Sleep is an important physiological process necessary for the functioning of the body. In a dream, all of its functional systems are restored and tissues are pumped with vital energy. It is well known that a person can live much less without sleep than without food.
The normal duration of sleep in an adult is 7-9 hours every day. A person's need for sleep changes with age. Babies sleep constantly - 12-18 hours a day, and this is the norm. Gradually, the duration of sleep decreases until it reaches an adult value. On the other hand, older people also often have an increased need for sleep.
It is also important that a person belongs to the type of representatives of the animal kingdom, for whom night sleep and daytime wakefulness are normal. If a person cannot spend the time necessary for proper rest in a dream every night, then such a syndrome is called insomnia or insomnia. This situation leads to many unpleasant consequences for the body. But the opposite situation brings no less problems - when a person wants to sleep more than the allotted time, including during the daytime, when wakefulness and an active lifestyle are prescribed by nature.
This syndrome can be called differently: hypersomnia, drowsiness or, in common parlance, drowsiness. It has many reasons, and it is very difficult to find among them the right one in each case.
First, let's define more precisely the concept of drowsiness. This is the name of the state when a person is overcome by yawning, heaviness presses on the eyes, his pressure and heart rate decrease, consciousness becomes less sharp, actions become less confident. The secretion of the salivary and lacrimal glands also decreases. At the same time, a person is terribly sleepy, he has a desire to sleep right here and now. Weakness and drowsiness in an adult can be a constant phenomenon, that is, to haunt a person all the time he is awake, or transient, observed only at a certain time.
Why do you always want to sleep?
First of all, it is worth noting that constant drowsiness adversely affects a person’s entire life. He sleeps on the go, cannot fully fulfill his work duties, do household chores, constantly coming into conflict with others because of this. This, in turn, leads to stress and neuroses. In addition, drowsiness can directly pose a danger to a person and others, for example, if he is driving a car.
Causes
It is not always easy to answer the question why a person wants to sleep. The main factors that cause drowsiness can be divided into those that are caused by the wrong way of life of a person or external causes, and those that are associated with pathological processes in the human body. In many cases of drowsiness, there are several causes at once.
natural factors
People react differently to natural phenomena. For some, they do not have a noticeable effect, while others are very sensitive to weather changes. If it rains for several days in a row, the pressure is low, then the body of such people react to these circumstances by lowering blood pressure and vitality. As a result, a person may experience drowsiness and weakness on such days, he can fall asleep on the go, but when the weather improves, his usual cheerfulness returns to him. Other people, on the contrary, may react in a similar way to extreme heat and stuffiness.
Also, some people are prone to a syndrome in which a decrease in the length of daylight hours causes the body to secrete the hormones necessary for sleep much earlier than planned. Another reason why a person constantly sleeps in winter is that in winter our body has access to a smaller amount of vitamins obtained from fresh vegetables and fruits, the use of which, as you know, improves metabolism.
Lack of night sleep
Constant lack of sleep is the reason that seems most obvious. And in practice, daytime sleepiness caused by a poor night's sleep is the most common. However, many people tend to ignore it. Even if you think you are getting enough sleep, you may not actually be. And if a person did not sleep well at night, then it is likely that his eyes will be closed during the day.
Night sleep may be incomplete, its phases may be unbalanced, that is, the period of REM sleep prevails over the period of slow sleep, during which the most complete rest occurs. In addition, a person can wake up very often at night, he can be distracted by the noise and stuffiness in the room.
Sleep apnea is a common disorder that often disrupts the quality of sleep at night. With this syndrome, the patient has a lack of oxygen supply to the tissues of the body, as a result of which sleep has an intermittent restless character.
It should also be taken into account that over time a person needs more and more sleep. Therefore, if at the age of twenty a person can sleep six hours a day, and this will be enough to make him feel vigorous, then at thirty the body is no longer so hardy, and it requires a more complete rest.
However, not always daytime sleepiness is a consequence of the inferiority of night sleep or insomnia. Sometimes there is a situation when a person cannot sleep at night, although he sleeps well. This means a general pathological increase in the daily need for sleep in the absence of night sleep disturbances.
Overwork
Our life passes at a frantic pace and is filled with everyday fuss, which we do not even notice. Household chores, shopping, car trips, everyday problems - all this in itself takes away our energy and strength. And if at work you still have to do the most difficult and at the same time the most boring things, sitting for hours in front of the monitor screen and looking at numbers and graphs, then the brain eventually turns out to be overloaded. And signals that he needs rest. This, in particular, can be expressed in increased drowsiness. By the way, brain overload can be caused not only by visual, but also by auditory stimuli (for example, constant work in a noisy workshop, etc.).
