Getting Sleepy After Eating

I do agree with you Guest, I am no Doctor but in doing a bit of research on the topic in question, I do find that there may definitely be an underlying cause of this 'malfunction'. But that is determined by a few test by your doctor to rule out those likely causes, like being pre diabetic, one who suffers insomnia, various allergies, side effects of various medications, excess or deficiency of some vitamin or mineral or both.
Also, I have learnt the best thing recommended after a meal is a nice walk, my daughter loves to sleep after her meals and she has packed on quite a few pounds, not too mention it makes one sluggish in the long run. So we do have to take care of this body, after all it's the only one we've got.

You idiots just don't get it.....you are stuck in a cultural mindset and fail to realize you are an ANIMAL and NO different than your ancestral mammals of millions of years ago....run to your stupid doctors or other wise men.....discuss.....BS.....why don't you just watch your damn dog......he eats once a day (and is glad he can, his wolf brothers didn't have that luxury) and if there is nothing demanded of him he sleeps. I'm not going to elaborate further, just think it through yourselves...if you can.....most likely your mind is so stuck in this culture and it's media you can't.

Have a nice day.

Hi Guest, don't tarnish every one with your stuck-on-culture-mindset rubbish. I am 57 years of age and don't subscribe to conventional medicines. The only time I have seen the inside of a hospital was to deliver my children. Many people, despite of what preconceived ideas you may have used to judge everyone as a whole entity, actually are not conventionally drug friendly. However, every one's metabolism operate different, based upon genetics, life style, acquired tastes and other contributory factors. Scientists are not diligently seeking a cure for Alziemer for your dog, or to lower the blood pressure of your dog etc. If you see yourself on par with a dog, I can't do anything about that. I know I was wonderfully made by my Creator. So I hope you broaden your horizons a bit and learn to be more human-friendly.

Please enjoy your day.

You could have a food intolerance. Meaning your body has a hard time digesting something. Perhaps your body is not producing enough of a particular enzyme. For example, those that are lactose intolerant do not produce enough of the enzyme, lactase in the small intestines. (which is where 90% of digestion occurs, not the stomach as someone above mentioned!) For me, my body has a hard time digesting eggs (like scrambled or omelets, but not in things like cakes) and spinach. I used to eat a spinach salad every day for lunch. Now, one leaf and 20 minutes later, my stomach cramps, i'm nauseated, and all the energy is sucked out of me. It took awhile to determine the problem, but as long as a I avoid those. I'm good. Also, only eat when you are truly hungry. If you eat when your not quite hungry yet (tummy hasn't growled at you) then you are essentially over feeding yourself. Also as we get older, we can not consume as many calories as we could when we were younger.

The tiredness is not the same, it's a noticeable sleepiness that feels like a switch had triggered a couple minutes after eating. It's not the usual feeling after eating. It's as though something had turned on a switch & I felt a sudden urge to fall asleep, immediately, not just a simple tiredness, but it was

It caught me while driving. Had I not been for safety belts, these words would not have been written.

Just left work one afternoon and headed home. On a stretch of the road, I blinked once, yawned and blinked again. That was all it took. The next moment I found myself in a truck rolling across snow and the sound of crashing glass...ohh!

Like everyone else said, docs have not found anything wrong with me. Done dozens upon dozens of tests but to no avail.

This serious folks! VERY SERIOUS

I too suffer from this phenomenom of excessive sleepiness after eating even the smallest mid-day lunch.  I fall asleep right at my desk with my fingers on the keyboard for seconds or a few minutes.  I am so afraid the my co-workers will finally get fed up with my condition that I might get fired for it.  When this happens while driving, it is a frightful experience. After the "siesta", I can perform as normal from there on. I too suffer from sleep apnea and high blood pressure, so I do agree that it may have something to do with blood diverted to the digestive system; however, I need to know how to correct this. The sleep apnea issue is being addressed via surgery, removing my tonsils and uvula, and widening the back of my throat. I suffered from apnea longer than the sleepiness issue, so they may be related, but not solely.

sorry but your airy-fairy ideas about food and sleep are mis placed if you had actually suffered this trauma as i have you would reconsider your misplaced optimism and well yes- encouragement.in a nutshell-the poor ole system is out of whack somewhere,Are there any GOOD doctors in the house? John zzzzzzzzzzzzzz..

O.K. all of you who say it's "normal" to be in a drug-like daytime somnambulance - simply have NO idea what the sleepy-heads are talking about. NONE. Those who go to all the trouble of remarking on their sleepiness are likely crippled by it: they can't drive reliably; they fall asleep at family gatherings right on the couch amidst full rooms of noisy family; they fall asleep rather than exercise, and IF they exercise; they even sleep if they TRY to begin to exercise; they can't get paperwork done without napping solidly throughout the day; they can't get a day's decent work done week after week, after month after month; they cut back and cut back and cut back on ambitions just to conserve energy, and nothing improves. They drink gallons of coffee to act normal; they cut the coffee because everyone claims it's part of the problem - and guess what - ? they can't get through a day with their eyes open. SO: I don't believe it's eating "surgary foods" that's the causal or complicating problem at all. In my own case, staying away from any pure proteins before dinner has helped it, not worsened it, and drinking naturally SUGARY (fructos of course) fruit smoothies for breakfast, making them myself, omitting the yogurt or protein part entirely - has helped tremendously. A few green leaves in it and voila - energy until lunch with no naps. I eat what's easy for my body to break down, the easier & faster the better. My rule - if it ain't easy to convert quickly to usable food, I don't eat it. If it takes 80% of the body's energy to digest most protein or complex food - I leave all that for when I'm supposed to sleep - night time. I still can't manage this - "disease" - AND MAKE NO MISTAKE - THIS IS A DEBILITATING DISEASE - but it's some easier now. And yes, the mildest of exercise with tiny incremental oh so GRADUAL increases of it, - ever watchful for yet more intense fatigue - does speed the metabolism and ONLY IF RIDICULOUSLY CAREFUL about it  - therefore, then, it helps.

