Midnight hunger

It is getting close to midnight and like always I am hungry again. I am in bed ready to sleep but I keep thinking, shall I go down to get something to eat, or not. I am tired, I do not feel like going down, I want to sleep, but I knwo if I don't, hunger will keep me awake.

The thing is I don't have great apetite, in fact I often forget to eat all day. I have no breakfast apart from one piece of toast (and pot of coffee) and this is only, so I don't take medicines on an empty stomach.
I hardly ever have a proper lunch often I have juste jacket potato with butter, or some cous'cous with herbs , then I have a proper meal, all healthy home cooked meal about 6pm, so I should not be hungry.

But just before midnaight, every day I feel seriosuly hungry for something like carbs - no, sweets or biscuits it must be savory and full of carbs. Piece of bread, or jacket potato and I am fine. Then I can sleep well.

If I don't eat, I noticed that I am more likely to wake up with a migraine.
So, I think this hunger has something to do with migraine.

Is anyone else experincing this midnight empty stomach feeling as well?

I am going to get myself a piece of bread, now.

I don't always experience late night food cravings before morning M,
if that's what you mean but I sure am greedy night eater (and then I have hardly an appetite upon getting up),
so my belly simply wouldn't let me sleep if I let it empty before falling asleep!

Try having buttered slice/s of tasty bread and a glass or two of buttermilk. Simple and satisfying.
It works great for me.

Risa

Yes, I did just that - minus buttermilk. I have given up all dairy products (excpet butter) as I found that cheese and yoghurt give me migraine. I adore yoghurt and miss it, but do not dare to have it any more.

Fell asleep instantly after that. No migraine, no headache today, happy day.

What I was thinking is that maybe it is something to do with carbs - that we need some extra shot of carbs at night, since so many people wake up with migraine. I know we need regular carbs supply etc, but I do nto feel like it during the day, only late at night.
Like you I cannot face breakfast.

Blood sugar levels have most definitely an effect on migraines. If I go without food for a long period of time "bang" I get a migraine. I make sure I eat 3 proper meals over the course of the day to keep blood sugar levels on even keel. I tend to steer away from too many refined carbs. My biggest meal is lunch which always includes protein (i.e. fish, steak, chicken) with salads and veggies. For snacks it is nuts and fruit.



P.

One problem for me is that I do not really like meat, but as you said Petzi it is important to include it in my daily diet, just for the sake of balance. I eat lots of vegetables, really a lot in fact, and do not like sweets, or chocolate so I do not have so called snacks. I like crisps but stay away from them.

I eat only wholemeal bread, but not much either, so my diet is much like yours, quite healthy. What I do not udnerstand is that sudden rush of hunger once in every 24 hours just before midnight, and this is main meal of the day, whichI prefer at night .

It is just as you say Petzi verys important to have regular meals to keep blood sugar levels steady, but for me it is easy to forget to eat at times since I am never hungry during the day.

Our bodies are just chemical factories, and our migraine a mystery I think as a result of some serious malfunction in the system. Still, we muddle through it all.

I used to eat like you. I hardly had anything for breakfast, a small lunch and a massive dinner. What you are doing is basically depriving your body of energy when it needs it most (i.e. during the day), but loading up when your body wants to wind down (i.e. in the evenings). It is no wonder that you get hunger pangs at unusual times. Your metabolism is confused.

Try to retrain yourself to get most of your energy from breakfast and lunch. Your body will soon get used to a new rhythm and your midnight munchies will disappear.

Good luck!

P.

Thank you Petzi, I will try, but it goes so much against the grain to force yourself to swollow when you are not hungry at all, like having that piece of toast in the morning is a victory but still hard enough.

MY problem is that I have always been a night person, all my life. I could never, even as a child function before noon (and we had always had very regular meals at home) whilst the second part of the day I came alive, and at night I could stay up forever. No more, I get more tired and I think the preventatives make me tired.

When I have bigger lunch (when going out with friends etc) I get so sleepy and tired (no I don't drink) that this messes me up for the rest of the day.

I know we can adapt to things, trying is good. Thank you for making me aware of this again.

I know blood sugar drops give me migraines. If you're hungry at night, and you don't have a weight problem, have a light snack. I actually saw a registered dietitian on TV today and she said you should never go more than 6 awake hours without eating something. She said your energy levels are better still if you have 6 very small meals a day instead of 3 normal size ones. It evens out the peaks and valleys in blood sugar. JMHO stack away! If I get really hungry, I know I'll get a migraine in the morning and/or I won't fall or stay asleep. Usually a glass of skim milk is enough to satisfy me.

This is what I suspected, Brenda: 6 waking hours with no food intake, is probably what the connection with migraine is. I was trying to establish if it might be something like that.
No, I do not have weight problem, my weight is within normal, I can still get into some of my clothes I kept from 20 years ego, but this does not mean that over Xmas I will not put some weight each year, and that I do not need to watch it.
I was also told that we need to eat 6 small meals a day, but I could never manage it since I do not have much appetite; 2 very small, and one large meals a day, is all I can cope with.
Thanks to everybody for your feedback.