The drowsiness caused by this cause is relatively easy to eliminate - it is enough to take a break, day off or even go on vacation to put the exhausted nerve cells in order.
stress and depression
It is a completely different matter when a person is tormented by some problem that he cannot solve. In this case, at first the person will be full of energy, trying to overcome the life obstacle. But if he fails to do this, then apathy, weakness and fatigue roll over a person, which can be expressed, among other things, in increased drowsiness. The sleepy state is a protective reaction of the body, because in a dream it is more protected from the negative effects of stress.
Drowsiness can also cause depression - an even more severe defeat of the human psyche, when he is literally not interested in anything, and around him, as it seems to him, there is complete hopelessness and hopelessness. Usually depression is caused by a lack of neurotransmitter hormones in the brain and requires serious treatment.
Taking medicines
Many drugs, especially those used to treat neurological and psychiatric disorders, can cause drowsiness. This category includes tranquilizers, antidepressants, antipsychotics.
However, just because the drug you are taking does not fall into this category does not mean that it cannot cause drowsiness as a side effect. Drowsiness is a common side effect for first-generation antihistamines (tavegil, suprastin, diphenhydramine), many drugs for hypertension.
Infectious diseases
Many are familiar with the feeling of flu or acute respiratory infections, especially accompanied by high fever, when it is cold and you want to sleep. This reaction is due to the desire of the body to use all available energy in the fight against infection.
However, lethargy and drowsiness can also be present in infectious diseases that are not accompanied by severe symptoms, such as pathological respiratory phenomena or high fever. It is quite possible that we are talking about an inflammatory process somewhere in the depths of the body. This condition even has a special name - asthenic syndrome. And often the cause of drowsiness is asthenic syndrome.
It is characteristic of many serious diseases, both infectious and non-infectious nature. However, drowsiness is not the only sign of asthenic syndrome. It is also characterized by such symptoms as extremely fast fatigue, irritability and mood lability. Also, asthenic syndrome is characterized by signs of vegetative-vascular dystonia - jumps in blood pressure, pain in the heart, chilliness or sweating, discoloration of the skin, headaches, tachycardia, abdominal pain and digestive disorders.
Hormonal imbalances
Many of the hormones produced in the human body affect the activity of physiological and nervous processes. In case of their lack, a person will feel drowsiness, fatigue, weakness, loss of strength. At the same time, pressure can also decrease, immunity can be weakened. These hormones include thyroid hormones, adrenal hormones. In addition to drowsiness, these diseases are also characterized by symptoms such as weight loss and appetite, lowering blood pressure. Similar symptoms can appear in hypoglycemic form of diabetes.
The cause of somnolence in middle-aged and elderly men can also be a lack of the sex hormone - testosterone.
Diseases that cause a decrease in blood flow to the brain or intoxication of the body
In many diseases of the internal organs, the brain lacks oxygen. It can also cause such a phenomenon as daytime sleepiness. Such diseases include cardiovascular pathologies and lung diseases:
- ischemia,
- atherosclerosis,
- heart attack,
- hypertension,
- arrhythmias,
- bronchitis,
- asthma,
- pneumonia,
- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
In diseases of the liver and kidneys, various toxic substances can enter the bloodstream, including those that lead to increased drowsiness.
Atherosclerosis
Although this disease is considered to be characteristic of the elderly, nevertheless, relatively young people have also recently been affected by it. This disease is expressed in the fact that the vessels of the brain are clogged with lipids deposited on the walls of the vessels. Drowsiness in the case of this disease is just one of the symptoms of cerebrovascular insufficiency. In addition to drowsiness, the disease is also characterized by memory impairment, noise in the head.
Osteochondrosis
Recently, a disease such as osteochondrosis of the cervical spine has become widespread among people, especially those who are engaged in sedentary work. Every second person suffers from this disease in one form or another. Meanwhile, few people know that with this disease, not only pain in the neck is often observed, but also a spasm of the cervical arteries. It is well known that many people sitting at the monitor screen for a long time, especially in an uncomfortable position, cannot concentrate properly. However, they do not suspect that this disease is the cause of their problems. And from the inability to concentrate in the performance of their work duties, such consequences as rapid fatigue and the desire to quickly go to sleep, that is, drowsiness, follow.
