Good question, well framed, and I would like to see it answered properly.
8 likes 2mo
Wellbeing · Sleep · continued
Follow-up: Sleep quality changes during weight loss posts 31–60
This is a continuation of a long topic, addressed by post number rather than by page. Start at post 1.
Fatigue during the day and poor sleep at night are different problems with different causes and get merged in most accounts here.
2 likes 2mo
g.tamm, post #25: Taking post #24 at face value and following it one step further. Sleep quality changes during weight is well covered in the tag pages, and the older discussions are better than the recent ones because they were argued out properly. Worth twenty minutes before adding to this one. Go to post
Taking post #33 at face value and following it one step further.
Sleep quality changes reported here have several plausible contributors, and separating drug effects from weight change, from schedule change, and from anxiety is genuinely difficult.
A guess, clearly labelled as one.
On Sleep quality changes during weight, the part that usually goes wrong is that the question is asked as though it has one answer. It has a range, and the width of the range is the interesting bit.
If you can post the two or three numbers you are working from, several people here will check the arithmetic rather than argue about the conclusion.
0 likes 2mo
h.amankwah, post #3: Caffeine and alcohol both affect sleep architecture and both change during a period of reduced intake without anybody deciding to change them. If it helps: the failure mode here is usually boring rather than dramatic. Go to post
Post #33 put the caveat in the right place and I want to underline it.
The published data on sleep outcomes in this class is thinner than the volume of discussion, which is worth saying plainly.
It cost nothing to check and would have cost something not to.
KTurkington, post #32: Fatigue during the day and poor sleep at night are different problems with different causes and get merged in most accounts here. Go to post
Energy and sleep needs: rapid weight loss increases real metabolic stress. Sleep needs might increase even though appetite for food has decreased. Prioritising sleep is prudent during active weight loss.
A referral for a proper sleep study answers in one night what months of forum discussion cannot.
The claim is narrower than it sounds, and deliberately so.
19 likes 2mo
No disagreement from me. Posting only so the question does not look ignored.
8 likes 2mo
Post #38 is the version of this I will quote in future. One addition.
Apnoea monitoring: if you have diagnosed or suspected sleep apnoea, periodic monitoring (annually) during weight loss is prudent because severity changes.
Genuinely open to being wrong about this one.
0 likes 2mo
s.grigorescu, post #30: The failure mode on Sleep quality changes during weight is boring rather than dramatic. It is almost always the step everyone assumes was done correctly because it is too simple to get wrong. Go to post
Where I part company with post #41, and it is a narrow parting.
Gastrointestinal effects overnight: nausea or reflux or constipation at night can disrupt sleep. Dosing timing (morning versus evening) might help if nighttime GI symptoms are the problem.
h.amankwah, post #3: Caffeine and alcohol both affect sleep architecture and both change during a period of reduced intake without anybody deciding to change them. If it helps: the failure mode here is usually boring rather than dramatic. Go to post
On Sleep quality changes during weight, I would rather understate and be corrected upward than overstate and be quoted. That is a house style here and it is a good one.
Obstructive sleep apnoea: pre-existing OSA can worsen with weight before it improves (apnoea-hypopnoea index goes up as soft tissue inflames before weight is lost). This is self-limited but uncomfortable during active weight loss.
The evidence for this is thinner than the way I have phrased it suggests.
0 likes 1mo
lyophil_margin, post #28: I read post #26 twice before replying, because I had assumed the opposite. Eating patterns shift substantially and late intake affects sleep independently of anything pharmacological. Go to post
Post #44 put the caveat in the right place and I want to underline it.
Consistency of timing does more for most people's sleep than any intervention discussed in this subcategory.
It is the sort of thing that seems obvious in retrospect and was not at the time.
That is clearer than the version I had in my head. Thank you.
17 likes 1mo
Nothing here is medical advice, and suspected sleep-disordered breathing specifically is something to have assessed properly rather than tracked.
1 like 1mo
Same experience here, different supplier, so it is at least not unique to one of them.
20 likes 1mo
Where sleep worsened at the same time as an escalation and improved afterwards, that sequence is worth recording rather than reasoning about.
9 likes 1mo
d.oyelaran, post #43: On Sleep quality changes during weight, I would rather understate and be corrected upward than overstate and be quoted. That is a house style here and it is a good one. Go to post
Sleep quality versus quantity: some people report changes to sleep duration; others report changes to sleep quality without duration change. Both can matter for recovery and daytime function.
Caveat: everything above assumes the paperwork is what it says it is.
KTurkington, post #32: Fatigue during the day and poor sleep at night are different problems with different causes and get merged in most accounts here. Go to post
Picking up post #52: that is the part I would want checked first.
Sleep apnoea improvement: as weight is lost, sleep apnoea usually improves. The timeframe is weeks to months, not immediate. Improvement often is gradual rather than sudden.
That distinction has done more work for me than anything else in this category.
Appetite suppression and nighttime eating: if nighttime eating was a pattern, appetite suppression changes that pattern. Sleep can worsen if nighttime waking is habitual and now there is no appetite-based reason to wake.
I am confident about the direction and much less about the magnitude.
5 likes 30d
ambient_draft, post #40: No disagreement from me. Posting only so the question does not look ignored. Go to post
Adding the measurement that post #55 says would settle it.
When sleep problems need attention: if sleep does not improve as weight loss continues or if it worsens, discussing with a clinician is prudent. Sleep disorders are real and treatable.
The strength of my opinion here exceeds the strength of my evidence.
Everything in post #55 holds. The case it does not cover is the one I have.
Stimulants and sleep: if supplementing with caffeine or other stimulants for energy during weight loss, timing and dose matter for sleep. Evening stimulant use interferes with sleep.
Adding a source would improve this post and I do not have one to hand.
9 likes 26d
taper_file, post #22: Post #18 put the caveat in the right place and I want to underline it. Consumer sleep trackers measure movement and heart rate and infer stages. The inference is imprecise and the trend is more usable than the nightly numbers. That holds for the case as described. Change the assumptions and it may not. Go to post
Bookmarking this. I will come back when I have something worth adding.