sleep • tired • Health & Wellness • 2 min read • Dec 7, 2016 12:00:00 AM • Written by: Kat Smith
After a good night’s sleep, you should wake up feeling refreshed and ready to get out of bed. For many people, however, sleeping all night does not necessarily mean waking up alert the next morning. If you are often battling to get out of bed or feeling groggy despite getting to sleep every night, you might consider the following factors that could be behind your fatigue:
Your sleep environment needs work
The body relies heavily on circadian rhythms, which respond to light and dark. If you spend time looking at screens before bed—your phone or computer—or you completely black out your room with window shades, your body may be thrown off from a natural sleep cycle. You should keep your bedroom dark at night, but you will want to let natural light in as the sun rises so that you can wake up gradually.
Your mind won’t turn off at night
If you tend to drift off to sleep only to wake up with constant thoughts of the next day’s obligations, an upcoming project at work, or other stressors, you may need to decompress before bed so that you can stay asleep. Keep a note pad near bed to write down any reminders or lingering thoughts so that you can relax and get to sleep.
You have chronic heartburn
Even if you don’t have typical symptoms of heartburn, you might experience acid reflux while you sleep, causing your body to use more energy during digestion as you sleep. Waking up with a bad taste in your mouth can be a sign of nighttime indigestion that is disrupting your sleep cycle. One fix is avoiding certain foods like citrus fruit, cream based sauces, and fatty meats as well as refraining from eating within a few hours of your bedtime.
You are not resting when you sleep
Along with acid reflux, there are many conditions that can prevent you from sleeping well without necessarily realizing that you aren’t getting restful sleep. Sleep apnea, for example, can prevent you from breathing easily in your sleep, causing you to snore loudly and wake up periodically throughout the evening. Grinding your teeth can keep you from sleeping soundly as well, and you may not know you are doing it. For issues like sleep apnea and teeth grinding, you can find care from a surprising source: Your dentist. Signs of these issues can show in your teeth, and oral appliances can prevent them from getting worse.
You sleep in on weekends
The body performs best on a regular schedule, so if you spend weekends sleeping in, you might have trouble getting back to your regular weekday wake-up time. If you feel like you need to catch up on sleep during your days off, you may need more sleep each night; try going to bed earlier if you cannot adjust what time you wake up.
A good night’s sleep should not be taken for granted. If you are waking up tired every day, connect with MeMD to explore the potential causes of your restlessness.