Pregnancy
Pregnancy is one of the causes of drowsiness in women. During the first stage of pregnancy (up to 13 weeks), a woman's body experiences an increased need for sleep. This is a normal physiological reaction caused by its hormonal changes and the fact that a woman needs to gain strength for the upcoming birth process. So there is nothing surprising if a woman in position can sleep 10-12 hours a day. In the last two trimesters, drowsiness is less common. In some cases, it may indicate some deviations in the process of gestation - for example, anemia or eclampsia.
Anemia, beriberi, dehydration
Lack of blood in the circulatory system (anemia), as well as a lack of hemoglobin, also often lead to a deterioration in the blood supply to brain tissues. With anemia, a person often feels that he has heavy eyes, and he wants to sleep. But this, of course, is not the only symptom of the disease. With anemia, dizziness, weakness and pallor are also observed.
A similar situation is also observed with a lack of certain vitamins and microelements in the body, with dehydration. Dehydration results from the loss of water and electrolyte compounds. It is often the result of severe diarrhea. Thus, often the cause of drowsiness is simply a lack of certain substances in the body.
Drug use, alcohol and smoking
After taking a significant dose of alcohol, a person tends to sleep - this effect is well known to many. Less well known is that smoking can also lead to poor blood supply to brain tissue. Many drugs also have a sedative effect. This should be kept in mind by many parents who are concerned about the sudden onset of excessive sleepiness in their teenage children. It is possible that the change in their condition is associated with the use of narcotic drugs.
Mental and neurological diseases
Sleepy states are characteristic of many mental illnesses, as well as personality disorders. In what diseases of the nervous system and psyche can somnolence be observed? These diseases include:
- schizophrenia,
- epilepsy,
- apathetic stupor,
- vegetative seizures and crises,
- psychoses of various types.
Also, hypersomnia can be a side effect of the treatment of diseases with the help of pharmaceuticals. With impaired functioning of the brain associated with craniocerebral injuries, encephalopathies of various origins, increased intracranial pressure, this symptom can also be observed. The same can be said about infectious diseases of tissues associated with higher nervous activity - encephalitis, meningitis, poliomyelitis.
There are other types of hypersomnia predominantly of a neurological nature - idiopathic hypersomnia, Kleine-Levin syndrome.
How to get rid of drowsiness
With drowsiness, identifying the causes is not always easy. As is clear from the above, the causes of drowsiness can be varied - from an uncomfortable bed on which a person spends the night, to serious, life-threatening pathological conditions. Consequently, it is very difficult to find a universal recipe that would help a person cope with a problem.
The first thing to do is to start with a lifestyle change. Analyze whether you sleep well enough, whether you devote enough time to rest and relaxation, is it worth taking a break, taking a vacation or changing your occupation?
Primary attention should be paid to night sleep, because the reasons for constant drowsiness may also lie in its lack. The full value of night sleep largely depends on the biorhythms developed over the centuries, dictating to the body that you need to go to bed after sunset, and get up with its first rays. But, unfortunately, many people have learned to successfully ignore the instincts inherent in nature, and go to bed at a completely inappropriate time for this - well after midnight. This is facilitated by both the huge employment of the modern city dweller and the availability of various entertainment events (for example, television programs) in the evening. It is worth remembering that this is a bad habit that you should get rid of. The earlier a person goes to bed, the longer and deeper his sleep will be and, therefore, the less likely he will feel tired and sleepy during the daytime. In some cases, it is recommended to take sleeping pills or sedatives, but they should be used only after consulting a doctor.
In addition, there is a great way to increase your resistance to blues and stress - these are sports and physical education, walking and hardening. If you have a sedentary job, then you should take breaks in order to warm up or take a walk, do a set of physical exercises. Even daily morning exercises can increase your vitality so much that the constant desire to sleep during the day will pass by itself. Contrast showers, dousing with cold water, swimming in the pool are all great ways to always feel invigorated.
We must not forget to ventilate the room where you constantly sleep or work, because stuffy and hot air, as well as a lack of oxygen in it, contributes to a breakdown and lethargy.
You should also review your diet to include natural sources of vitamins and minerals, such as fresh vegetables and fruits, as well as products that stimulate the production of endorphins, such as chocolate. Natural drinks such as green tea also have an excellent refreshing effect.
What vitamins can be drunk with increased somnolence? First of all, it is vitamin B1, vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency is especially common during the winter months.
