Eating causes fatigue and uncontrollable sleepiness

[gingerginger]

I'm a 24 yr old female of normal weight.  Whenever I eat even a small amount of food, I get extremely tired and fall asleep.  Both my mind and my body become fatigued, and if I remain awake I feel like my arms and legs are difficult to move.  I counter sometimes this by not eating at all during the day, then eating a large meal before bed.  If I eat late at night, I wake up more groggy in the morning than if I hadn't eaten at all.  I will fall asleep after I've eaten even if I find something mentally stimulating to work on and even if I keep moving (bouncing my leg, writing, or twirling an ink pen) no matter how hard I try to stay awake.  When I sleep at night, I sleep hard and nothing wakes me up.  I sleep about 10-12 hours a day including naps.  I wake up just as tired as I was when I went to sleep, but eating makes the tiredness much worse.  This problem is not of recent onset; I remember even in elementary school I would avoid eating during the day because "if I eat then I can't think".  I also have virtually no feelings of hunger; I could go for a few days without eating and not feel hungry, but eventually I crave certain foods or I feel shaky and weak and I have to eat.
Does anyone know what my symptoms could be or how I can manage them?  Thank you!

[Tager]

I have narcolepsy and what you are describing sounds exactly like what happens to me. Have you got a diagnosis yet?

[amythist2779]

It could possibly be chronic fatigue syndrome.

[ozark]

The things i would ask your doctor about is diabetes, anemia, and/or sleep apnea. many things could cause this.  the shakiness is probably due to low blood sugar from not eating properly.
good luck