Jill was in middle school when she began eating in her sleep. Despite carrying the food back to her bed to devour night after night, she didn&rsquot have a clue about what she had done until the next morning.
&ldquoI would wake up with these containers or wrappers from an entire box of crackers or cookies on my bed or by the side of my bed,&rdquo said Jill, now 62, who lives an hour away from Minneapolis. Due to stigma and misunderstanding about sleep eating, CNN agreed not to use her last name.
&ldquoA lot of people think this condition is, &lsquoOh, you get up and you have a snack and then you go back to bed.&rsquo Well, that&rsquos not what this is. This is a whole other animal,&rdquo Jill said of her unconscious nocturnal behaviors.
&ldquoI don&rsquot just get up once and take a bite of this or that,&rdquo she said. &ldquoI can eat a whole package of cookies, then get up again and have four bowls of cereal, then get up again and have an entire box of graham crackers. And it is always junky junk food, never, &lsquoOh, I&rsquom going to have an apple.&rsquo&rdquo
&ldquoI&rsquom very, very, very grateful that I finally found someone who understands what I am going through,&rdquo Jill said. &ldquoI know there are thousands of people out there suffering just like me, and my heart goes out to them. It is a tough journey to go through.&rdquo
&ldquoI&rsquom very, very, very grateful that I finally found someone who understands what I am going through,&rdquo／The Blue Diamond Gallery
Her advice to others? Be your own best advocate, she said. Do research and read what you can about the disorder so you know the right questions to ask the doctor. And above all, she said, request a prescription for a sleep study to find out what is triggering the behavior.
&ldquoDon&rsquot let doctors put you down, blow you off or make you feel bad,&rdquo she said. &ldquoOne doctor might not want to do a sleep study, so find another doctor that will.
&ldquoJust keep fighting until you get the right doctor. Get a second opinion, even a third opinion if you think you need to. Just don&rsquot give up.&rdquo
