I experience this regularly as well and, like others have said, many of the posters here have no clue just how extreme the sleepiness is. It happens very suddenly and is completely uncontrollable. I think Moonium said it best....it's like you were given a sedative. When this happens, there is absolutely nothing you can do to fight it. The only thing you can do is sleep, and it is so severe that it doesn't matter where or how....you just have to sleep.
In my case, although it is usually triggered by eating (doesn't matter when, what or how much), I also have entire days that I simply cannot function because I am sleepy all day, and I believe that the two scenarios have to be related somehow. There is no rhyme or reason to it. Sometimes I get up after a full night of sleep and, within 30 minutes to an hour, I can't hold my eyes open. When this happens it will continue for the entire day and sometimes even two or three days in a row. Sometimes I try to fight it, but that never works. I can go back to bed and sleep for a few hours and wake up naturally, and then the same thing happens again a short while later. Because of this, I believe that it has to have something to do with something other than eating, although eating does trigger it on a regular basis.
So, to all of you that have never experienced this, please keep your opinions and judgments about someone being "lazy" to yourself. And to all of you that are suffering like I do on a daily basis, just keep searching and hopefully we will eventually find an answer. Personally, I won't stop searching until I find a doctor who has had the same experience and won't sweep this condition under the rug as many people here have done.
In my case, although it is usually triggered by eating (doesn't matter when, what or how much), I also have entire days that I simply cannot function because I am sleepy all day, and I believe that the two scenarios have to be related somehow. There is no rhyme or reason to it. Sometimes I get up after a full night of sleep and, within 30 minutes to an hour, I can't hold my eyes open. When this happens it will continue for the entire day and sometimes even two or three days in a row. Sometimes I try to fight it, but that never works. I can go back to bed and sleep for a few hours and wake up naturally, and then the same thing happens again a short while later. Because of this, I believe that it has to have something to do with something other than eating, although eating does trigger it on a regular basis.
So, to all of you that have never experienced this, please keep your opinions and judgments about someone being "lazy" to yourself. And to all of you that are suffering like I do on a daily basis, just keep searching and hopefully we will eventually find an answer. Personally, I won't stop searching until I find a doctor who has had the same experience and won't sweep this condition under the rug as many people here have done.
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My question is, for the past two weeks I've been going to the gym 4 times a week for around an hour and a half each. And I've started getting sleepy after a meal, which has never happened before I started this exercise routine. Any explanation for this? I also thought food coma was because I don't exercise enough...
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I have had this problem for the past 10 years, except that I am more unfortunate I get a headache too! Some of the things I tried worked for me at times, but it work for a long time. I have done loads of research trying to understand this....and I have many theories. But let me just talk about what worked. First, I realized that it was lunch which was the most problematic. Second, I found that the sleepiness/headache had a carry over effect, not that every meal caused it - but once caused by some trigger it spread over and made you feel like any meal is a problem. Third, I also noticed that I had off and on constipation (not due to lack of fibre) in the form of incomplete evacuation. Fourth, I found that my "digestive fire", to use an Ayurvedic term, was not very strong. I decided to follow the Ayurvedic principle of eating. First, I ate a very early and light dinner - that caused me to feel very hungry when I got up. So I ate a very heavy breakfast, enough to make me feel not hungry for lunch. This worked for me because of my low digestive fire. Then I skipped lunch. Or at any time I felt a little hungry, I ate an apple or an egg. By early evening, I would be very hungry - then again I ate a heavy meal. Which got digested well and left me hungry enough for a heavy breakfast in the morning. Of all the things I tried, this was the most useful. And my constipation problem was best addressed by just adding an apple in my diet. My work is primarily intellectual work, 10-12 hours of work a day, and I spend around an hour to hour and a half on walking and playing badminton. I am female, age, 37.
There is one thing I haven't checked and am suspicious sometimes - whether I am hypoglycemic, has any of you checked that out? It looks like if you have it, you get a sharp dip in your blood sugar level after eating which can make you sleepy or get headache. I feel this is not true with me, but then the symptoms match well.
Once I started noticing my hunger level while eating, I also realized that I dont get problems when I eat when I am very hungry, and I also found it was so difficult to get tuned to noticing the level of hunger before eating, because I am so programmed since childhood to eat in time, to eat regularly, and quite often you also feel tempted to eat things for the taste.
Another thing, cutting on carbs also helped a lot. I am from India, we eat very high carb diet mostly. So it was very difficult.
I also noticed that a south Indian called dish called idli/dosas (cakes made of fermented dough of rice and black gram), did not create trouble like other food. Most fermented foods are better because they are kind of predigested with microbes. I am not sure if western diet has such foods, but I have heard of a middle eastern dish called Kefir.