See my later post: I agree this is an absurd idea of normal - but read my answer, as protein (chicken) may not be helpful - everyone's different, but avoiding this type of protein until late in the day is part of the solution for me.

PurpleRider: I've responded as a fellow sufferer and daytime somnambulant...I think it likely that everyone is different, so "solutions" and stop gaps will be different, - but my first help came in the form of green smoothies for breakfast, and staying away until dinner time, from anything that requires much breakdown to turn it into food, and that includes most proteins. Yes, an inch..but it's something that keeps the naps at bay...

Thank God other people get this too!For me the problem meal is dinner. Breakfast and lunch, sure if I eat too heavily I feel a little more relaxed than I did beforehand but just last night, I was fine and energetic, talking with my roommates and having fun. I made dinner for myself and my boyfriend, and mere minutes after I was finished eating it felt as though (as someone mentioned before) I'd been given a sedative. My whole body felt immeasurably heavy and it was like a thick fog had descended upon my brain.I went and lay on the couch and tried to keep myself awake by listening to the conversations of the four or five people around me but even that level of disruption in my immediate area (there was talking, music and a videogame playing projected on the wall directly in front of me) could not keep me awake. I slept a solid three hours on that sofa with the continuing "disturbances" not affecting me a single bit, until my boyfriend finally shook me awake at around ten-thirty saying that I should move to bed if I was going to keep sleeping. I managed to get myself to my room and fell on the bed completely clothed. I was out like a light in seconds and didn't stir once until I woke up at 5am this morning.

People have mentioned that this can be cause by an inactive or 'couch-potato' type lifestyle, and while that may be more relevant to my situation (I've had severe anaemia and resulting lethargy and fatigue in the last two months, resulting in a cut down on physical activity) I still find it hard to believe that I can be so active and energetic during the day, completely happy and functional, and then I go from engines blazing to comatose with one simple meal.

I'm currently in my second year of university (or 'college') and as you can imagine this kind of thing is seriously affecting my studies. I had an assignment to work on last night that I'm now going to have to hand in late because the time I had set aside to work on it after dinner was thrown out the window. I take vitamin C, Zinc, Iron and a multivitamin almost every day (I alternate some of the tablets so there's not too much iron in my system) and whilst I don't have a wonderful food budget I do eat a decent amount of fresh vegetables as well as brown rice etc. so I don't think I'm abnormally unhealthy.

Well thank you for your every helpful and enlightening answer. I'm sure you didn't mean to come across as so naive.

We are not dogs. Yes, we are animals. Yes, we are mammals. But a dog doesn't have things to do, problems to solve, work to attend to. He is not on a schedule. He sleeps because he can and trust me if I had the luxury of free food, a free home and no responsibilities I'd not hesitate to do the same.
Unfortunately, unlike the 'damn dog', I don't get any of those things. Things ARE demanded of me; I have to study, I have to work, I have to shop and prepare my own meals. If I don't eat three times a day I feel sick, and if I do, I feel sick. It's a double-edged sword and to top it off I can't plan to do anything after dinner because a single nighttime meal hits some manual override and I am shut down for the night, no matter how early I eat, and every other meal leaves me in an unfocused mental state.

Do YOU eat one meal a day like a dog? Do YOU sleep whenever there's nothing demanded of you? If you don't then you're a hypocrite, and if you do then you're a snob who by some miracle has been allowed a lifestyle you do not deserve and that few of us will ever experience. So I'd stop bragging from up on your know-it-all high-horse if I were you because one day someone even more frustrated and intolerant of your rubbish than myself will take one look at you and kick your legs out from under you and then maybe you'll be in a position to understand what it's like to be on our level.

This is a real problem that is having a significantly negative impact on our lives and none of us - not a single damned one - have the time or the patience to deal with your uneducated, unhelpful, grammatically appalling drivel.

Here's where the people saying this is "Normal" go off the freaking rail.  So knock it off.

 

I can be at a dinner party with ten other people.  All eating the same thing.  I want to take a nap right under the table, they don't.

 

"Normal" means the same as everyone else, obviously this situation is not normal, so please stop saying it's normal.

No, its not normal. i know what you mean. if i had breakfast or lunch i feel like i HAVE to sleep, even if i had 9 or 10hours of night sleep.And it doesnt matter what i eat. i recently started taking Maca, it should make you more energetic, but dont see the difference at least yet.:'(