Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

I've had trouble sleeping since I was born! Sometimes it's just insomnia, sometimes my sleep schedule is just off. My mom had this theory that because I was born on the other side of the world, my sleep schedule was automatically set so my night was really day, and vice versa. I've been a night owl all my life, but some nights when I know I can sleep, I usually can't. Honestly, I'm usually HUNGRY. It's annoying. My body has been used to eating every 2-4 hrs for about 20 years now (I'm 30) and when it's night, it doesn't stop to think that maybe I want to sleep. I feel hungry, sometimes painfully hungry. Sometimes I'm gassy or bloated, a few times I might be suffering from a C or D attack, but mostly, it's just the munchies. Figures, too, cuz it's usually about 20 minutes after I brush my teeth that I suddenly feel very ravenous. How annoying!

What do I do for it? Well sometimes I eat a little something, sometimes I eat a lot of something because I'm so distracted by the hunger. Or, I follow that rule that if you can't fall asleep within 20 mins you're supposed to get up and go do something RELAXING and non-stressful and something that doesn't require a lot of thinking. I am not sure what that might entail. Even reading requires some brain power. But I suppose watching TV would be a little less taxing on the mind.

I listen to books on audio tape. My body is programmed to eventually relax to white noise. Ever try a white noise CD? I had one once but I lost it.

If ambient noise doesn't bother you, maybe that could help you? Or how about meditation? If you do any exercise, try not to do it more than 2 hrs away from bedtime. Eating right before bed is bad, too, I know it's bad but I do it anyways. Eating before bed exacerbates digestive issues, and your body is stuck trying to concentrate on digestion instead of relaxation. In fact it's just less effective to eat and then go to bed.

Although I read somewhere that a small portion of a protein snack a little bit before bed is ok, the protein to keep you feeling full, but not so much to make your tummy feel heavy and disrupt your sleeping.

My worst problem is when my sleeping routine is screwed up (such as spending the night at a friend's house) where everything is different; the lighting or lack thereof, the audio book, etc. I literally had to bring food over to a friend's house to have for my 'night time munchies' because I got sick the last time I spent the night there and needed to eat (IBS friendly) food and didn't have any available to me. The food we'd eaten hours before was not enough to sustain me for the rest of the night, and my blood sugar was all over the place and I was in and out of the bathroom....

So what I'm saying is, try to make yourself a comfortable routine, not one that's so stringent that you can't imitate it in another environment (like if music helps you relax, bring along portable music). Sometimes I have to bring along my stuffed horse, Casper. My bf gave it to me when I was in the hospital. I usually can't sleep without it being in the vicinity of my bed or in my arms.

Lots of luck Stebbs.

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XOXO from lil' ol' me.

(IBS-C, mood disorders, etc., etc.)

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