6 reasons why you feel sleepy even if you’re getting enough sleep

It would seem that no one can be: you watch a TV series all night before work, and then try to sleep for a week for this innocent prank. Everything is logical – no sleep, no vigor. But what to do if you seem to lie down on time, but still do not see a surge of strength?

Immediately remembered in vain missed hours of daytime sleep in kindergarten. I wish we could get them back now, in the middle of a working Friday! Let’s talk about the possible causes of daytime fatigue.

doctor-somnologist

There are many preconditions for this condition.

Is it us?

We are indeed our own enemies when it comes to sleep. Not only when we grossly neglect it. It is enough to lead such a lifestyle – due to work or personal reasons – that your usual amount of sleep will not cover the body’s energy requirements. The damage may seem small, but a systematic reduction in sleep, even by an hour, can have a negative impact on your health.

Daria: Speaking directly about sleep, some people do not know their personal norm of sleep or know it, but limit it. In medicine there is even such a diagnosis – insufficient sleep syndrome. When you consciously limit yourself in sleep, sleep the minimum necessary amount, for example, 5-6 hours. Although most often an adult needs seven to eight hours. Naturally, sleepiness accumulates. And from Monday to Friday it only increases.

Is it hormones?

Our sleep depends to a large extent on a normal hormonal profile. Improper hormone production causes symptoms such as increased appetite, fatigue, and low blood pressure. This phenomenon is called “burnout” of the adrenal glands – it is the result of stress and constant production of the hormones cortisol and adrenaline.

Daria: It can happen that you have taken tests, you have everything normal, you are not overweight and you sleep your normal number of hours of sleep. But you still experience daytime sleepiness. This may be due to the fact that you do not follow the regimen, that is, you go to bed and wake up always at different times – as it happens. Today before midnight, tomorrow after midnight. That’s how you get “social jetlag.”

It can also be called “Monday syndrome”, when on the first day of the week it seems as if it is impossible to wake up. All because the biological clock went “crazy” over the weekend. They thought that the owner flew to another country, crossed several time zones and began to reorganize themselves to a new way. And then Monday came, and again we wake up at a time that is not usual for our biological clock. Naturally, we will feel broken until the body returns to normal again. And the weekend is ahead of us again.

Hence the recommendation: if possible both on weekdays and weekends get up and go to bed at the same time.

Is it the quality of your sleep?

Although we have agreed not to take into account the amount of night sleep, it would be wrong not to talk about its quality. You don’t have to consume alcohol to find yourself sharply in the saying “an alcoholic’s sleep is brief and restless”.

There are two basic types of sleep: with rapid eye movement (REM or REM – rapid eye movement) and without rapid eye movement.

Rapid eye movement sleep occurs about 90 minutes after falling asleep. During this phase, we have most of our dreams. The eyes move rapidly from side to side behind closed eyelids. The mixed brainwave activity becomes closer to that seen during wakefulness.

Daria: But if you follow the regime, getting enough hours of sleep, and still feel drowsy during the day, you want to lie down all the time – in this case you should think about the quality of sleep. The cause may lie in various problems: restless legs syndrome, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (temporary respiratory arrest), little deep sleep, many awakenings and shallow sleep. And no matter how much sleep you get, you will always feel wrecked. In such a case, it is necessary to seek help from a doctor.

Daria: If you want to sleep after a couple of cakes, tea and cake or something similar – it is normal and is explained by physiological processes. If you want to get rid of such sleepiness after dinner, reduce the amount of sweets and simple carbohydrates. And if you do feel drowsy, allow yourself to briefly cover your eyes and recover.

Is it the lighting?

Blackout blinds, which completely isolate light, help produce melatonin, the sleep hormone. But waking up with them is especially difficult because it’s still total darkness all around you. And getting yourself to go and open the curtains is not an easy thing in itself.

Daria: A fairly common cause of lethargy is insufficient light. It usually happens in winter, when the daylight hours are particularly short. And if you, for example, work in an office, but do not go outside during lunch and do not see the sunlight, there is melatonin in the body all the time, although in a small amount.

In this case, the biological clock thinks as if the evening is not ending and you need to get ready for sleep. If you don’t wake up with bright sunlight in the morning and don’t go outside during the day, especially in winter, this will also lead to daytime sleepiness.