Do you need to eat before bed?

[Aerose91]

Prior to getting ME I had really bad adrenal fatigue so I had to eat a small snack before bed so adrenaline rushes wouldn't wake me up. Something like a rice cake with almond butter or some vegetable soup.

Now, since ME came on, literally to the day, I can't sleep even 4-5 hours unless I eat a TON before bed. I'm talking like a full sized meal. Protein, carbs, fat, vegetables, everything. If I don't I won't wake up with an adrenaline fish but ill wake up just a few hours later and just be awake. Like its time to go. It may be 2 in the morning.

Sice the onset of ME the only way I can sleep through the night is if I eat a huge meal. And, I am continuously testing my adrenals and they are actually performing better now than they were prior to the ME so there has to be another reason.

 

[svetoslav80]

Same here, I have noticed that I feel very sleepy and exhausted 3 hours after a meal so my recipe for good sleep is to eat at 9 pm so I can get asleep at midnight. Only difference I eat a big meal, but not huge.

 

[SickOfSickness]

I am like that. 7 hours of sleep is not enough, but I will wake by then unless I eat plenty, right before bed. If I am a little hungry, I will wake in 3 hours.

How are you when you're awake? I have to eat frequently. Even if I stuff myself, I am hungry faster than healthy people. The larger amount of food doesn't help much.

Once I get hungry I have less time to eat than they do. A lot of healthy people will feel hungry but they can put it off if they're very busy. I feel bad if I have to wait.

I don't eat many grains now, but I had some times where I had to go 4 hours without eating. I would stuff myself with the carby foods that are supposed to give prolonged energy, and it was hard to get through.

IIRC, it's a symptom we may have, something where we can't break down stored fat for energy? That allows the healthy people to go longer between eating and longer once they feel hungry. Perhaps some other reasons for it too?

 

[Aerose91]

I actually completely lost my apetite when ME started. I used to have a great appetite but now nothing. I still get a little woozy if I don't eat frequently enough so my diet is really on point but it's not because I'm hungry- just necessity.

 

[SickOfSickness]

Have you ever gone at least 4 days in a row without eating lots before bed?

If you don't eat lots before bed, can you eat when you wake up, and go right to sleep?

 

[Aerose91]

Oh yes, when this first started I went months sticking to just my rice cake with almond butter but as time went on I was waking up earlier and earlier until the point I was sleeping 2-3 hours/night if I was lucky.

I accidentally ate too much one night too close to bed and slept more hours than I had in months. Since then I realized that eating is the only think that keeps me asleep. I fall asleep fine but if I sit eat a ton I won't sleep more than 2-3 hours. With a good meal I can maybe make it 6-8

 

[alwayshopeful]

I have to eat all the time too. Every 2-3 hours during the day. Even if I eat a big meal, I will be hungry very soon. And I can't just eat a snack, it has to be substantial. And I need protein every meal. Protein always makes me feel so much better and has definitely helped my adrenals. If for some reason I don't eat for a longer span, I feel very ill, weak, and shaky. Luckily I never gain weight from this (I would have pre-CFS).

 

[SickOfSickness]

So you never get hungry feeling? That would be the opposite of what I have (and alwayshopeful and a bunch of us).

Did you ever trying eating much more through the day? To see if you could eat less before bed. (I understand not trying it because you risk less sleep.)

 

[Aerose91]

Ya. Never hungry at all, although this may be tied to my severe dissociation. I don't really feel anything- hungry, thirsty, tired, happy, sad, etc.. I could go 3 days without sleep and not feel tired at all so maybe I don't have an accurate stance.

But I eat pretty stable and substantially throughout the day and every 2-3 hours. This is the only way to prevent the adrenaline rushes but when thinking about it- during sleep you are fasting so it makes sense that eventually u would need to eat. If/when I wake up in the middle of the night I always make sure to eat and it helps me get back to sleep

 

[barbc56]

I've never had a big appetite even before becoming sick.The smell of food often makes me sick to my stomach. I had a problem gaining weight which is unfortunatly not the case now. My mother was the same way.

Since I have had this DD, it's been much worse but don't know how much my IBS is at play.

There were two times when I would get ravenous at bedtime. The first was when taking Trzodone and the second was when taking mirapex.

With Trazodone, I would wake up starving. I remember one time waking up and about the only food I had in the house was stale bread but it tasted like the most delicious bread I had ever earen. I would sometimes not remember eating during the night. I was able to stop the Trazodone when some of my sleep issues were resolved.

Mirapex was somewhat different. In the late evening, I would compulsively crave ice cream which I don't even like that much. I didn't know that compulsive eating as well as other behaviors such as sleep walking, cleaning house or even driving at nigh yet not remember doing this the next day, are all known side effects, especially with the new improved medication for RLS which I can't remember the name but will come back and edit. It's basicly the same medication but with different packaging when the patent for Mirapix ran out. Grrrr.

Srangly enough I diid not get this reaction before this DD but did with the trazodone. Trazodone does not list, unless it has changed since I was on it, night eating as a side effect but I know several people who've had the same reaction.

