Dinner And Its Relation To Sleep Problems- What Do You Eat In The Evening?

[Machair]

I have a lot of problems with digestion when my dysautonomia is at its worst. Bloating and a feeling as if food is very slow to move through the gut. This often makes my breathing worse during the night as pressure from my stomach seems to make things more difficult. I'll often wake up with a hyperventilation episode.

The other night I had a very light tea- just a plain omelette and ate really early- before 6pm and I slept so much better. This has made me think that in order to sleep more soundly I will have to really eat less at night, and eat much more bland foods with less roughage.This is difficult as I am a wholefood loving vegetarian, but I am not sure that beans pulses and green vegetables agree with my digestive system and make me more ill. I also have CFS/ME so digestive issues are a constant battle.

What do you all eat in the evening and do you find meals really affect sleep? Do you have tiny portions? I almost wonder about cutting out dinner altogether. Any opinions would be really welcome- thank you to you all.

[volo]

I had lots of problems after dinner and went over to a schedule where I eat 5 times a day - adding a mid-morning and mid-afternoon meal, and I try to make lunch the largest meal of the day, so that I eat only a small dinner. I also try to eat dinner at least 4 hours before I go to bed. Then I have a hot milk at bedtime. For me, this has helped a lot.

[Machair]

Thank you so much Volo- I will try this. What happened before to you if you ate meals as normal- were your symptoms similar to mine?

[Batik]

Some people with ME/CFS do better on whole grains, including myself, and others find they have to stick to the white versions of pasta, rice etc.

[Relax86]

I recently have found dinner to give me the most difficult time. Most of the time I eat the same foods so the only difference in my meal is the time of day. I recently had salad with additives that I wouldn't have chosen and salad dressing that I wouldn't have picked and had a 5 day flare. But generally dinner makes symptoms flare. The only meal which is followed by being sedentary.