Sleep eating

[galaxygrrl]

Ok,

Well this is a weird one. The last two nights, I woke up and found that there were empty food containers in the kitchen. Now, clearly I ate the food and I have NO memory of doing it. I do take Ambien (but i have for years and never had this problem). It seems there is a sleep eating disorder where yo don't remember eating.

I think it's only been twice. Any insights on this?

Wikepedia said this disorder is: state of sleepwalking that includes behaviors connected to a person’s conscious wishes or wants.[1] Thus many times NSRED is a person’s fulfilling of their conscious wants that they suppress; however, this disorder is difficult to distinguish from other similar types of disorders.

As my sister inlaw said, they cut out your tummy, they did not give you a lobotomy. ;-)

I'm hoping this is a phase. Any insights?

 

[Psychomom]

When my oldest daughter was a teenager, I had to sleep on the couch because she would try to cook in her sleep. She would go into the kitchen and put pots and pans on the stove and turn it on. She would then empty out the fridge in the pots and pans. The doctor said there was nothing wrong with her, she just had dreams so vivid she acted them out. Thankfully, she outgrew it.

 

[Clematis]

It's the AMBIEN. Well known side effect. More than one doctor has told me the stuff should be taken off the market.

Your body has gone through so many changes with DS. Try experimenting without it. For more than a decade I took a tiny bit of X-anax in order to get to sleep but the last I had it was the night before DS surgery. (Concurrently I gave up all caffeine and I think that helped as well.)

 

[southernlady]

Read the prescription insert on the Ambien. Well documented side effect. And remember, regardless of how it affected you pre-op, it's a whole new ballgame post op.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

AMBIEN.

I knew a woman who woke up and thanked her husband for gift-wrapping and boxing up all the Xmas gifts for mailing. He hadn't.

I'd put alarms on my doors. Sleep-eating is weird and a bit embarassing. Sleep-driving and sleep-swimming, both documented I believe, are scary.

 

[Clematis]

...and let's not forget, yes, sleep sex. What the hell good is THAT if you don't even get to remember enjoying it? Or perhaps with whom you enjoyed it?

 

[Eztli]

It's the ambien.
I did it too. And it took a while before this happened. When I first took it it was like a mallet to the head. Then apparently I was up and chowing down for a while before I actually went to sleep. Didn't have any recollection of this either. I never did drive, thankfully, but when I found out I was eating like that in the middle of the night with absolutely no recollection, I started hiding my keys just to make sure.
You can try an ambien reset - 30 days off I believe, see if it resets and you don't do this. Or, you may wish to switch to a different pill.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

...and let's not forget, yes, sleep sex. What the hell good is THAT if you don't even get to remember enjoying it? Or perhaps with whom you enjoyed it?

Unless...it might be better forgotten? (Oh. Wait that was decades ago. Never mind.)

 

[k9ophile]

I'll vote for Ambien as well. There was a women on this forum (no longer active) who claimed to shop on Amazon while taking it. I've had a few episodes of activity such falling asleep at the computer. He asked what was going on and I told him I had taken Ambien. Then I proceeded to go into the bathroom and complete my evening tasks, i.e. take night meds, brush teeth, get into nightgown, etc. Lately, he found me sprawled out on the bed with the light on. He asked me if I was going to read in bed. Then I got up and started looking for a book. Apparently, I only do these things when he talks to me.

The first time, I thought I'd mess around on the computer until I felt tired. Apparently that doesn't happen with Ambien. I don't get drowsy, I just fall asleep. After that first episode, I go to bed immediately after taking it. Thus he found me in bed.

 

[Susan in Tennessee]

Ok,

Well this is a weird one. The last two nights, I woke up and found that there were empty food containers in the kitchen. Now, clearly I ate the food and I have NO memory of doing it. I do take Ambien (but i have for years and never had this problem). It seems there is a sleep eating disorder where yo don't remember eating.

I think it's only been twice. Any insights on this?

Wikepedia said this disorder is: state of sleepwalking that includes behaviors connected to a person’s conscious wishes or wants.[1] Thus many times NSRED is a person’s fulfilling of their conscious wants that they suppress; however, this disorder is difficult to distinguish from other similar types of disorders.

As my sister inlaw said, they cut out your tummy, they did not give you a lobotomy. ;-)

I'm hoping this is a phase. Any insights?

I just can't keep my fingers from typing this, try as I did to refrain: what did you eat?

 

[hilary1617]

@galaxygrrl, Wow. In a way, I'd like to try Ambien just to see what I'd accomplish! Seriously, though, it sounds like engaging in complex activities without memory thereof (and likely not one's full attention) seems a pretty dangerous side effect. I hope you can find a good substitute, or better yet as @Clematis and @southernlady suggested, maybe you'll be lucky and maybe post-DS changes will lessen or remove the need. I wish you safe and restful slumbers!!!

 

[galaxygrrl]

Thanks all! Clearly a consensus.

@Susan in Tennessee - nothing that bad because i don't keep a lot in the house. One night was seafood salad and the other night was about 3 oz of Mortadella

 

[Susan in Tennessee]

You have good tastes!

 

[DianaCox]

I tried Ambien years ago - we were staying at the Hotel del Coronado, and we ended up in a very nice ground floor handicap suite. I woke up in the morning without my underwear - and zero recollection of having gotten up, presumably going to the bathroom, or taking them off. And there was a door directly out to the courtyard near my bed - I could have taken a butt-nekkid stroll where a few hundred of my professional colleagues could have seen me. I never took Ambien again.

My combo is 1/2 Lunesta (I cut the pills) and 0.5 mg Ativan. Knocks me out within 20 min but I can easily wake up, go pee, fall back asleep easily but still remember doing it.

 

[aaa]

I just can't keep my fingers from typing this, try as I did to refrain: what did you eat?

I kept my fingers from typing it; but was curious, too.