I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea almost two years ago and for those of you unfamiliar with what apnea does, I will give just a brief bit of information. When a person is not sleeping as they should, your body goes into survival mode. It thinks it's being compromised therefore it starts to hoard it's reserves. There are two main hormones that control metaoblism and those two go into virtual hibernation to slow the metabolism to nothing. Unexplained weight gain is one of the reasons my doctor suspected apnea since she knows I eat a low-fat diet.

I was attending a seminar and one of the speakers was a surgeon discussing bypass options. One of the things he mentioned was that every patient on whom he has performed bypass surgery no longer has apnea due to the weight loss. Well my ears perked right up! I thought "I'll do just about anything to get rid of sleep apnea".

So I made an appointment to meet with him, went through the six months of counseling with the dietician, followed all the guidelines their clinic required in order to qualify for surgery. My insurance initially turned it down due to a low BMI, even with the co-morbidities of hypertension, GERD and apnea. However they approved it after an appeal was filed.

So, now to my issue. I was banded on January 27 and have done fairly well with all the issues that come with surgery. But for the past five nights, I have woken from a deep sleep due to horrible, intense, gnawing hunger pangs. I mean I feel like I haven't eaten in three weeks! And I have eaten!! Now I feel like I am in a vicious circle. If I don't sleep, I won't lose any weight. That's a proven fact for me. What is causing this? The past two nights I have broken the rule of not eating before bed. I thought that if my stomach had something to digest and process, it would just go about it's business and let me sleep. However, it has not worked. It does not seem to matter if I eat before bed or not. I see my surgeon again on the 26th of the month and I will discuss this with him but I am wondering if others have had this problem.

Am I just in an adjustment phase? Will getting a fill make a difference? Any advice, insights or comments are welcome as I am so darn frustrated. It feels like the cure was as bad as the initial problem!

If I am hungry before bed, I eat, but I eat a sf pudding which is only 60 calories. It is just enough to take the curb off the hunger so I can sleep. Some nights I eat two of them. Try to find something that is healthy and low calorie enough to curb the appetite. Just because you have gnawing hunger pangs doesn't mean your body needs a full meal. Try it! Good luck. I know I can't sleep if I feel really hungry.:tt2:

When I wake us really hungry and can't go back to sleep cuz of it, I drink some milk (not warm, thats gross to me) or something to raise my blood sugar levels. Low blood sugar will do the same thing--waking you up in the middle of the night.