poet_kelly
on 7/31/11 1:27 am - OH

RNY on 11/04/08

I frequently have nights when I can't sleep. I may be up until 3 or 4 in the morning or may be up all night long. Sometimes I sleep in the next day but sometimes I have stuff to do and have to get up even though I have not had much sleep and I'm tired.

Last night, about 4 in the morning as I was finishing a protein bar, it occurred to me that I ate a lot more calories yesterday than what I normally eat or what I shoot for. Sometimes when I'm up at night I nibble because I'm bored and I know that's something I have to deal with. But if I am up all night, I truly do get hungry at some point and I need to eat every few hours to manage reactive hypoglycemia.

So last night when I went to bed around midnight, I'd eaten the amount of calories I should have in a day. Then I got back out of bed because I couldn't sleep and went on to eat a yogurt and then a protein bar. That's not a ton of calories but it will add up over time.

So what's the answer? How do you keep from overeating if you aren't sleeping?

Kelly

Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.

Cherylkas
on 7/31/11 2:01 am - PA

When I dont sleep I to pick sometimes. But I have been drinking an isopure or something along those lines. I figure if its protein I am better off ya know. I was having some bad nights of not sleeping so my doc told me to try melitonin (so spelled that wrong). it is OTC and is not addictive and helps me sleep all night. I love it when I need it.

Come visit me on my blog: http://apeekintomytreehouse.com/

Start weight 282, Surgery weight 265, Current weight 131, Goal weight 140

A woman is like a tea bag - you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water. Eleanor Roosevelt

siberiancat
on 7/31/11 2:57 am - COLUMBIA CITY, IN

RNY on 03/25/09

I take Klonapin and 1mg Melatonin - one hour before bedtime. I sometimes wake up about 3 am but listen to iPod if I can't get back to sleep (I set the sleep alarm on iPod for 30 or 60 minutes so it turns off) and wake up in the morning with earbuds still in.

I don't eat during the night, but keep a Starbucks double insulated tumbler of ice water on bedside table and take several big sips if I wake up.

Penny
Highest Weight 255 * Wt loss includes 19 lb lost before surgery

poet_kelly
on 7/31/11 3:22 am - OH

RNY on 11/04/08

I often listen to something when I'm having trouble sleeping, too. I think it helps me because it occupies my mind so I'm not thinking about stuff that makes me anxious or stuff I need to do, which helps keep me awake. I often wake in the morning with my headphones still on, too.

If I just wake up for a short time, I don't eat. But if I eat what is meant to be my bedtime snack at 11:00 pm and then I'm still up at 3:00 am, I gotta eat something. Not only am I hungry by then, but if I don't eat every three to four hours, my blood sugar gets low and I feel really crappy. Like I might pass out if I stand up crappy.

I have Klonapin and it relaxes me but doesn't normally put me to sleep. I also have Ambien, which sometimes seems to help but often doesn't. Currently I take nortriptyline at bedtime, which knocked me out the first few days I was on it but I think now I've adjusted to it somewhat. It does make me drowsy for a little while but doesn't actually put me to sleep

Kelly

Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.

SweetGirl11
on 7/31/11 9:15 am

RNY on 06/08/09

I've been sleeping crappy for years, mostly because of chronic pain AND a snoring husband! So I don't bother getting into bed until I know I'm going to "pass out". I will sleep awhile in my recliner before getting into bed. I get about 4 hours of sleep a night, at most 5, and that's been for years. So, consequently I do eat late at night. I also relate to what you said about the reactive hypoglycemia. I MUST eat every 3 hours, so with that my caloric intake is a little higher. Therefore, I've found that I can comfortably maintain my weight at around 145-ish, but in order to maintain at my low weight of 135, I would have to eat less calories but can't seem to do this while eating every 3 hours. So I maintain at the higher weight.

Michelle (OH member since 2004 - new user name)

HW 285 / SW 270 / GW 140 / LW 135 / CW 185

RNY 6/8/2009
Starting size 26/28, now size 12/14

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." -Hebrews 13:8

waitinggame
on 7/31/11 4:06 am - Bowie, MD

This issue used to plague me badly--still does occasionally depending on my stress level. I remember a doctor once saying to me our bodies say either rest me or feed me to keep me going. Short of sleep, which you are clearly trying to address, I honestly don't know what the answer is other than maybe doing 1/2 a yogurt and 1/2 a protein bar and then saving the rest in case you can't get back to sleep. It is a frustrating dilemma. I hope you get to resting soon.

Denise

Check out my blog--menumealplanning.com. Tales of making meal planning managable, family fodder, and everything else under the sun.

RNY 2/3/09, LBL/BL w/Augmentation 9/16/11
Start weight: 335 Current weight: 185 Goal weight: Whatever the hell I can maintain without driving myself insane!

*6.5 lost preop

bunnicash
on 7/31/11 4:10 am - Sedalia, MO

Well my question is I have severe insomnia. I take Ambien for it, which does help very much. I have always fallen asleep in a timely fashion and stayed asleep when I take them. But a few years ago when I told my PCP I couldn't sleep she told me it was due to OBESITY... I was like huh?? And stupid me just shut down in the doctors office when she mentioned the big "O" word and didnt ask her to explain. I even noticed on my referral papers to my bariactric dr she wrote I had obesity related insomnia. So being the person I am and now 75 lbs thinner I decided I was gonna try and not take my Ambian for a while to see if I could sleep...NOPE! No sleep for me. I mean I am so tired and restless at nights there have beens times I would cry because I just wanted to go to SLEEP!! I go to bed at the same time every night, listen to a relaxing deep sleep cd, my room is pitch black and still won't fall asleep for 4-6 hours after I lie down.

poet_kelly
on 7/31/11 4:17 am - OH

RNY on 11/04/08

I guess obesity could cause problems sleeping because it can cause sleep apnea and you're not going to sleep well if you have sleep apnea. But that causes you to wake up during that night, it doesn't keep you from falling asleep in the first place. Other than that, I don't see how obesity would cause insomnia.

Anyway, my insomnia has not changed either way with weight loss.

Kelly

Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.

bunnicash
on 7/31/11 5:07 am - Sedalia, MO

I don't have sleep apnea so I don't know either lol

D-J
on 7/31/11 7:43 am

RNY on 06/16/11

i am literally addhd so my brain does not shut off at night like most,,it's sort of plays pictures in my mind the minute i try and close my eyes for any amount of time,,,i have taken ambien for this and it seems to work for me,,thank God,,there for a time when it first started interuprting my sleep patterns i thought i would go insane from the sleeplessness, i tried everything,, reading, excersising. eventually i would end up crying and walking my house like a ghost,i was soooo tired,,I told my pcp this and he put me on lunesta first but it effected my taste of things so they switched me to ambien,,nothing can take the place of a good nights sleep,, nothing.

insomnia and eating

A woman is like a tea bag - you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water. Eleanor Roosevelt

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insomnia and eating

A woman is like a tea bag - you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water. Eleanor Roosevelt