For most of my life I would wake up at night, sit up like a robot, throw back the covers in the same mechanical methodology, and spring off the floor straight to the kitchen to find food to eat. Half asleep and half awake, I would almost always find white flour/white sugar types of foods to eat and I would eat as much as I could before I got so sleepy I would go back to bed. This would happen several times in one night. In the morning when I woke up, there would be remnants of what I ate either in my mouth still, on my pillow case, on the night stand or there would be a path of crumbs leading to the kitchen.

For many years I tried to find out why I was doing this and no one, physical or mental health professionals could tell me what it was. In my early 40’s I found a book on chaotic eating and I felt that this was as close to what I was doing that I could find.

Almost six years ago, I finally found a mental health professional who diagnosed me with post traumatic stress disorder and depression She didn’t know anything about the eating at night though. I began researching the Internet for it and soon found Dr. Stunkard. He had been researching night eating syndrome since 1957, the year I was born.

The strange thing about night eating is that you have no control. The doctor claimed that there was confusion as to whether or not night eating was an eating disorder or a sleep disorder, but those consuming more than 2/3 of their calories at night were most likely night eaters.

That’s a problem for those who eat at night like this. They eat sugary foods all night long and are so full in the morning that they feel like they have a food hangover. Truth be known, your blood sugar is so messed up from eating all that white flour/white sugar food that it truly is like a “hangover.”

Those who eat at night like this will starve themselves all day long to prove to themselves that they do have some control over their eating habits and to make up for consuming such a large amount of calories all night. This just makes the whole cycle worse because then the night eater is starving by night time again.

I’ve been putting it all together, studying night eating and sleep disorders. I’ve heard that your body will produce a certain chemical that makes you feel like you’re very hungry or starving if you’re sleep deprived. Those who are night eating are waking up so many times a night that it’s quite possible that they’re sleep deprived. Personally, I never slept more than four hours a night. Then I would be forced to nap in the daytime because I couldn’t keep my eyes open.

Another problem night eaters are facing is that most of them also have restless legs syndrome and/or sleep apnea. The more weight they gain from the night eating, the worse the sleep apnea seems to get. Sometimes the restless legs syndrome will spur on wakefulness more than normal and the night eater will eat additional times.

I finally stopped eating at night, but the urge is still there. It’s been a few years, but I can’t seem to get a healthy normal eating routine down. There are times that I still crave that white sugar/white flour food, but most of the time I can control the urges in the daytime. I gained almost 75 pounds from night eating and now I can’t seem to lose it.

I’ve been trying very hard to sleep more at night especially because researchers are finding a direct correlation between obesity and not enough sleep. I have a personal website about night eating for those that might want more information. I try to leave personal stories about night eating when I can because I understand the frustration of those who can’t find out what’s plaguing them.