However, what to do if you have tried all the ways to overcome your drowsiness and failed? Perhaps the point is a metabolic disorder and a lack of neurotransmitters in the brain - serotonin, norepinephrine and endorphins, or a lack of production of thyroid or adrenal hormones, a lack of vitamins and microelements in the body, hidden infections. In this case, you can not do without passing thorough medical research. Depending on the detected pathology, various methods of treatment can be used - taking medications (vitamin complexes, antidepressants, antibiotics, trace elements, etc.).
Which specialist is best to contact if you are suffering from severe drowsiness? As a rule, such problems are solved by a neurologist or a neuropathologist. There are also doctors who specialize in sleep disorders - somnologists. In most cases, a specialist doctor will be able to figure out why you want to sleep during the day.
What not to do if you find excessive sleepiness
Self-administration of drugs is undesirable, as well as the constant intake of stimulants, such as coffee or energy drinks. Yes, a cup of coffee can cheer up a person if he has not slept well, and he needs increased attention and efficiency. However, constant stimulation of the nervous system with caffeine or other energy drinks does not solve the problem, but only eliminates the external symptoms of hypersomnia and forms the dependence of the psyche on stimulants.
Instruction
As a result of any disorder, sleep becomes superficial, ragged and does not leave a feeling of freshness. A person may not remember that at night he had any problems with breathing, or that his brain woke up, but daytime well-being still makes you aware of this - a state of weakness, loss of strength, and sometimes sudden sleep lapses in the most inappropriate places.
Also, a person may not feel cheerful after sleep due to restless leg syndrome. During sleep, their involuntary movements occur, while forcing the brain to wake up. Basically, this problem is more typical for older people, but there are cases of its presence in young people. Sometimes twitching of the legs can occur with an interval of only 30 seconds, respectively, one can only dream of a full sleep and daytime vigor.
There are cases when a person does not get enough sleep in the absence of any sleep disorders. An example of such a phenomenon is people who are very fond of drinking coffee, caffeinated drinks and drinking them a day up to several cups. Insomnia in this type of people is not always the case, mostly they fall asleep quickly and without problems, but during the 6-8 hours that they sleep, caffeine is gradually eliminated from the body, and the person is in a broken state. This is often mistaken for a sign of lack of sleep, although, in fact, this is how caffeine addiction manifests itself.
An unstable sleep cycle can also be the cause of feeling tired after sleep. A person needs 6-8 hours of sleep at night, and most importantly - in a continuous process. If a person wakes up at night, cannot fall asleep for a long time, or does not sleep soundly, it is necessary to increase the total duration of sleep by several hours.
note
In some people, the body is simply programmed to sleep longer, and it is not at all necessary to look for this or that health problem. The indicator of sleep duration is an average value, in fact, the norm ranges from 4 to 12 hours a day. If by nature a person is supposed to get enough sleep for 10 hours, you should not be surprised that after an eight-hour sleep he will feel overwhelmed and lethargic. You should not try to change your body and regret that there will be less time left for wakefulness. After a full, healthy sleep, a person will have time to do much more than usual.
It can be difficult for adults to sleep in a new place: they are constantly overcome by some thoughts, fears. So you can toss and turn in bed until dawn or sleep extremely restlessly, constantly waking up.
Many people often have problems with sleep: in adulthood, it becomes less deep, a person may wake up from any sounds, or lie in bed for a long time before falling asleep. It is especially difficult to fall asleep in a new place. After all, it is only young girls who want the fulfillment of folk signs and dreams about the groom. And adults usually find it uncomfortable to sleep in a new apartment or at a party.
Psychological and historical reasons
Why is this happening? The point here is the psychological characteristics of the organism and the historical past of man. Children, as a rule, are easier to relate to changes, tolerate them more easily, switch from wakefulness to sleep more quickly. An adult needs time to get used to a new environment, stability, constancy in the arrangement of furniture, and the performance of some familiar ritual before going to bed are important to him. Even the softness of the bed or the height of the pillow can affect how quickly you fall asleep. Therefore, the older a person becomes, the more persistent his habits become. When entering a new environment, for example, by changing his place of residence or staying for a few days at a party, he sleeps more restlessly than usual. He is embarrassed by both the new room and the new place to sleep, he cannot relax for a long time, and if serious thoughts about problems and failures are mixed in with this, then insomnia is almost guaranteed.