I felt better when I really reduced my food intake, and when the calorie intake hovered around 1200-1400 I got worried, but I realized that I was energetic and had very less issues when I ate that much. As one of the members here has remarked, I do feel that the calorie intake standard may not be rational. The fundamental principle of Ayurveda is to eat when hungry, not to overeat, not to undereat, and many other such simple things that I thought was too simple once, but when I had to follow them strictly it is so difficult. So difficult because even if I forget the rule once, like eat something because I am tempted and I convince myself I am hungry enough, my headache, sleepiness strikes again. And once it strikes it continues for 5-6 days.
Wonder if any one has had a similar experience. I was very glad to come across this forum, and to be in the community of fellow sufferers.
I do feel that some of those theories reg. serotonin, parasympathetic nerves system, and hypothalamus neurotransmitters might make sense.
There is one thing I haven't checked and am suspicious sometimes - whether I am hypoglycemic, has any of you checked that out? It looks like if you have it, you get a sharp dip in your blood sugar level after eating which can make you sleepy or get headache. I feel this is not true with me, but then the symptoms match well.
Once I started noticing my hunger level while eating, I also realized that I dont get problems when I eat when I am very hungry, and I also found it was so difficult to get tuned to noticing the level of hunger before eating, because I am so programmed since childhood to eat in time, to eat regularly, and quite often you also feel tempted to eat things for the taste.
Another thing, cutting on carbs also helped a lot. I am from India, we eat very high carb diet mostly. So it was very difficult.
I also noticed that a south Indian called dish called idli/dosas (cakes made of fermented dough of rice and black gram), did not create trouble like other food. Most fermented foods are better because they are kind of predigested with microbes. I am not sure if western diet has such foods, but I have heard of a middle eastern dish called Kefir.
I felt better when I really reduced my food intake, and when the calorie intake hovered around 1200-1400 I got worried, but I realized that I was energetic and had very less issues when I ate that much. As one of the members here has remarked, I do feel that the calorie intake standard may not be rational. The fundamental principle of Ayurveda is to eat when hungry, not to overeat, not to undereat, and many other such simple things that I thought was too simple once, but when I had to follow them strictly it is so difficult. So difficult because even if I forget the rule once, like eat something because I am tempted and I convince myself I am hungry enough, my headache, sleepiness strikes again. And once it strikes it continues for 5-6 days.
Wonder if any one has had a similar experience. I was very glad to come across this forum, and to be in the community of fellow sufferers.
I do feel that some of those theories reg. serotonin, parasympathetic nerves system, and hypothalamus neurotransmitters might make sense.
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I get the same quick sedated type sleepiness that most of you are experiencing, I was on here looking to see if sodium played a role. I have very low blood pressure and very low blood sugar readings when I usually take them. People always say wow after checking them and I one time was borderline the opposite of diabetic. Plus I am usually anemic when i go to donate blood and they won't let me. Now the reason I was looking for sodium as a clue to this horrible temporary handicap (which it is when you physically can't move after eating) is because I ate super about 7pm tonight, got tired (my eyes start to close as I am eating, my friends and family always ask if i am okay that i look drugged) I go lie down and 4 and a half hours later I am wake up. This happens often. I have a doctor's appointment soon and will ask them to take blood work and a urine analysis just in case. It wears me out and makes me not want to eat, plus i have serious gas ALL THE TIME and i can't figure out which foods are doing it. Today i had a starbucks pepperment latte and OMG i was in serious pain from the gas being trapped in my chest. I feel that I am going to stroke out and I start hurting something fierce in my chest =O(
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I exercise pretty frequently and it doesn't prevent my daily siesta. If I'm not doing anything physically active I will fall asleep after a meal. I find that smaller meals and snacks prevent it, but even then I find myself nodding off.
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There are two reasons why you feel sleepy after a meal:
1. You ate too much. If you eat till you're about to burst, your body will use extra amounts of your precious energy to digest, which will then make you feel sleepy after just about 30 minutes. A way to avoid this is to eat till you're almost full.
2. You either ate too much proteins, too much carbs, or too much fats. You need a healthy and proportionate balance of those 3 in every meal. Too much of either one causes drowsiness. Examples are: Steak and potatoes, Rice and fish, Chicken sandwiches... (Right before eating, I like to marinate my meals with olive oil). If this combined with part 1 are both followed properly, I guarantee you'll have all the energy you need to tackle the rest of the day.
1. You ate too much. If you eat till you're about to burst, your body will use extra amounts of your precious energy to digest, which will then make you feel sleepy after just about 30 minutes. A way to avoid this is to eat till you're almost full.
