2024-07-09 11:59:24
“I would wake up and there would be empty cookie wrappers on or near my bed,” said Jill, 62, who now lives an hour away from Minneapolis.
“A lot of people think, ‘Get up, have a snack and go back to bed.’ It’s not that simple – this disorder is a completely different beast,” said Jill about her nocturnal behavior.
She explained that she can get up several times in one night and gobble up a bunch of crackers, several bowls of cereal, and an entire box of cookies. The woman says that she always eats junk food while sleeping. And after all, an apple would not be cold at all.
Over time, poor nutrition and disturbed sleep take a toll on your well-being.
“I can’t even tell you how bad I feel,” Jill said. – You get up countless times at night, you don’t rest and you still eat a huge amount of unhealthy food. Then you wake up and have to try to function all day.”
Jill has an eating disorder. Part of the brain is awake and the rest is asleep. These are parasomnias, abnormal or unusual behavior during sleep, similar to sleepwalking, sleep talking, night terrors, or sexsomnia.
Previously, Dalia Matačiūnienė was a doctor and neurologist lrytas.lt said that 10-12% of people experience somnambulism. people, some of them exhibit aggressive behavior during sleep:
“Couples often come to me, and the patient is usually a man. The wife says that he and the ladybugs wouldn’t hurt each other during the day, but it’s hard to believe how the other half behaves during sleep. It often happens that he swears and says various ugly things. Of course, this does not indicate a change in the person’s personality, this is the manifestation of the disorder,” said the doctor. The full text can be found here.
“Of all the parasomnias, sleep-related eating disorder has the greatest impact on a patient’s life,” said Carlos Schenck, a professor at the University of Minnesota.
“These people have trouble sleeping almost every night. They gain weight and feel miserable in the morning. It’s just horrible,” said Mr. Schenck, who specializes in the treatment of parasomnias.
Although it may seem like people are acting out their dreams, he says, parasomnias usually occur during the slowest, deepest stage of sleep, called delta sleep.
“Something in the central nervous system sets off an alarm clock, and the body activates even though your cognition is in a deep sleep,” the expert said.
Without control and restraints
In a mixed sleep-wake state, when you eat while you sleep, the brain takes over and searches for foods that will bring you satisfaction.
Mr. Schenck explained that then preference is given to highly processed foods such as sweets, cookies, cakes, cupcakes, crisps and crackers.
“You have no control, no restraints,” he said. – People can eat foods they are allergic to and then have an allergic reaction. It’s not common, but it happens.”
Another problem is that during sleep, such people eat a lot of high-calorie food, which increases the risk of developing diabetes or hypertension, which can worsen the control of these conditions if the person already has them.
According to M. Schenck, the parasomnia of eating during sleep is the most difficult to treat, only two-thirds of cases are successful. In comparison, the success rate of treating patients with sexsomnia, sleepwalking or night terrors is more than 75%.
“We can have someone who has been a sleepwalker for years, but when he starts eating at night, it soon becomes his only sleep behavior,” Schenck said.
“There is something irresistible (…) Who wants to rearrange furniture or just wander around the house when you can go out to eat?” he added.
“Doctors didn’t get it”
In her thirties, Jill got married, but her nocturnal adventures did not end there. Fortunately, her husband was a sound sleeper.
“He would wake up in the morning to find the bed full of crumbs and garbage. “What’s wrong with you?” he would ask and think I was crazy. He didn’t understand it. And I didn’t understand, because I didn’t do it on purpose,” Jill said.
The sleep disorder had a negative impact on Jill’s health.
“I’m a healthy eater, but I often felt so bad throughout the day that the last thing I wanted was food, even healthy food,” the woman said. “And who would have an appetite during the day if they eat 6 hearty dinners every night?”
Ashamed of her behavior, Jill did not seek medical attention for many years. Her son later developed idiopathic hypersomnolence, sleeping for 18 hours or more.
Then the woman began to question the doctors. Unfortunately, nothing caught.
“Many of the doctors I dealt with either had no idea what was wrong with me or just didn’t understand it. One doctor said, “Well, maybe eat a piece of bread before you go to bed.” Oh, right, that will really help solve the problem,” Jill said mockingly.
The woman was disappointed with the doctors, but also began to bite herself. “If the doctors don’t get it, then it must be my fault,” she said.
Restless legs syndrome contributed
Finally, Jill visited Professor M. Schenck in Minneapolis. For the first time, she underwent a sleep lab test that revealed she had restless legs syndrome, a neurological disorder that causes uncomfortable sensations in her legs and an overwhelming urge to move them. These sensations often begin in the evening and may last throughout the night.
“Now it’s become restless body syndrome,” Jill quipped about the constant twitching.
In order to reduce this, she walked around the house in the evenings before going to bed, waving her hands a lot. It’s a horrible experience. According to the woman, her body jerks so hard at night that she wants to cry.
Restless legs syndrome is one of the four possible causes of sleep eating parasomnia, said M.Schenck.
“Sleep eating can develop from sleepwalking, sleep apnea, certain insomnia medications or, as in Jill’s case, restless legs syndrome,” he said.
But Jill started eating in her sleep before restless leg syndrome became a major complaint. Research has shown that parasomnias may occur earlier. So, eating while sleeping can be the first sign of future restless legs syndrome.
Eating during sleep is more common in women. According to the professor, this may be related to the fact that they are more likely to diet.
“If a person restricts their eating during the day and doesn’t get enough calories, it can lead to sleep eating.”
Jill’s mother has always been on a diet, so she wonders if that might have influenced her behavior.
Families can try to help their loved ones by waking them up during sleepwalking. However, such action can have negative consequences.
“A person can become irritable and angry and say. I once treated a single mother with three teenage children. She paid them to put sleeping bags in the kitchen and not let her eat while she slept.
Guess what happened? At night, she paid the children even more to go back to their beds and let her eat in peace.”
He urges you not to give up
Jiile first visited M. Schenck’s clinic 20 years ago. A three-drug “cocktail” has brought her restless legs syndrome and sleep-related eating disorder under control, the woman says.
“I take them early in the evening because the medicine takes a while to work. They work 95% of the time. cases, but sometimes there are bad nights,” said Jill.
A woman makes sure that there is no unhealthy food in the house. But she usually has sweets, just in case the grandkids come to visit.
Jill was happy that the medication had helped, adding that thousands of people were suffering from a similar condition.
Her advice to others? Fight for yourself! Do your research and read all you can about this disorder. Then you will know what questions to ask the doctor. And most importantly, she said, ask for a sleep study to find out what’s driving the behavior.
“Don’t let doctors put you down, push you away, or make you feel bad. Fight until you get the right doctor. Get a second, even third opinion if you think you need one. Just don’t give up,” Jill advised.
Prepared by CNN.
2024-07-09 11:59:24