In addition to psychological reasons, the situation is also in the biological instincts inherited from our ancestors. In prehistoric times, when people had to roam a lot or defend themselves from other tribes and wild animals, a person did not know what dangers might await him in a new place, and therefore he was afraid of each of them. Such caution saved his life, primitive people could not afford to be careless, so they developed a keen ear and the habit of waking up from every rustle. This unreasonable stress and constant premonition of danger persist for a long time in a modern person in a new place.
Deal with stress
Stress is the main reason for insomnia, according to psychologists. And the night is the best time to sum up some results of the day, which can be disappointing, which immediately causes a lot of memories and thoughts about what has not yet been done or was not done as intended. Therefore, in order to fall asleep better, especially in a new place, you need to devote some time before bed to solving daytime problems. Think about them, find something positive in each question, think about how you can solve the difficulties that have arisen. In addition, before going to bed, it is better not to eat too much, take a walk, do quiet things, take a relaxing bath. Then by the time of sleep the main problems will be solved, and the body will relax. And you will sleep much better.
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neurologist, top blogger LJ
Up to 45% of people on Earth suffer from insomnia. If you sleep 8 hours recommended by somnologists, but still feel that you do not get enough sleep, and morning fatigue is your frequent companion, try to get rid of the non-obvious causes of poor sleep. Sometimes this is enough to improve the quality of the night's rest and feel much better during the day.
Reason #1: Overeating or hunger
The rule “Do not eat after six in the evening” has long been recognized by nutritionists as obsolete: there are simply no universal laws on how many hours before bedtime to refrain from eating.
Somnologists will advise not to eat 3 hours before bedtime, but also not to go to bed hungry. Supporters of daily 16-hour fasting and fans of the theory of autophagy (it consists in the fact that a hungry body “eats up” its diseased cells and thereby reduces the risk of cancer and other ailments) will confidently say that it is enough to limit yourself to lunch, and give dinner to the enemy who does not plan to become a long-liver. Patients with gastroesophageal reflux and pregnant women will confidently tell you that there is nothing worse than a hearty dinner at night, because heartburn and poor sleep due to evening excesses are guaranteed.
Only by experience can you determine how comfortable it is for you to go to bed: whether to drink a glass of milk before bed, refrain from eating in the evening, or have a hearty dinner under the “Good night, kids” program.
Reason #2: Taking Certain Medications
Not only caffeine can disrupt normal falling asleep. There are many other drugs that will give you insomnia.
These are the antipsychotic sulpiride, tranquilizers mezapam and tofisopam, corticosteroid hormones, nootropics, antidepressants with a psychostimulant effect, and even some types of antibiotics. The tranquilizer alprazolam can cause frightening dreams. Phenobarbital, which is in the well-known “heart medicine” Corvalol, acts similarly. Therefore, it is so important to observe the time of taking the drugs indicated in the instructions, and not to drink drugs that have not been recommended by the doctor.
Reason #3: Exercise Before Bed
For some people, going to the gym in the evening ends with a burst of energy after a workout and ... a sleepless night. This is due to the activation of the sympathetic nervous system - this structure regulates many processes in the body. When the sympathetic system "works to the fullest", the body perceives this as a signal to wake up and escape: either attack or run, but certainly not relax under a warm blanket.
If you are worried about morning sleepiness, and in the evening you can’t fall asleep on time, try rescheduling your workout in the morning. In the early hours, unfortunately, flexibility is much worse than in the evening, which is why many people do not like to go to the gym in the morning. However, this disadvantage is compensated by the fact that exercising at dawn helps to wake up even more reliably than the usual half-liter cup of coffee.
Reason #4: "light noise"
These are any light sources in the evening that confuse your pineal gland: it perceives nerve impulses from the retina of the eye and is sensitive to the change of day and night. When little light enters the eyes, the production of melatonin, a natural “sleeping pill,” begins to increase. Light from a flashlight that comes through loosely drawn curtains, a flickering smartphone screen, or a backlit e-reader can all reduce melatonin production and ensure restless sleep with frequent awakenings.
Try to draw the curtains tighter, turn off the night light, do not read from your phone two hours before bedtime. These simple rules will help you sleep deeper and more refreshing.
