2,500 Calories a Night, Lesley Cusack, 55, keeps herself on a strict diet during the day because she has no control over what she eats while asleep at night.
The mother-of-three from Warrington, Cheshire, said: "I can only tell by the remains in the morning. I tend to find opened tins of things or packets and I've no idea whether I've eaten some of them cold or not..REPORTED
"Sometimes I've found soup in pans, but also in bowls - it all can get rather messy. I've put alarms on my doors in the hope it will wake me up. It doesn't work though. I simply turn it off in my sleep.
"I'm trying lose weight but it's a constant battle. I can follow a diet to the letter but it goes to pot at night.Cusack believes she has suffered from Sleep Related Eating Disorder (SRED) for several years.
She said: "At first, it wasn't too much of an issue and I vaguely remember having night terrors, where I would wake up and freeze then shoot out of the room only being stopped by my husband at the time.
"I had started to find bits of mess downstairs, but I didn't realise it was me. It was quite a while before I worked it out, but when I did, I felt very embarrassed and guilty.
"My children tell me now that they never really thought about it whilst they were young, except for when chocolate went missing. I would always try to buy it back to cover it up. It's become a bit of a standing joke now.
"There were times when I felt extremely depressed through trying to hide it."
Over the years, her night time binges caused her to pile on the pounds.
"Having no control made me feel as if everyone assumed I ate too much out of choice and often I would eat less when in people's company in the hope that they wouldn't judge me."
Every night, Lesley goes to bed never knowing what she will find in the morning.
She said: "I've eaten a whole bowl of fruit once. On one particular weekend, I came down to find the cake slice was covered in butter. I'd used it while making cheese sandwiches.
"The worst things that I know I've eaten are emulsion paint, Vaseline, cough syrup, raw potatoes and soap powder.
"The night I ate paint was the only time I've ever woken up. I can still remember standing in the kitchen touching my mouth and being very confused.
"It took my a while to work out what it was. It was thick and horrible.
"My bedding and night clothes are constantly getting stained and need washing. I'm always finding a trail of food leading downstairs into the kitchen and sometimes the lounge.
"The disturbed nights, waking up exhausted with stomach cramps, feeling sick and finding food bits in and around the bed is all part of what has become almost normal for me!"
Dr Paul Reading, Consultant Neurologist at James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, and President of the British Sleep Society, said: "Benign sleep walking is a common phenomenon in childhood which usually disappears during early adolescence.
"However, around one percent of adults will continue to exhibit complex activities (parasomnias) that arise from the deepest stages of sleep shortly after dropping off. Recollection of any behaviours the next morning is invariably absent or, at best, vague.
"A proportion of adult sleep-walkers will eat and even cook during apparent sleep, often consuming foods they would not normally enjoy. Weight gain and guilt are common consequences.
"Sometimes, factors that fragment sleep such as severe snoring, restless legs, an uncomfortable environment, or general stress may trigger complex sleep-walking, including sleep eating.
"Drug treatments before bed are sometimes both justified and successful."
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