 

[xxRinxx]

I go through periods of that on and off. I also get the ALWAYS feeling hungry problem, and I keep a box of protein bars on my nightstand. If I wake up in the middle of the night, I eat a bite of two of a bar, and wrap the rest off, and chase it with water, and usually thats enough to get me back asleep..Unless i wake up longer than thirty minutes, and then my stomach is grumbling for a meal. Very annoying.
I used to be a lloottt worse, where I had to eat a lot, all the time. Now I eat less carbs during the morning, eat every 2-3 hours, lightly, lean protein every meal, and I eat any sugary food i might want that day(but not a lot) at night. This seems to be working for me enough..Though some days are worse than others.

 

[Tammy]

Prior to getting ME I had really bad adrenal fatigue so I had to eat a small snack before bed so adrenaline rushes wouldn't wake me up. Something like a rice cake with almond butter or some vegetable soup.

Now, since ME came on, literally to the day, I can't sleep even 4-5 hours unless I eat a TON before bed. I'm talking like a full sized meal. Protein, carbs, fat, vegetables, everything. If I don't I won't wake up with an adrenaline fish but ill wake up just a few hours later and just be awake. Like its time to go. It may be 2 in the morning.

Sice the onset of ME the only way I can sleep through the night is if I eat a huge meal. And, I am continuously testing my adrenals and they are actually performing better now than they were prior to the ME so there has to be another reason.

It sounds like you have a major blood sugar stabilizing problem. You might try something like chromium picolonate with evening meal to see if it helps. Chromium helps with l-tryptophan levels. Lots of info on it.

 

[Beyond]

Eating before bed definetely helps my sleep. No idea what causes it but I just follow my instict and eat before bed - getting lots of negative comments from relatives. Some of them actually argue I will get a bad sleep if I eat before bed lol.

 

[SickOfSickness]

- getting lots of negative comments from relatives. Some of them actually argue I will get a bad sleep if I eat before bed lol.

I have read it a few times in health articles. I guess it may be true for a healthy person. I know many of us need it and have to ignore that.

 

[PDXhausted]

This has been a big issue for me all day long and at night. I am hungry all the time and for very specific things. It feels like I imagine hypoglycemia would feel- I start to feel hungry pretty quick and then start to feel really ill, tachycardia, shaking. It is really frightening.

I've checked my blood glucose a couple of times when I start feeling hungry (but before it goes too long) and its been normal so I don't think it's blood sugar. Not sure about my adrenals, I've had cortisol and ACTH checked numerous times by numerous methods, and they've always been normal though I have such a hard time getting my brain going in the morning, I still wonder about this.

I know certain times of the month are worse than others for me (I'm female), though I've been going downhill in a more general sense lately. My carnitine was really low on an OAT test, so maybe that as something to do with it? I had a really bad attack the day that I tried acetyl-l-carnitine, but it was also on a bad time of the month for me, so I'm not sure which was causing it.

But to answer your question- yes I have to eat before bed otherwise I wake up hungry. And sometimes I'll still wake up and need to eat. What I would give to know what was causing this and if there was some supplement to fix it!

 

[Beyond]

I usually feel hungry even after eating. It sucks. In my opinion, adrenals are to blame. My tests have been consistent with adrenal exhaustion or HPA dysfunction or however you like to call it. Blood cortisol is useless for me and does not reflect the true state of my adrenal hormones. Blood DHEA is good, comes back defficient always, which makes sense having very low preg, prog, DHEA and cortisol in urine and saliva.

 

[PDXhausted]

@Beyond do you take a DHEA supplement then and does it help at all?

 

[Beyond]

@Beyond do you take a DHEA supplement then and does it help at all?

A functional doc prescribed me DHEA and pregnenolone. I didn´t feel a thing from it. I suspect it was not effective, however I would be wary of just taking DHEA as it increases estrogen and I already have high estrogen... All this means INFLAMMATION, I have been told and I have found out by myself as well. To cure my adrenal fatigue I will try a more rebuilding approach than replacing hormones when the time comes. I am young after all. There is no need to take hormones when you can fix your hormonal glands.

 

[Little Bluestem]

I have no appetite, but have to eat regularly because I (used to) have a tendency toward hypoglycemia and I need the food to buffer the pills I take.

I agree with Tammy that this sounds like a blood sugar problem. Focus on unrefined carbs, protein, and high quality fat for your bedtime snack/meal. If you wake up during the night, eat some more of the same.

 

[Little Bluestem]

I start to feel hungry pretty quick and then start to feel really ill, tachycardia, shaking. It is really frightening.

I've checked my blood glucose a couple of times when I start feeling hungry (but before it goes too long) and its been normal so I don't think it's blood sugar.

How you feel can have as much to do with how quickly your blood sugar level changes as with the absolute value. Your blood sugar might have dropped fairly quickly but still be in the normal range.

If you were checking it when you start to feel hungry, but before you start to feel really ill, you may also have been checking it before it got low. I am NOT suggesting that you wait until you feel really ill to test it. Low blood sugar can do nasty things to your body.