Reason #5: Anxiety and Depressive Disorders
Alas, anxiety and depression are conditions familiar to more than half of the people who live in large cities. And they are not diagnosed often enough: for many years they suffer from obsessive, restless thoughts in the silence of the night, which do not allow them to fall asleep, others cry into the pillow, experiencing incomprehensible longing ... Disruptions in the work of the neurotransmitter system of the brain cause anxiety, depression, and sometimes both at once. Deficiency of serotonin, dopamine, lack of gamma-aminobutyric acid, melatonin - all this leads to sleep disturbance, mood deterioration, increased anxiety and loss of motivation.
That is why insomnia is a reason to see a doctor. Taking sleeping pills is not always the solution to the problem. Sometimes, in order to normalize sleep, it is necessary to overcome anxiety, melancholy, apathy. To this end, the doctor may prescribe antidepressants or other drugs, as well as psychotherapy.
Reason #6: Chronic Illnesses You Don't Know About
Thyroid dysfunction, diabetes mellitus, "silent" stroke - these are some of the causes of insomnia, which a person often does not know about. Problems with nasal breathing also make it difficult to sleep at night. Therefore, visiting a doctor for a variety of reasons unexpectedly helps to get rid of insomnia.
Another common cause of morning fatigue and poor sleep quality is sleep apnea. These are respiratory arrests, which are caused by structural features of the respiratory system, overweight and hereditary characteristics. If untreated, apnea does not just poison the lives of the patient's relatives, because he snores loudly and disturbs the sleep of his family, but at the same time all the neighbors in the area. These short-term pauses in breathing cause changes in the brain, disrupt its work, break the structure of sleep, and impair memory function. And the saddest thing is that sleep apnea increases the risk of strokes. Therefore, night snoring is a reason for contacting an ENT doctor and a neurologist-somnologist.
Reason #7: Heat and low humidity
These are two "enemies" of good sleep, which for some reason have been haunting a Russian person since childhood. Kind grandmothers protect the child from any draft, and therefore airing the room is considered a great sin in caring for a baby.
Maximum warmth, sometimes even unbearable heat, on the contrary, is encouraged in every possible way: the branch of Tashkent begins for the baby, as a rule, in the ward of the maternity hospital, continues in the kindergarten, and then thermoregulation is finally formed and the person gets used to exist in stuffiness
True, his sleep is still often disturbed.
Therefore, one of the golden rules for good sleep is to ventilate the room. The use of a humidifier is another bonus that improves the condition of the mucous membranes and has a positive effect on nasal breathing, which means providing oxygen to the sleeping brain. This is especially true during the cold season, when central heating and heaters make the air very dry.
Reason #8: Deficiency in Magnesium, Vitamin D, or Other Micronutrients
A sufficient amount of vitamin D ensures the production of melatonin. No matter who is tested for vitamin D in the middle band, at best, the lower limit of normal will be found, unless the subject is already taking vitamin D as prescribed by a doctor. That is why it makes sense to attend to the use of a prophylactic dose - often it helps to unexpectedly solve problems that a person used to consider unsolvable, such as frequent colds, disturbing sleep, or hair loss.
For vegetarians and vegans, an additional intake of vitamin B12 is relevant, because, contrary to the assurances of sweet-voiced marketers, plant foods contain it in a form that is practically inaccessible to absorption.
Fanatical supporters of a healthy lifestyle with intense workouts or smokers sometimes help to improve sleep magnesium intake. This macronutrient is often deficient in diabetics.
Before ordering this or that drug, you need to consult a doctor. Even the most “harmless” pills have contraindications and, without a doctor’s prescription, can seriously harm your health.
Shakespeare said that sleep is "the most delicious meal in an earthly feast." Sometimes it is enough to slightly adjust your lifestyle to make a night's rest full and filling with strength. And if this fails, consult a doctor: perhaps a specialist will help you regain this “gourmet pleasure”.
When a person sleeps little and therefore constantly feels tired, the problem is more or less clear. But lately, more and more people are turning to doctors with very strange at first glance complaints: “I sleep for 12 hours and don’t get enough sleep” or “I don’t get enough sleep, even if I fall asleep in 5 minutes and sleep peacefully all night for 7-8 hours ". That is, there seems to be no visible pathologies of sleep, but you still can’t relax normally. What's the matter then?
Physiological causes
Sleep is a very specific state for which everything matters. Therefore, under adverse conditions, even if you sleep long enough, the body still will not be able to fully recover. This means that when you wake up in the morning, you will feel as if you did not get enough sleep. Therefore, if you rest at least 7-8 hours at night, feeling unwell in the morning has completely different reasons that you need to look for.