2. You either ate too much proteins, too much carbs, or too much fats. You need a healthy and proportionate balance of those 3 in every meal. Too much of either one causes drowsiness. Examples are: Steak and potatoes, Rice and fish, Chicken sandwiches... (Right before eating, I like to marinate my meals with olive oil). If this combined with part 1 are both followed properly, I guarantee you'll have all the energy you need to tackle the rest of the day.
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Can you provide evidence that sleepiness following digestion of large consumptions of food is abnormal?
In addition, I was not aware that superheroes could be compared to humans; fiction is far from reality.
In addition, I was not aware that superheroes could be compared to humans; fiction is far from reality.
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I am also a member of the sleepy after eating club. Looking back, I see that this is something I have been struggling with my whole life. It is NOT normal to feel like you had a Thanksgiving meal when you ate one quarter of what someone else calls a normal meal. My sister who I live with constantly comments to me, "that's just not normal." Sometimes I feel it within 2-3 minutes. I have been looking at the sites for adrenal gland fatigue and feel like there may be an association there for me. Mayo Clinic states that it is not a real diagnosis at this time, but I have to consider that the doctor who tried to get everyone to understand the importance of triglycerides was pooh-pooh-ed for 25 years, and now it is well recognized as extremely important. Science needs to remember they are only human, not God, and don't know all the secrets of the universe or the human body yet. Still, we must be discerning when looking outside accepted science.
I targeted the adrenal because years ago I took a couple of short tests in women's magazines (which I rarely ever read OR trust!). What caught my attention was that one was attaching a specific organ to being in control of how body fat was distributed (mine distributes proportional with an hourglass shape). The other was entirely about sleep. They were completely different subjects, yet both targeted my adrenal gland as being the one in control. Today while researching the adrenal, I find I have many of the symptoms of adrenal fatigue. One specified low blood pressure (my normal is 105/60), low blood sugar and low body temp (my normal is 97.7). I forgot the 4th but it was on target too. These are not outside of the normal range, but on the low end, definitely not optimum. I also get plenty of sleep (7-9 hours), yet wake up feeling more tired than when I went to bed! If I get less than 6 hours, I am barely functional. I struggle with the brain fog issue too. When trying to donate blood, I am often just barely under the minimum red blood cell level to donate, so I take extra iron a couple of times a week and a multi-vitamin every day that I remember to. I also have a lot of water retention in the mornings.
I suspect we all may have different underlying problems, yet perhaps most of us share one or more contributing issues. I have learned about myself that I do much better with much smaller meals more frequently. The best is if I eat only just enough to keep my blood sugar from dropping very low - which really sucks because I really enjoy eating! Also, I can get over the sleepy hump usually if I force myself to be active immediately following the meal - I am sure you sufferers know how hard that is when you just want to drop to the floor wherever you are. Maybe this forces the blood all over instead of just to the digestive system? I also have the most energy when hungry, maybe this is related to a rush of adrenaline so I can hunt my dinner like a lion? I have fewer specific cravings (like crunch cravings) when I take my multivitamin regularly. Being overweight, I am always trying to eat properly. The best diet for me is what I call the force feeding diet. I force myself to eat a bunch of stuff that is healthy and it helps to push out the junk, and calm deficiency cravings. Regular excercise helps! At a previous job where I worked in a 20 floor building, I would go the to fire exit and climb a few floors of stairs each time I went to the bathroom. I never looked at my goal for the day or week, just this one trip, each time. Even if I didn't feel good, I would just tell myself "just do these three floors." I started with two floors up, three down, and one up - then back to my desk. I was done by the time I began to pant much. No sweating, no special clothes or shoes, no carving out an hour or more to go to the gym. I made 7 trips a day, 21 floors, 19 steps each floor. In a five day work week it came up to about 2000 steps. After five weeks, I went to 3000, and upped it by 500 every five weeks. By then I had adapted to the old level and it was no difficult to do 5000 a week after six months than it was to do 2000 when I first started. By splitting it into many small trips it made it much easier to follow through (I was not diligent about my daily goals, but I was about my weekly ones). It also helped keep my metabolism up during the day which really helped the sleepy after eating problem (helped, not cured). I lost only about 13 pounds by the scale, but I am sure I lost more fat and gained some muscle. That was the best, most energetic I felt in my whole life! Then we moved our company to a one floor building! I am stil trying to recreate that success.
One last suggestion. As a coffee drinker, I find it helpful to time my caffeine consumption to be 15-30 minutes PRIOR to eating, so it has time to get in my system instead of being "stuck behind the food in the digestion process." The caffeine burst helps to offset the sleepiness.
