Reasons for waking up tired
In the last hour or so of sleep, your natural body clock releases cortisol and other hormones that prepare you to wake up, leading to you waking naturally, during a period of light sleep. But if you're woken by an alarm, it could go off during a period of deeper sleep which might leave you feeling more groggy.
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. So if you are wondering why you’re still tired after 8 hours of sleep, this perfectly normal occurring phenomenon could be one explanation.
That said, sleep inertia can affect our motor and cognitive skills, so it can be frustrating if you have to be alert soon after waking. In some cases, it can even be dangerous — especially for anyone who has to drive for work, be on call, or perform safety-critical tasks.
But for some people, there could be an underlying medical or sleep condition playing a part.
These conditions include insomnia, which is when you have trouble falling or staying asleep. Primary insomnia is not linked to a health problem. It is caused by factors that can include stress from significant life events, or changes to your sleep schedule. Or it could be secondary insomnia, which is linked to health conditions like mental health issues, other sleep disorders, illness, or pain — and it can be acute or chronic. Acute insomnia lasts anywhere from one night to a few weeks and often needs no medical treatment. But chronic insomnia is when it occurs at least three nights a week for three months or more, and you should consult your doctor.
For many people asking, "Why am I so tired when I wake up?” there are steps you can take to ensure you are giving your body and mind the best chance of waking up feeling fresh by improving your sleep hygiene and other habits in your life.
Sleep hygiene
To wake up feeling refreshed, it is important to sleep well. The recommendation of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine is that adults should sleep for at least seven hours each night. But a third of Americans are getting less.
Sleep hygiene consists of good practices you can follow to create the ideal conditions for a quality night’s rest.
These include keeping a consistent sleep schedule of going to bed and waking up at the same time each day (even on weekends), keeping your room cool and comfortable, and avoiding coffee, alcohol, or eating too soon before bed.
Melatonin is a natural hormone released in your brain after dark to aid sleep, so it is best to take steps to ensure you do not interfere with that. This includes dimming the lights in your home after dark and keeping your bedroom dark at night, or wearing an eye mask. And, of course, turning off our electronic devices at least an hour before bed. As well as stimulating the brain at a time we are trying to log off, the blue light emitted from these devices disrupts melatonin production.
You can also try to maintain your room as your sanctuary for sleep. Have a comfortable mattress and pillow, and create a relaxing bedtime routine to train the mind that this is the place and time of rest.
Eating healthy foods for breakfast like proteins, whole grains, nuts, and lower-sugar fruits can help fight morning fatigue. And a short nap in the afternoon, ideally between 10 to 20 minutes, can also help to keep you feeling refreshed around the clock.
Chronic Fatigue – Life Doesn’t Have to be Miserable
Being tired all of the time can make it difficult to enjoy life. You feel crabby around your family, children, and loved ones. You can’t perform at school at work. You lose your drive to spend time with friends. You might struggle with erectile dysfunction (for men) and/or reduced sex drive. Small tasks become a big deal. The list goes on and on, but the important thing is that sleep deprivation impacts nearly every aspect of your life.
What's even more frustrating is when you feel like this even after getting a full 8 hours of sleep. That seems counterintuitive. If you are getting 8 hours of sleep, then you are likely doing many of things you are supposed to in order to feel rested.
But here’s the thing, there are conditions that will give the illusion of a proper, full night’s rest without actually providing quality sleep needed, and generally fall into these categories:
- Sleep conditions
- Medical conditions
- Lifestyle conditions
Sleep Conditions That Cause Fatigue
One of the more common reasons you are tired all the time even after 8 hours of sleep is that you have a sleep disorder. Sleep disorders are conditions that prevent you from getting quality sleep. Here are a few sleep disorders that would give you illusion of sleeping throughout the night, but actually don’t provide quality sleep.
Sleep Apnea Causing Chronic Fatigue
When you stop breathing, you momentarily wake up to begin breathing again (though you won’t remember waking). Therefore, you might sleep from 9pm to 7am and still feel like you barely slept – because you really didn’t sleep! It causes severe sleep deprivation because you are constantly being awakened, thereby preventing any restful sleep from happening.
Here are common symptoms:
- Bed partner hears you repeatedly stop breathing throughout night
- Loud, chronic snoring
- Wake up exhausted in the morning
- Wake up with headaches
- Waking up choking/gasping
- Mood disruptions, such as constant irritability, brain fog, etc.
Parasomnias Causing Chronic Fatigue
Parasomnias are disruptive sleep disorders that interfere with your circadian rhythm, and may impact sleep quality without your awareness of it. You might compare this to, say, insomnia where you are acutely aware of your lack of sleep.
Common parasomnias include:
- Restless leg syndrome
- Sleepwalking
- Night terrors
- Chronic nightmares
Other Sleep Related Causes of Fatigue
Sleep deprivation despite a sufficient amount of time sleeping isn’t always the product of a sleeping disorder. Your sleep quality might also be impacted by:
- Not having an ideal sleeping environment: quiet, dark, peaceful, and comfortable room
- Adjust to doing shift work
- Stress/anxiety from work, marriage/divorce, moving, etc.
- Working hours that do not align with your natural circadian rhythm
- Too much “screen time” with laptops/TV/cell phones before bed, as the blue light can delay the onset of restorative stages of sleep
- Shift work
Any of the above can cause you to get less quality sleep even though you are getting the right amount of sleep time.
Common Medical Causes of Fatigue
There are some relatively common medical conditions that can make you tired all the time, even though you are getting 8 or more hours of sleep. These include:
- Hypothyroidism
- Hormone problems
- Diabetes
- Anemia
- Heart Disease
- Chronic illness
These medical conditions can leave you feeling drained of energy, enthusiasm, and make you feel like you could “sleep a year.” With such conditions, you might range from feeling chronically fatigued, to feeling like you happily put your head down and sleep at any time, to being so disruptive you can hardly function normally.
Lifestyle and Cognitive Causes of Fatigue
Finally, there are numerous lifestyle and emotional related causes of being sleep deprived from lack of sleep quality. Some of the more obvious ones are:
- Drinking too much alcohol, which greatly impacts REM sleep
- Poor diet/malnutrition, such as allergies or intolerances that can make you feel lethargic and sluggish all of the time
- Clinical depression/anxiety
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Shift Work
If you are living in Anchorage and struggle with chronic fatigue or tiredness during the daytime, contact us. We can help.