The easiest way to detect and eliminate physiological factors that may cause you to not get enough sleep is:
- Non-compliance with the daily routine. The body is simply not used to the fact that at a certain time you need to get ready for bed, especially if you are actively doing business, and then suddenly go to bed abruptly.
- Lack of oxygen. Sleep in a stuffy room is never sound. The lack of oxygen causes the heart to work harder, so blood pressure does not drop as much as it should during sleep.
- Lighting in the bedroom. Even the presence of dim light dramatically reduces the production of melatonin, the hormone responsible for falling asleep quickly and restful deep sleep.
- Anxiety and stress. Maintain a high concentration of adrenaline and cortisol - hormones that increase blood pressure, increase heart rate and support overall physical activity.
- Bad habits. Smoking and alcohol poison the body and disrupt the cardiovascular system. But just before going to bed, they stimulate the nervous system, which should now relax and get ready for sleep.
- Binge eating. On a full stomach, you always want to sleep, as the body throws all its forces into digesting food. But actively working digestive organs will not allow you to get enough sleep.
- Drinking plenty of fluids before bed will cause you to feel the urge to urinate hours later. Even worse, if you drank tea with a diuretic effect before going to bed (for example, for weight loss).
Physical and mental overwork equally badly affects the quality of sleep. Therefore, give up intense training, intense thinking and computer games 2-3 hours before bedtime.
The external causes of poor-quality sleep are usually commonplace and quite easily eliminated. But if, after you managed to cope with them, you still do not feel alert and rested after many hours of sleep, then pathological changes in the body can be the culprits for feeling unwell.
Pathological factors
Pathological causes of increased drowsiness do not always lie on the surface. Sometimes, in order to detect them, you have to undergo a comprehensive examination and consult with several specialists. The health problems most often prevented from sleeping at night are:
A pleasant cause of increased drowsiness can be pregnancy, which many people learn about even before the onset of a delay in menstruation just on this basis.
But basically, people who constantly do not get enough sleep have various chronic diseases that weaken the body, and therefore they need additional time to rest.
Unwanted measures
The problem cannot be solved once and for all without finding and eliminating its causes. And artificial vigor stimulants - coffee, pills and energy drinks in this case will not help you. Yes, they will help you cheer up for a while, but the effect of them will quickly pass, and for the body it will only be extra stress.
Often those who have been practicing various techniques “how to sleep in 5 hours” or “how to fall asleep in 5 minutes” often do not get enough sleep. If they are performed incorrectly, they can lead to a violation of the natural alternation of sleep phases. Some people develop insomnia against this background. Others begin to sleep a lot, but the quality of sleep drops sharply.
Lovers of "lucid dreams" do not rest fully either. Trying to control their own state, they consciously keep themselves as long as possible in REM sleep. The brain is resting at this time, but the physical body is not. Therefore, in the morning they feel sleepy and tired, even if the duration of sleep was normal.
What to do
Significantly improve the quality of sleep and wake up in a cheerful state will help:
Equally important is the mood in which you go to bed. When you don’t like the way of life that you lead, subconsciously you don’t want to wake up - the body simply doesn’t understand why it needs to start a new day, if you can just hide in a dream.
When you go to bed with the thought that many interesting things and events await me tomorrow, the morning always starts with a good mood. The main thing is to try to delay it for the whole day.
Do not leave excessive sleepiness unattended. And so we spend a third of our lives in a dream, so the remaining two-thirds should be as bright and meaningful as possible. But do not force the body to work "through I can not." If you feel that you are not able to cope with the problem on your own, be sure to consult a doctor. If the cause of pathological drowsiness is a disease, then it must be identified and eliminated as early as possible!
We look forward to spring and rejoice in its arrival, but our body is not so easy to rebuild.
In winter, he lacked vitamins, sunlight and water. Therefore, we tend to sleep from morning to evening. The editors of the company's healthy sleep blog have prepared a selection of tips on how to deal with fatigue, drowsiness and blues. We take note.
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1. Eat More Natural Vitamins
Many girls think that it is possible to replenish the supply of vitamins in the body with the help of multivitamin complexes in tablets. In fact, these drugs do us neither good nor bad. It is better to spend money on natural vitamins: eat them as much as you want, when you want. The exception is nuts: a small amount each day is ideal. Increasing the dose will cause stomach discomfort or headache.
What foods contain the most vitamins: apples, carrots, onions, garlic, kiwi, dairy products, honey, walnuts, fish, blueberries, herbs, green vegetables. But do not get hung up only on this list of products.
