know if the only other two people in the world :-) that suffer from this are still around the forum but this might be of interest - particularly re ghrelin.
fwiw, a medicinenet page on food and sleep says "studies show that inadequate sleep stimulates the hunger hormone ghrelin". previously I read that this is why apneacs tend to gain weight. this particular article doesn't say what to do about that exactly but suggests going "to bed with some food in your stomach, but not too much. Try a light snack instead of an all-out food fest. If your light snack isn’t satisfying, see if a high-fiber light snack helps. Fiber slows down your digestion, leaving you feeling full longer with fewer calories."
