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Thursday, March 2, 2017

Answers - sleeping problems, eating varied, indigestion, hot flushes after eating

Do sleep patterns ever settle down? I have this problem every night without fail. I go to bed and I only manage to sleep for about an hour and I`m wide awake - so get up to go to the bathroom and make a hot drink. This goes on every hour, every hour and a half at most until about midnight when I am disturbing my partner so much I get up and go and lay in the lounge downstairs. I sleep on and off for the usual hour at a time but at least this way me getting up so much doesn't disturb mt partners sleep. Every night is exhausting and by the time morning comes around I am worn out. I am on bedrest in the afternoons and sleep a little then, but that's it. Its driving me mad and I don`t know what I can do that will stop this and enable me to sleep properly. Any suggestions?

  Over the years i have had my fair share of sleeping problems and i know how awful it is and how draining it feels to not be able to sleep. To be awake during the night and then exhausted during the day. Sleeping problems can be due to many different reasons and how to slve sleeping issues also depends on what is causing it. I dont know whether you need to gain weight or not, but often if your hormones are messed up or you havent been eating enough or eating right then that can affect your sleep routine and make it harder to sleep. Also if you dont have enough healthy fats in your diet - as healthy fats help make hormones in your body, so if you are lacking them it might be harder to sleep due to not enough hormone production.  Also if you arent getting enough nutrients or energy in your diet, your body might not feel "safe" enough or you constantly have adrenaline and cortison pumping in your body and constantly in a "stress mode" which can make it hard to sleep at night.

Usually when you struggle with sleeping problems it is recommended that 1) You dont use technology 1 hour before bed, 2) you do some relaxing stuff such as reading or taking a bath 1-2 hours before bed, 3) dont eat too close to sleeping (though this is individual as i personally eat 30-45 minutes before going to sleep), 4) keeping your bed to just a place of sleep** so that you dont do work or school work or lie in your bed all day as then it is associated with other things and not just a place of relaxation/sleep. 5) exercise during the day can help with sleep HOWEVER if you are on bedrest/not allowed exercise then that is the recommendation to follow. Instead maybe try meditation to help with mental relaxation and to let go of pent up energy?

Journalling before bed or reading or taking a bath or shower at a medium temperature (i.e not too cold or too warm as that can make you feel more awak) can help you to feel relaxed.

Also ask yourself if you cant sleep because of mental or physical reasons i.e whether its over thinking, anxiety, guilt or due to physical reasons such as pent up energy, restlessness etc that can help to find the solution.

If you do need to gain weight then usually with weight gain and a balance in nutrition and your body feels safer/more healthy then sleeping gets easier as your body gets more balanced.

But give it time - usually with a healthy diet, enough healthy fats and doing something during the days and keeping evenings to relax time can help with sleep. But if it doesnt get better in time then speak to a doctor, or see if you can find alternatives to help you sleep. 

In recovery and supposedly eating a more variety of foods now that I`m not restricting but I have found that when I like a certain food I am having it all the time because I like it so much. Then I tire of it eventually only for it to replaced by something else! Is this normal? How can I eat more varied when all I really want is this? Is this another ED behaviour?
I dont think this is necessarily an ED behaviour, it all depends on mindset. But i do the same thing, when i find a food or food combination i love i eat it all the time until i find a new combination i love. Ive talked to my friends about this and it is rather normal... though its sort of 50/50... those who cant eat the same meal more than twice a week, and those who find a food they love and cant stop eating it until they tire of it completely.

However variation is key, so even if you love a food combo or certain food its good to vary and not eat it all the time. This is mostly for the nutritional aspect and also when you are in recovery its good to vary foods so you dont just stick to safe foods.

Even if you love the food try to eat other things as well, or eat the foods in different combos etc

Also i dont know what food you are currently craving/wanting all the time but sometimes you really want a food because there is vitamins or minerals in the food that your body needs, so that can be helpful to find alternatives to eat as well. 

How long roughly does it take for the body (stomach) to get used to having regular food again ie stomach indigestion calms down? Also I have noticed that about half an hour after eating my temperature goes right up like I`m having a hot flush. What is this?
It can take weeks to months for stomach indigestion to calm down as well as stomach adapting to amount of food. Some people struggle more with indigestion than others and some foods can cause more indigestion than others. But some tips are to make sure you are relaxed when eating, not eating too quickly (i.e eating a meal within 5 minutes - but chew your food properly), not eating too spicy or oily food as well as caffeine can cause indigestion.
If you notice some foods make indigestion worse note it down and keep track of the food. However it does take time for your body to adapt and adjust to different foods and different amounts if you have been restricting or binging/purging or only eating few foods.

And with the hot flushes i can get this as well and not fully sure why. At times i can freeze after meals (i guess this is because so much blood and energy goes towards breaking down and digesting the food), but sometimes i get super warm and i think that is just due to the thermogenic effect of food i.e energy is released into the body. I dont think its anything to worry about in all honesty, but it could be due to hormones also so if you are worried or it gets annoying or you feel dizzy in combination then speak to a doctor.

1 comment:

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