This Is Why You Might Feel Tired, But Not Sleepy Natalia
While sleep specialists assure that having a
slight spurt in alertness in the evenings is part of normal human
circadian rhythms, systematically feeling tired and sleepy all day, but
not before bed can be a sign that something has gone awry with your
health or lifestyle. Apart from that, it just feels debilitating to be
tired all day, and understanding the cause is often half of the journey
to recovery. Truthfully, many factors can be causing this problem, both
bad habits and health conditions, a list and description of which
follows.
1. Day time naps
Oftentimes, people who feel tired or sleepy
during the day decide to take naps to compensate for their lack of
sleep, hoping that it will make them feel fresher. The truth is,
however, that these daytime naps might be the very thing that disrupts
your sleep schedule at night, as a late afternoon nap can disrupt your
circadian rhythms and make you feel alert during the night.
This vicious cycle can rapidly snowball
into a bad habit, without you ever suspecting that your daytime siesta
may be the thing wreaking havoc on your sleep schedule.
2. Using electronic devices before bedtime
Let’s face it, most of us are guilty of
this one. We like to relax after a long day by scrolling on our phones,
reading the news on tablets, watching TV or doing some extra work on the
laptop. What most of us don’t know is that all these electronic devices
emit blue light, which, to put it simply, signals to our brains that
it’s still daytime.
The brain then suppresses melatonin
production, which makes us feel alert even though it’s bedtime. That’s
why it’s very important to resist the urge to use devices right before
bed, especially if you’re having sleep problems. Generally speaking,
it’s recommended to stay away from electronics at least 2 hours before
you go to bed and keep your devices out of the bedroom.
3. Psychophysiological insomnia
Anxiety has a sneaky feature: often, it can
become dormant when you’re busy doing something, but inadvertently
returns when you’re not, like when you’re lying in bed and trying to
fall asleep. In fact, anxiety and racing thoughts are the cause of a
special kind of sleeplessness called psychophysiological insomnia
This condition is very dangerous because
these abnormal psychological patterns can become habitual very soon,
with your mind learning to associate a bed with anxious and racing
thoughts. If this is the case for you, it’s important to break this
habit by going to bed only once you feel like you’re falling asleep, so
that you could re-learn that bed equals sleep, and not anxiety.
4. Stress and adrenal problems
Cortisol, also known as the stress hormone,
is normally produced by the adrenal gland in response to stress, but it
is also crucial for metabolism, immune health, and many other things.
Normally, cortisol levels gradually drop in the evening, but when they
don’t, higher-than-normal cortisol levels (induced either by stress or
adrenal gland dysfunction) can block the effect of melatonin in the
body, which will make it difficult for you to fall asleep at night.
Furthermore, chronic stress was even shown to increase melatonin levels
during the day, which makes you feel sleepy and tired during the day,
but still unable to fall asleep at night because of the high cortisol
levels… You get the picture. Luckily, it is easy to measure your
cortisol levels through a urine or saliva test, and a hydrocortisone
treatment prescribed by your doctor can solve this problem quickly.
5. An Abnormality with your biological clock
High cortisol levels at nighttime is only
one kind of abnormality in your circadian rhythms, but many people find
that it’s natural for their body to be more awake and alert at night and
be sleepy during the day. If this is the case for you, you might have
something sleep specialists call a delayed sleep phase, and it’s just
your body’s natural way of behaving.
While a typical human biological clock is roughly like the one showed in
the image above, for people with a delayed sleep phase this clock will
be the opposite, with peak activity and alertness being in the evening,
and a decrease in sleep and stress hormones happening in the morning
instead of the evening.
There isn’t much you can do, in this case,
your best bet is to adjust your day schedule to your natural biological
clock: be more active at night and sleep during the day, especially if
your occupation allows it.
6. A Monotonous Job
With more and more people having sedentary
lifestyles and jobs that don’t require any physical activity, it is
often the case that we don’t exert our bodies enough to feel sleepy at
night. If we combine it with the massive amounts of monotonous
intellectual work the same people do day to day, which takes a toll on
our mental health and cognitive capacity, it becomes clear why you feel
so tired all day.
The solution to this problem is physical activity, and any exercise will
do, as long as you do it regularly. Exercise exerts your body and
energizes your mind at the same time, but keep in mind that exercising
in the evening may actually interfere with your sleep, so make sure
there is at least a 3-hour gap between your sports activities and going
to bed.
Keep in mind that these are just some of the factors that can explain
insomnia, as other types of sleeplessness may follow a different
pattern. We previously discussed 7 medical conditions that cause
insomnia, which you can access here. If you suspect that your
sleeplessness may require medical intervention, you can also read this
guide that will help you evaluate your insomnia symptoms.
This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.
https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement
https://cancersupportindia.blogspot.com for infor on cancer and health related topics
https://GSiyers home remedies.blogspot.com is the latest addition to my blogs. I'm going to add posts there, do give me your valuable feed back on my blogs. Thanks a lot, take care, be healthy and be happy.
https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement
https://cancersupportindia.blogspot.com for infor on cancer and health related topics
https://GSiyers home remedies.blogspot.com is the latest addition to my blogs. I'm going to add posts there, do give me your valuable feed back on my blogs. Thanks a lot, take care, be healthy and be happy.
Labels: a monotonous job, an abnormality with your biological clock, day time naps, psychophysiological insomnia, stress & adrenal problems, tired but not sleepy, using electronic devices before bed time
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home