Onto the subway tracks. New tonight, now, can sleeping soundly at night lead yo to unexpected waking? Well, it did for one man and it turns out those sleep pounds are not as uncommon as you might think. Always been a pretty good sleeper. Reporter: but all that changed several years ago. Jason carney was struggling with a demanding job. He was putting open weight and says he needed to make some adjustments in his life. So he and his family moved. He started to diet. And, was tracking calories on his phone. And … He quit smoking. I wasn’t losing any weight at all. Reporter: and the reason why? Was right in front of him. The next morns I would wake up and see food wrappers in the kitchen. Reporter: his fit bit indicated he had been up as many as six or seven times eating in his sleep.
In the morning I would have wrappers here, here, and here. Reporter: it went on for years as carney tried to control it with sleep aids and vitamins an installed motion alarms but would disarm them in his sleep. Crackers, chips. Cliff bars were a big deal for me. Reporter: he did some of his own research online, but eventually went to a sleep disorder center. The doctor diagnosed him with the sleep related eating disorder that he says was related to carney’s years as a smoker.
The doctor says for significant number of patients like carney, the nicotine cravings are still so strong, they can act as a trigger. And, often, patients with the disorder will be so out of it, they will eat things like raw bacon or butter. Just to satisfy their hunger. They are not awake. Their brain is still sleeping. They are just engaging in these complex behaviors. They eat. They might eat these unusual foods and then they go directly back into bed. And have no recall. Reporter: once they identify the problem, carney was successfully treated with antidepressants. He has dropped 15 pounds so far and went to waking up six or seven times a night to maybe just once. With flipping a switch, it was unreal. Reporter: experts say medications are not always necessary to treat a sleep eating disorder. Sometimes, having better sleep hygiene can help. Like having a sleep schedule, and less computer or cell phone use are great ways to start..