2. Do not abuse caffeine
We are used to coffee being associated with cheerfulness. This is far from the case: the drink causes cheerfulness and fatigue at the same time. If you are a coffee lover, then this is another matter, but in order not to harm the body, drink no more than 2-3 cups in the morning. Doctors also advise choosing Arabica rather than Robusta and adding milk or cream.
If you drink coffee because it is supposed to invigorate, replace it with a healthier and perhaps tastier drink for you: chicory, ginger or green tea.
3. Create your own bedtime ritual
A common cause of insomnia is obsessive thoughts about work, family problems, etc. In such cases, you need to be able to relax and tune in to sleep. Come up with your own ritual that you will associate with sleep. For example, a half-hour walk outside, reading a book, talking on the phone, taking a warm bath, listening to music, doing hobbies, and other pleasant things.
Think of anything, just cross off your list of watching TV, playing computer games and hanging out on social networks. Gadget screens negatively affect the production of melatonin (sleep hormone), which makes us not want to sleep.
4. Don't Eat Fatty Foods at Night
Think about the stomach: when you rest, it has to work. And if you decide to eat fried potatoes for dinner, a fatty cutlet, and for dessert you do not deny yourself a cake, then he will have to make an effort to digest it all. At night, it just won't let you sleep peacefully.
Therefore, here are a few rules: the optimal time for an evening meal is 2-3 hours before bedtime; not eating anything is also undesirable, then the stomach has nothing to digest, which can lead to heartburn, and also to nightmares. You need to eat easily digestible food before going to bed: lean meat or fish, dried fruits or nuts, protein scrambled eggs, oatmeal, fruits, vegetable dishes, etc.
5. Normalize your sleep schedule
The theory of healthy sleep may seem boring to some. Therefore, briefly about the main thing: there is a phase of REM sleep and a phase of non-REM sleep. While we sleep, the phases (can be from 1 to 1.5 hours) alternate and form a sleep cycle. Waking up at the end of the cycle is important for a cheerful state of health. The norm for a person is 4-6 such cycles, that is, 6-9 hours.
It remains only to choose how much sleep you need. To calculate, try to get up at the same time for two weeks, and go to bed as soon as you feel tired. So the body itself will form a sleep schedule.
By the way, there are many applications for tablets and phones that will calculate the sleep cycle for you and wake you up at the right time.
6. Exercise at work
Most often, drowsiness catches us at work, especially for those who sit in front of a computer for 8 hours: eyes, neck, back get tired, dizzy, and the brain refuses to solve problems. Set yourself a reminder on your phone or attach a bright sticker at your workplace. Once an hour or two hours, ventilate the room for at least five minutes. During this period, you can just take a break from work and do exercises. Organize a sports minute in the office or just walk around the office, and eye exercises can generally be done without getting up.
7. Don't forget to drink water
Every person needs a certain amount of water per day. And if it is not enough, then do not be surprised by dry skin, constant fatigue and drowsiness. You need to drink exactly water - tea, juice and other drinks do not count. Water normalizes blood pressure, relieves joint pain, improves skin and hair condition. The opposite can happen with a constant lack of water. By the way, it is for this reason that we often want to eat, especially sweets. The norm per day is 40 grams of water per 1 kg of weight.
If you do not want water, you need to force yourself, after a while the body will get used to it and will itself require more fluid. For a reminder, use a mobile application that will notify you that it's time to drink water.
8. Get outdoors more often
We need oxygen and sunlight to feel fresh and energized. The sun helps the body produce vitamin D. Go outside in the afternoon and walk for at least half an hour. When you can walk, get out of the vehicle and walk. Arrange walks in the evenings and go to nature on weekends. All this strengthens the immune system, relieves irritation, stress, relieves depression and makes the brain work better.
9. Create comfortable conditions in the bedroom
To get enough sleep, you need comfortable conditions in the bedroom. Throw away all the rubbish, let the room become freer, if after that the room seems empty, add decor elements for comfort: garlands or framed photographs. It is also better to remove the TV from the bedroom, as the light from the screen negatively affects the production of the sleep hormone.
The curtains in the bedroom should be tight, because the slightest light entering the room can disturb sleep. You also need to monitor the temperature, the optimum is 17-20 degrees, ventilate the room 15 minutes before you go to bed. In no case do not do work in the bedroom, because this place should be associated with you only with sleep.