What Are The Reasons For Excessive Sleep

Around 20% of the American population suffers from Excessive sleep issues. Individuals suffering from excessive daytime sleepiness run the risk of getting involved in vehicular accidents, work issues and poor physical & mental health. Though it may not look like a huge issue, sleepiness during daytime should be taken seriously, and excessive sleep causes must be identified before it turns too chronic. 

There are numerous reasons for excessive sleeping. Your body could probably be indicating the need to get some proper rest. Other most common reasons for excessive sleeping could be obstructive sleep apnea and consumption of sedatives. Certain medical and psychiatric situations and disorders like narcolepsy could also lead to excessive daytime sleepiness. A recent study revealed that obstructive sleep apnea is one of the leading Reasons for excessive sleeping and affects around 26 - 32 percent of the total population. 

Excessive daytime sleepiness can be managed and treated if the reasons for excessive sleeping are identified as early as possible. Most people confuse between feeling sleepy in the daytime and experiencing fatigue. Both fatigue and sleepiness leave an individual feeling tired and drained out. But the major difference between the two is that individuals suffering from fatigue may not be able to sleep even though their body feels tired. Also read Sleep Hygiene Tips: A Complete Guide To Sleep Better, Healthy Sleep Tips

Symptoms of Sleepiness during Daytime

A person suffering from Excessive sleep disorder will obviously feel sleepy in the daytime. There are a few other additional symptoms that accompany excessive daytime sleepiness, and you must be aware of them. 

1. Increased inattentiveness and carelessness
2. Feeling irritated
3. Issues with focusing on work
4. Loss of decisiveness
5. Difficulty remembering 
6. Reacting slower than usual

A person dealing with excessive daytime sleepiness will experience a loss of interest in doing something they enjoyed earlier. Even their work productively halves down, and they are bound to experience relationship problems. If you find yourself feeling sleepy in the daytime and if it is accompanied by one or more of the symptoms mentioned above, then it is better that you have it treated by a medical expert. 

Excessive Sleep Causes

There are numerous excessive sleep causes, and as mentioned before, lack of proper rest, irregular work schedules, insomnia, medical conditions, etc., could lead to an individual feeling sleepy in the daytime. Getting up multiple times at night could disrupt the stages of sleep, and interference such as these could constitute one of the most common excessive sleep causes. Poor lifestyle habits, such as lack of exercise, junk food consumption, too much screen time, etc., could also lead to feeling sleepy in the daytime. 

Let’s discuss each of the “excessive sleep causes” in detail:

Sleep Deprivation: Late night team meetings and work schedules could lead to sleep deprivation. While most research indicates the need for a minimum of 8 hours of undisturbed sleep, the 8-hour schedule can be difficult to follow, especially if you are a working individual. No one can understand the needs of your body better than yourself. Hence, rest whenever you can and as long as you need. Overworking yourself and reducing the number of sleep hours just in order to catch up with work would finally lead to making you feel sleepy in the daytime. If sleep deprivation is one of your major reasons for excessive sleeping, then have it rectified right away.  

Fragmented Sleep: Restless leg syndrome, limb movement disorder, frequent restroom visits, and even hunger could disrupt your sleep. When the normal flow of sleep stages gets disturbed, it becomes difficult to get back to sleep again. This way, you are deprived of the sleep and rest that your body requires. As a result, you end up feeling sleepy in the daytime. Following a daily sleep routine can help you do away with micro-awakening at night. With consistent efforts, you will not only see an improvement in the quality of your sleep but will also avoid feeling sleepy in the daytime.

Poor Lifestyle: Smoking, frequent junk food intake, and lack of exercise can also interfere with the quality of your sleep. Another major reason for sleepiness during the daytime is too much screen exposure. If you keep watching your favourite show until 1 AM, your brain is bound to stay awake for the next 2 hours even though you may have switched off your phones. The next morning, at the office, you will find yourself feeling sleepy in the daytime. 

Medication and Sedatives: Certain medications and the use of sedatives can induce sleepiness during the daytime. Antihistamines and over-the-counter body pain tablets can also lead to sleepiness during the daytime. Unless necessary, you must avoid taking medicines in the morning that leave you feeling sleepy in the daytime. 

Chronic Medical Conditions: Depression, Parkinson’s disease, anxiety, obesity, cancer, and hypothyroidism are a few medical conditions that lead to excessive sleep. While there’s no way that we can rectify the side effects of the medical conditions, they can be controlled to some extent. Try to eat a bit earlier than usual and get a good night’s sleep; with positive lifestyle changes and sleep habits, you can overcome excessive sleep issues and avoid feeling sleepy in the daytime. 

When to call for a Doctor?

There are no hard-and-fast rules when it comes to stopping feeling sleepy in the daytime. Along with making changes to your daily sleep pattern and routine, you must also choose to eat healthy food. So many organic food items can help induce sleep at night. Greek Yogurt, a cup of almonds, energy drinks, chocolate milk, bananas, etc., can help you sleep faster and better. 

If none of your efforts yields results and you feel sleepy in the daytime and extremely tired, then it is high time you contact a doctor and seek medical assistance. Your doctor will conduct multiple tests to identify the root cause of excessive sleep feelings and prescribe treatment methods accordingly. If underlying health issues are associated with you feeling sleepy in the daytime, then your doctor will focus on treating those medical conditions first. 

Feeling Sleepy in the Daytime, especially when there’s a boring task to handle, shouldn’t worry you a lot. Still, if it becomes an “everyday phenomenon”, you must immediately look into having it treated at the earliest.

Authored By: Divya Shankar

About Author: Divya Shankar is a multifaceted content writer with 7+ years of experience. She has exclusive writing expertise in ayurveda.