Binging on a meal can make anyone feel guilty, but for one woman, it's out of her control as he eats 2,500 calories a night, while sleeping.
Lesley Cusack, 55, has to eat light during the day because once she falls asleep, she goes to town on whatever is in the kitchen. The Warrington, Cheshire woman has no control over what she eats due to a sleep condition and she only knows the damage she did when she wakes up, The Telegraph reports.
"I can only tell by the remains in the morning. I tend to find opened tins of things or packets and I've no idea whether I've eaten some of them cold or not," Cusack said. "Sometimes I've found soup in pans, but also in bowls - it all can get rather messy."
"I've put alarms on my doors in the hope it will wake me up. It doesn't work though. I simply turn it off in my sleep," Cusack continued. "I'm trying lose weight but it's a constant battle. I can follow a diet to the letter but it goes to pot at night."
The woman believes that she suffers from Sleep Related Eating Disorder (SRED) and it has been going on for years.
Cusack believes she has suffered from Sleep Related Eating Disorder (SRED) for several years.
"At first, it wasn't too much of an issue and I vaguely remember having night terrors, where I would wake up and freeze then shoot out of the room only being stopped by my husband at the time," Cusask said. "I had started to find bits of mess downstairs, but I didn't realise it was me. It was quite a while before I worked it out, but when I did, I felt very embarrassed and guilty.
Cusack has found some humor in the situation.
"My children tell me now that they never really thought about it whilst they were young, except for when chocolate went missing. I would always try to buy it back to cover it up. It's become a bit of a standing joke now."
But the issue is far from funny. "There were times when I felt extremely depressed through trying to hide it."
Cusack has gained a significant amount of weight due to her condition.
"Having no control made me feel as if everyone assumed I ate too much out of choice and often I would eat less when in people's company in the hope that they wouldn't judge me."
Every morning is a surprise when Cusack wakes up the next morning.
"I've eaten a whole bowl of fruit once. On one particular weekend, I came down to find the cake slice was covered in butter. I'd used it while making cheese sandwiches," she said. "The worst things that I know I've eaten are emulsion paint, Vaseline, cough syrup, raw potatoes and soap powder.
"The night I ate paint was the only time I've ever woken up. I can still remember standing in the kitchen touching my mouth and being very confused.
"It took me a while to work out what it was. It was thick and horrible.
"My bedding and night clothes are constantly getting stained and need washing. I'm always finding a trail of food leading downstairs into the kitchen and sometimes the lounge," she said. "The disturbed nights, waking up exhausted with stomach cramps, feeling sick and finding food bits in and around the bed is all part of what has become almost normal for me!"
Dr Paul Reading, Consultant Neurologist at James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, and President of the British Sleep Society said that sleepwalking typically occurs in childhood but there are some exceptions.
"However, around one percent of adults will continue to exhibit complex activities (parasomnias) that arise from the deepest stages of sleep shortly after dropping off. Recollection of any behaviours the next morning is invariably absent or, at best, vague," Reading said.
Some adults engage in strange behavior when they sleep walk and Reading's condition is not rare.
"A proportion of adult sleep-walkers will eat and even cook during apparent sleep, often consuming foods they would not normally enjoy. Weight gain and guilt are common consequences," Reading said. "Sometimes, factors that fragment sleep such as severe snoring, restless legs, an uncomfortable environment, or general stress may trigger complex sleep-walking, including sleep eating.
Reading says that people with this condition may have to rely on drug treatments to keep their behaviors under control.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
