If this is happening to you, sleep inertia could be the culprit. Sleep inertia is a concept that doesn't always correlate with the quality of your sleep. You may have gone to bed on time and slept through the night, but sleep inertia could be causing you to feel tired despite your efforts.
Common underlying issues that can make you feel tired after waking up and persist throughout your day include sleep inertia, sleep disorders, bright light exposure, and a poor bedroom environment, to name a few.
If you or a loved one feel sleepy or fatigued, despite having 7-8 hours of sleep, it could indicate poor sleep quality or be a sign of an underlying sleep disorder. If you have questions or concerns about your sleep health, please speak with your primary care provider.
It could be due to poor sleep quality, lifestyle factors such as stress, poor diet, lack of exercise or an underlying health condition. It is also possible that you may not be getting enough deep sleep or REM sleep, which can leave you feeling tired even after a full night's sleep.
For most people, feeling tired when you wake up is the result of sleep inertia, which is a natural feeling you experience as you transition between being asleep and awake. This feeling generally dissipates between 15 and 60 minutes after waking, but for some it can last longer.
If you aren't feeling rested when you wake up, despite getting to sleep at least 8 hours prior, then it might not be the quantity of your sleep that's the problem. It could be your sleep quality that needs some attention. The amount of sleep you get is important, but equally important is the quality of that sleep.
Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, which helps synchronize your sleep-wake cycle. Limit awake-time in bed. If you don't get back to sleep within 20 minutes after waking up in the middle of the night, get out of bed and do something relaxing until you feel sleepy again.
Hypersomnia, insomnia, sleep apnea, anxiety or depression, a medical condition, pregnancy, or poor sleep hygiene could also be to blame. Use the RISE app to find out how much sleep you need and get personalized recommendations to help you get it. 80% of RISE users feel more energy within five days.
In fact, there can be many underlying reasons why you feel so fatigued, including nutrient deficiency, high stress and anxiety levels, hormonal imbalance, and other medical conditions. By implementing these three takeaways, you are a step closer to getting the sleep you need to feel refreshed the next day.
Usually, your cortisol levels spike after you wake up. It may be that your body overreacts to the stress hormone and leaves you feeling down in the mornings.
Going to bed 15 to 30 minutes earlier each night can make a big difference; gradually go to bed 15 minutes earlier until you are at your desired bedtime. Avoid napping during the day. The occasional nap is fine — especially if you need the sleep — but try to keep naps infrequent and brief (less than 30 minutes).
It can take up to four days to recover from an hour of sleep debt and nine days or more to fully recover from a significant deficit.
And while the occasional long sleep is generally nothing to worry about, oversleeping several days a week could be a sign that something more serious is going on.
What Is Sleep Debt? Sleep debt is when you sleep fewer hours than your body needs. It's cumulative, meaning that if you regularly get less sleep than you should, you're going to have more sleep debt. For instance, if you get four hours of sleep when you should be getting eight, you'll have a sleep debt of four hours.
Hypersomnia. View Source describes a condition in which you both oversleep and experience excessive sleepiness during the day. Narcolepsy and other sleep disorders commonly cause hypersomnia. Doctors might also call consistent oversleeping that causes you distress in daily life an excessive quantity of sleep (EQS)
When you're sleep drunk, your brain doesn't make the transition to wakefulness. Your conscious mind isn't fully awake, but your body can get up, walk and talk. “People who have confusional arousal might act confused or have trouble speaking,” says Dr. Martinez-Gonzalez. “They might appear to be drunk, but they're not.”
One way to calculate your sleep debt is to track the nights you're getting less than 7 hours of sleep. Then add up how much less sleep you got every day. So if you're only getting 6 hours of sleep Monday through Friday, by the weekend you've built up a debt of 5 hours.
Sure, we all feel tired at different points in our lives. But if you're always feeling tired, it can be more than just not getting enough sleep. Feeling tired can stem from more serious issues like sleep apnea, depression, diabetes or chronic kidney disease.