I am sorry this has been so long, but I hope it is comforting to know you are not alone in the struggle, and I hope my suggestions will be of some help to some of you.
Praying for us all,
Linda
I targeted the adrenal because years ago I took a couple of short tests in women's magazines (which I rarely ever read OR trust!). What caught my attention was that one was attaching a specific organ to being in control of how body fat was distributed (mine distributes proportional with an hourglass shape). The other was entirely about sleep. They were completely different subjects, yet both targeted my adrenal gland as being the one in control. Today while researching the adrenal, I find I have many of the symptoms of adrenal fatigue. One specified low blood pressure (my normal is 105/60), low blood sugar and low body temp (my normal is 97.7). I forgot the 4th but it was on target too. These are not outside of the normal range, but on the low end, definitely not optimum. I also get plenty of sleep (7-9 hours), yet wake up feeling more tired than when I went to bed! If I get less than 6 hours, I am barely functional. I struggle with the brain fog issue too. When trying to donate blood, I am often just barely under the minimum red blood cell level to donate, so I take extra iron a couple of times a week and a multi-vitamin every day that I remember to. I also have a lot of water retention in the mornings.
I suspect we all may have different underlying problems, yet perhaps most of us share one or more contributing issues. I have learned about myself that I do much better with much smaller meals more frequently. The best is if I eat only just enough to keep my blood sugar from dropping very low - which really sucks because I really enjoy eating! Also, I can get over the sleepy hump usually if I force myself to be active immediately following the meal - I am sure you sufferers know how hard that is when you just want to drop to the floor wherever you are. Maybe this forces the blood all over instead of just to the digestive system? I also have the most energy when hungry, maybe this is related to a rush of adrenaline so I can hunt my dinner like a lion? I have fewer specific cravings (like crunch cravings) when I take my multivitamin regularly. Being overweight, I am always trying to eat properly. The best diet for me is what I call the force feeding diet. I force myself to eat a bunch of stuff that is healthy and it helps to push out the junk, and calm deficiency cravings. Regular excercise helps! At a previous job where I worked in a 20 floor building, I would go the to fire exit and climb a few floors of stairs each time I went to the bathroom. I never looked at my goal for the day or week, just this one trip, each time. Even if I didn't feel good, I would just tell myself "just do these three floors." I started with two floors up, three down, and one up - then back to my desk. I was done by the time I began to pant much. No sweating, no special clothes or shoes, no carving out an hour or more to go to the gym. I made 7 trips a day, 21 floors, 19 steps each floor. In a five day work week it came up to about 2000 steps. After five weeks, I went to 3000, and upped it by 500 every five weeks. By then I had adapted to the old level and it was no difficult to do 5000 a week after six months than it was to do 2000 when I first started. By splitting it into many small trips it made it much easier to follow through (I was not diligent about my daily goals, but I was about my weekly ones). It also helped keep my metabolism up during the day which really helped the sleepy after eating problem (helped, not cured). I lost only about 13 pounds by the scale, but I am sure I lost more fat and gained some muscle. That was the best, most energetic I felt in my whole life! Then we moved our company to a one floor building! I am stil trying to recreate that success.
One last suggestion. As a coffee drinker, I find it helpful to time my caffeine consumption to be 15-30 minutes PRIOR to eating, so it has time to get in my system instead of being "stuck behind the food in the digestion process." The caffeine burst helps to offset the sleepiness.
I am sorry this has been so long, but I hope it is comforting to know you are not alone in the struggle, and I hope my suggestions will be of some help to some of you.
Praying for us all,
Linda
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I am getting checked for Celiac Disease shortly. You can go to http://www.celiaccentral.org/ and see if you have the symptoms. I get the coma feeling after every meal as well. I absolutely can not eat before school or work or I can not function. Some of the people on this board as others have stated, are seriously ignorant to the intensity of the fatigue these people feel after eating. (Especially if its a malabsorption problem.) It isn't your run of the mill eating too much, it is a deeper issue. If you have Cealic Disease your body is unable to absorb Wheat and Gluten...well guess what percent of foods contain it....
So I suggest some of you look into the Cealic Disease and get blood work for it. It can cause problems with weight loss, skin problems, bone problems. If you experiencing the symptoms, def get it checked out because debilitating sleepiness after every meal is NOT normal.
So I suggest some of you look into the Cealic Disease and get blood work for it. It can cause problems with weight loss, skin problems, bone problems. If you experiencing the symptoms, def get it checked out because debilitating sleepiness after every meal is NOT normal.
