Sleepy All Day?

Excessive Day Time Sleepiness: Time to Wake Up

Do you feel drowsy and tired on most days? Difficult to wake up and get going? Need naps or fall asleep at times and places that you do not want to? If you have Excessive Day Time Sleepiness, you frequently doze, nap, sleep, are very drowsy in situation in which you must be alert.

If your drowsiness is not due a wonderful night of parties or from an all night session of any activity, then you need to start looking for what the problem might be. Living half awake is not living to the fullest.

There are several different problems that could be causing your drowsiness:

• Narcolepsy: loss of muscle control and non-responsiveness, falling asleep
• Sleep Apnea: Interruptions in breathing while sleeping
• Restless Leg Syndrome: Irresistible urge to move your legs or other extremity.
• Circadian Rhythm Disorder: Interruption in a person’s biological clock.
• Manic Episode: Excessive mental and physical energy-Expansive mood.
• Anxiety: Excessive worry, nervousness
• Depression: Extreme sadness lasting more than two complete weeks.

All of these disorders interrupt sleep or prevent sleep. All of these disorders will make you feel excessively drowsy and sleepy during your normal waking hours. All of them make it difficult to wake up and go through an entire day without taking a nap. You may not even be aware of the other symptoms that go with each different disorder. For example, someone with sleep apnea are not aware that they stop breathing at night or that they snore loudly.

The first step to waking up and enjoying your life is to set an appointment with your primary care physician and tell them your symptoms and receive a physical exam. If your mood or behaviors have been different in the past, you may also want to receive a mental health evaluation to rule out the possibility of depression, anxiety, or other disorder that may disturb sleep and quality of sleep.

You can also try some of these self-help tips:

• Go to sleep and wake up at the same times each day, even the weekend.
• Create a bed time ritual: take a bath, read, write, etc.
• Dim all the lights: half hour or so before you prepare for bed, dim all the lights in the home-or turn most off.
• If you are worried: write down what you are worried about. Write any solutions you can think of, leave the rest for tomorrow.
• If you are sad or lonely: call a friend, write, read, play a quick game.
• If you have aches and pains: bath, massage, lotion, warm pads, medication as prescribed.
• Use natural remedies: hot baths, warm milk, aromatherapy, natural supplements all help.
• Create a comfortable sleeping atmosphere: clean sheets, clean body, pleasing smells, comfortable bed, cozy bedroom, comfortable or no sleeping clothes, quiet or soft sounds, and good temperature.
• Use your bed as a bed: Only use your bed to sleep, for sex, and when you are ill. If the bed is designated as a bed only-not a desk or table-your brain will respond to it as a bed.
• Take care of your body: Exercise, eat well, don’t eat or drink too late, receive massages, learn to rest your mind, take care of dental problems or other physical ailments.

If the self-help tips do not increase the quality of your sleep and your primary care physician is unable to help you find a physical cause of your excessive daytime sleeping, counseling may be helpful in targeting the thoughts, feelings, or issues that are keeping you from feeling well rested every day.