A guest appearing on ITV's This Morning has shared a startling revelation about mysterious parcels arriving at her home, uncovering a rare sleep disorder linked to her menopausal transition.
The Baffling Mystery of Unwanted Parcels
Nicola Edwards, 56, joined presenters Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley to discuss the perplexing situation that began several years ago. She described how packages from various online shopping platforms started appearing at her doorstep, containing items she had no memory of ordering.
Initially dismissing the deliveries as a potential prank from family members, Nicola grew increasingly concerned about being targeted by online scammers. The parcels arrived at unusual hours, often between 2am and 3am, adding to her confusion and anxiety about their origin.
The Unexpected Truth Revealed
The mystery unraveled when Nicola's husband mentioned seeing her using her phone during the night while she appeared to be fast asleep. Upon checking her purchase history, Nicola discovered she had been shopping online while asleep, accumulating over £1,000 worth of bizarre and unnecessary items.
Among the peculiar purchases were multiple wigs for her dog, hundreds of miniature human figurines, a guinea pig guidebook despite not owning one, a Nicola Sturgeon mug, a signed Stormzy album, wheelbarrow tyres for equipment she doesn't possess, incorrectly sized clothing and shoes, and children's hats.
The Menopause Connection
Nicola explained that these episodes began approximately three years ago, coinciding with perimenopause symptoms including anxiety, depression, and weight changes. She described the experience as particularly confusing because she struggles to navigate shopping apps even when fully awake.
"I can't even navigate these apps when I'm awake," Nicola revealed during her appearance. "It was complicated things - one day I got 50 meringue bars because I'd set up a monthly subscription. It was just really random."
Managing the Condition
Due to family circumstances requiring her to keep her phone accessible at night - both parents in poor health and a daughter with autism who might need to contact her - Nicola has developed strategies to manage her condition. She now trains herself to place items in her shopping basket without completing the purchase, allowing her to review potential buys when fully conscious.
"I managed to do that, and it was great because the first thing I saw in my basket was an £800 coffee machine I didn't check out," she explained. Her current basket contains equally unusual items including a miniature potter's wheel, a nun costume for a dog, a pop-up igloo tent, and a child's aviator hat with goggles.
Medical Explanation from Sleep Experts
This Morning's resident health expert, Dr Sophie Bostock, provided medical context for Nicola's experience, identifying it as a form of parasomnia - a category of sleep disorders involving abnormal behaviors during sleep.
"It is an unusual sleep disorder, but this sleep shopping is part of a family of sleep disorders called parasomnias," Dr Bostock explained. "They happen because of faulty transitions between the stages of sleep between being asleep and wakefulness."
In Nicola's specific case, most of her brain remains in deep stage three non-REM sleep while part approaches wakefulness, allowing her to perform routine behaviors like online shopping without conscious awareness or rational thought.
Triggers and Genetic Factors
Dr Bostock highlighted that sleep deprivation and various forms of stress can trigger these episodes in genetically vulnerable individuals, with family history often playing a role. The hormonal fluctuations during perimenopause create physiological stress that can precipitate parasomnias in susceptible people.
"In perimenopause we've got these fluctuating levels of hormones, and it's a form of stress for the body, and that can be enough to push someone to a parasomnia," the sleep expert clarified.
Viewer Reactions to Unusual Content
The segment follows recent viewer criticism of This Morning's content choices, including a previous episode featuring a former Royal Navy member who now earns substantial income selling worn socks on OnlyFans. Some audience members expressed dissatisfaction with what they perceived as declining content quality on the long-running daytime program.
Despite such criticisms, the program continues to explore diverse human experiences and medical conditions, bringing attention to lesser-known disorders like sleep shopping parasomnia that can significantly impact individuals' lives during major life transitions like menopause.
