Sleep Related Eating Disorder

The story is common: You're exercising and maintaining a healthy diet but you still can't drop a few pesky pounds. But imagine if instead of plateauing at your current weight, you were mysteriously gaining up to 20 lbs. each month.

Anna Ryan, a healthy woman who inexplicably put on 126 lbs. over 20 years discovered that a rare sleeping disorder was causing her to chow down on up to 2,000 calories while she was unconscious each night. The Daily Mail reports that Ryan, who currently weighs 266 lbs., solved the mystery of her weight gain when she awoke to evidence in her bed one morning. "There were broken biscuits in the sheets and all over my face. The kitchen looked like a bomb had hit it and I realized I must have eaten in my sleep. My husband Kenny found it quite funny but I was terrified - I couldn't remember anything!"

Ryan promptly visited a sleep specialist, who diagnosed her with Sleep Related Eating Disorder (SRED) and is currently working with her to eliminate her nightly trips to the kitchen. While she worries about how her health is being affected by SRED, she remains hopeful that a new course of medication may suppress further sleep eating related overindulgences.