If you’re tired yet unable to fall asleep, it could be due to an imbalanced circadian rhythm, daytime napping, anxiety, or many other factors.
Some days, no matter how much coffee you consume, you may feel very tired during the day. Yet all too often, when you finally climb into bed, you find yourself wide awake. Relatable?
Read on to discover what could be causing daytime sleepiness but an inability to sleep at night. Once you identify what might be going on, you can take action to support better sleep.
Naps aren’t inherently bad. In fact, napping has several health benefits. However, the wrong nap strategy can keep you up when you should be getting deeper Zzz’s.
Try to take 20- to 30-minute naps and nap at the same time every day so your body can anticipate them.
A racing mind isn’t conducive to peacefully nodding off. No wonder sleep disturbance is a diagnostic symptom for some anxiety disorders, which are common risk factors for insomnia.
Anxiety may also lead to increased arousal and alertness, which can delay sleep even further.
According to a
Insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep-disordered breathing, and restless legs syndrome were all reported.
The relationship between sleep issues and depression is complicated. It appears to disrupt circadian rhythms.
Inflammation, changes in brain chemicals, genetic factors, and more may all affect the sleep-depression relationship.
On average, caffeine has a half-life of 5 hours. Research suggests that even 200 milligrams (mg) of caffeine (about 16 ounces of brewed coffee), 16 hours before bed, may impact your sleep.
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If you drink caffeine, try not to have any 4 to 6 hours before you go to bed. So, if you want to be in bed by 10 p.m., then 4 p.m. is a good coffee cut-off time.
The blue light emitted from phones, tablets, laptops, and TV screens suppresses evening melatonin production and decreases sleepiness.
You may want to stop using your devices 2 hours before bed. You may also consider wearing blue-light blocking glasses at night.
Difficulty sleeping is a common symptom of COVID-19. This could be due to factors such as stress or an autoimmune response to the virus.
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Sleeping difficulties may be more prevalent in people with Long COVID, according to a 2022 data analysis. Researchers found that over 40% of 1,321 people with long-lasting COVID symptoms experienced moderate to severe sleeping difficulties.
The COVID-19 pandemic itself is associated with increasing sleep-related issues, according to a 2022 study. Social isolation, economic hardships, and parenting challenges are among the possible causes.
Sleep apnea and restless legs syndrome may make you sleepy but not tired at night. In sleep apnea, breathing repeatedly stops or is very shallow, then starts again. With restless legs syndrome, your legs feel uncomfortable, triggering you to want to move them.
Delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS) is another sleep disorder. It occurs when your
These conditions may disrupt nighttime sleep, which may then cause daytime sleepiness.
The circadian rhythm is like an internal timekeeper for everything our bodies do in a 24-hour period.
This system uses light, dark, and our biological clock to regulate body temperature, metabolism, hormones (including melatonin), and sleep.
Melatonin levels remain low during the day when it’s light outside. Later in the day, as it grows darker, our bodies produce more melatonin, with levels peaking between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. before falling again.
Our bodies are best primed to fall asleep about 2 hours after melatonin levels start to rise.
If you still feel tired every day, and sleep remedies don’t help, talk with a doctor.
They can help determine the underlying problem and recommend solutions that will help you get restful sleep so you have daytime energy.