Eating in the middle of the night

[HarryBags]

Hi all, i have suffered from depression and anxiety for 20 years now. I find myself eating in the middle of the night to help me sleep. I wake up about 3am after a short sleep, feeling hungry every nite. I then go downstairs and eat sweet food, ie: biscuits and chocolate.

I do this (i think) just before i go into deep sleep. Im pretty sure i do the eating due to psychological issues i have.

I eat well during the day but i have the munchies every nite no matter what.

Any ideas on this one people?

[Hidden]

Hi. Are you anxious and stressed about being up? If so, this could be why. For some, food brings us comfort in times of stress. The chocolate makes sense since that raises endorphin levels in the brain.

[HarryBags in reply to Hidden]

Hi thankyou very much for your reply. I rearly appreciate it. I do get anxious and stressed about being up late. May be i should relax more just drink some water rather than eat....

[Hidden in reply to HarryBags]

You're welcome.

I ate every night for 7 months on end due to a severe sleep disorder that rendered it impossible to lie down. I know my nighttime eating was the result of 95% extreme duress and 5% sheer boredom (percentages my own calculations). Thankfully I can sleep now, so I don't have this issue. I'm hoping that this issue gets resolved for you.

Do you have insomnia, btw?

[HarryBags in reply to Hidden]

Not sure about insomnia, but i do have difficulty sleeping generally

[Hidden in reply to HarryBags]

Have you ever had your sleep issues investigated by an ENT or a sleep specialist?

(I'm sorry if nosy. It's just that, ever since I was diagnosed with 2 severe sleep disorders, I feel badly when I hear of others having issues. Don't feel obliged to answer).

[SunIsShining]

When you wake up in the middle of the night your body urges you to eat for energy so you don’t fall asleep again. If you can stay asleep during the night the eating will stop I think

[HarryBags in reply to SunIsShining]

Hi there, hope you are well. Thank you for your reply, it has helped. Much appreciated

[Hidden]

Carbohydrates naturally cause an insulin spike which increases tryptophan/serotonin and makes us feel sleepy again.

The million dollar question is, why are you waking in the middle of the night? Low blood sugar, anxiety waking you, medications you are taking effect your quality of sleep, some sort of sleep disorder, lack of sleep over several nights drives our hormones out of balance (leptin, grehlin, cortisol, etc...) as you can see it can be a number of reasons. Maybe you track over a week or so and try to determine a trigger and talk to your doctor if you can’t determine a reason, may need a simple blood work up.

[HarryBags in reply to Hidden]

Hi thanks for the reply. I will have to look into this and maybe see the doc. Many thanks