Diagnosing a nocturnal eating disorder in an average-weight man

BMJ Case Rep. 2022 Apr 29;15(4):e246197. doi: 10.1136/bcr-2021-246197.

Abstract

A middle-aged man of average weight presented to the sleep medicine clinic for multiple episodes of nocturnal eating during night-time awakenings for the past several months. His symptoms were more characteristic of night eating syndrome rather than sleep-related eating disorder because of his recollection of the eating episodes and intake of edible substances during these episodes. He was treated with a low dose of sertraline with an initial improvement of symptoms followed by a relapse that was controlled with an increased dose. A year after initiation of therapy, his symptoms have resolved.

Keywords: Drugs: psychiatry; Eating disorders; Sleep disorders (respiratory medicine).

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Feeding and Eating Disorders* / complications
  • Feeding and Eating Disorders* / diagnosis
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Sertraline / therapeutic use

Substances

  • Sertraline