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Thank you all for this. I too suffer from debilitating, almost narcoleptic sleepiness after eating lunch.
It doesn't seem to affect me in evenings or morning, just mid-afternoon.
It's difficult to describe, so people who have not experienced it have trouble understanding what we're going through.
For me at least, it's not an urge to sleep, it's not a feeling of being tired, it's like my body just shuts down.
For those who haven't experienced it, imagine you're exhausted to the point where you can't keep your eyes open and fall asleep. Now take away all the feelings of exhaustion just before you're struggling to keep your eyes open.
That's what I experience. It's sudden and after barely falling asleep for just a couple of minutes even, I'm fine again. But I have to sleep in order to bounce back. I can fight it off, but it's difficult. It's dangerously difficult. I've had this happen to be me while driving, and even if I get scared and should have an adrenaline rush that pops me into alertness, I don't get alert. I still have to constantly fight this feeling of just slumping over.
More strange data... This seems to come in waves - there will be a few months where I have this "slump over sleepiness" and in the other months I have ravenous hunger. This makes me think perhaps I'm in some kind of manic-depressive cycle with regard to my metabolism. I'm not showing a large weight gain or loss though.
Also worth noting - I have obstructive sleep apnea that is being treated with CPAP - has been for about 7-8 years now. I realized after being diagnosed that I had apnea symptoms for at least 3-4 years prior.
I have recently been in another monitored sleep study and have been prescribed a BiPAP, as my number of episodes fared better on BiPAP. However, if BiPAP treatment doesn't help I may end up being diagnosed as narcoleptic...
I will check out the syndromes/diseases mentioned and hope we can all find a cure for this sudden body shutdown.
It doesn't seem to affect me in evenings or morning, just mid-afternoon.
It's difficult to describe, so people who have not experienced it have trouble understanding what we're going through.
For me at least, it's not an urge to sleep, it's not a feeling of being tired, it's like my body just shuts down.
For those who haven't experienced it, imagine you're exhausted to the point where you can't keep your eyes open and fall asleep. Now take away all the feelings of exhaustion just before you're struggling to keep your eyes open.
That's what I experience. It's sudden and after barely falling asleep for just a couple of minutes even, I'm fine again. But I have to sleep in order to bounce back. I can fight it off, but it's difficult. It's dangerously difficult. I've had this happen to be me while driving, and even if I get scared and should have an adrenaline rush that pops me into alertness, I don't get alert. I still have to constantly fight this feeling of just slumping over.
More strange data... This seems to come in waves - there will be a few months where I have this "slump over sleepiness" and in the other months I have ravenous hunger. This makes me think perhaps I'm in some kind of manic-depressive cycle with regard to my metabolism. I'm not showing a large weight gain or loss though.
Also worth noting - I have obstructive sleep apnea that is being treated with CPAP - has been for about 7-8 years now. I realized after being diagnosed that I had apnea symptoms for at least 3-4 years prior.
I have recently been in another monitored sleep study and have been prescribed a BiPAP, as my number of episodes fared better on BiPAP. However, if BiPAP treatment doesn't help I may end up being diagnosed as narcoleptic...
I will check out the syndromes/diseases mentioned and hope we can all find a cure for this sudden body shutdown.
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I have read some very intelligent thoughts on this subject. However,I would like to make it simple and say that any time you eat a starch with a protein it causes a chemical reaction that in short, will make you sleepy. Try it yourself and see. FYI to name a few for those who aren't sure...flour, corn, potatoes and beans are also starch.
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OREXIN NEURON. INTERESTING FINDINGS ON WHY WE FEEL SLEEPY AFTER A MEAL. DO A GOOGLE SEARCH ON IT.
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it's not normal to fall asleep at your desk almost daily after a small lunch & every night after dinner!
Is there any natural/ herbal product that may assist? I'm losing faith in medical 'expertise' - it might be worth trying an 'alternative' remedy?
Is there any natural/ herbal product that may assist? I'm losing faith in medical 'expertise' - it might be worth trying an 'alternative' remedy?
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OK so what I know...me...typically low blood sugar..(dad and sister are diabetics and my readings are 50 to 60 as normal...i am NOT a diabetic, low blood pressure..docs think its great, I'm active but no athlete...42 male. I eat speratically, various foods, different amounts. When I go a long time with little to no food like 20 hours, then eat as I am starved..I go down for the count. Doesn't matter what. I have had success with "colon cleansing/detox" pills. I think what happens....eat food, insulin kicks in, c**p in the large intestine prevents good absorption of sugars to neutralize the insulin...must sleep. Just a theory. Try cleansing!!!
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