Nothing is as annoying as feeling fatigued yet unable to fall asleep. A bad night’s sleep has the potential of leading to a vicious cycle of fatigue, irritability, anxiety, and even sleeplessness the following day. There are many possible explanations for why you feel fatigue, yet cannot fall asleep. Understanding these is an important aspect of supporting your sleep hygiene and health. Often, doctors link this with Insomnia. However, it does not always mean you are not exhausted. Instead, your body and mind are not ready to rest. Understanding daytime fatigue can help you identify the root cause.
What is Daytime Fatigue?
According to sleep experts, we are becoming overtired due to our unhealthy relationship with technology. Today, we rarely follow the practices and rituals that help us properly prepare for quality sleep. Instead of relaxing and resting, we are using our time binge-watching our favorite shows on OTT, browsing social media, and answering work emails.
An increased rate of anxiety and insomnia, an overdependence on coffee, and hormonal imbalances in women are also some of the reasons behind sleep deprivation and fatigue. Read on to find out what might be behind your daytime sleepiness, but inability to sleep at night. Once you know what is going on, you can take steps to help with your sleep problem.
Stress And Anxiety Disrupt Sleep
One of the biggest impediments to sleep is stress and anxiety. During the night, many people, especially those suffering from anxiety disorders, such as panic disorder, tend to go into a state of mental hyperarousal, dwelling on the past and catastrophizing about the future.
Anxiety during the night is especially debilitating as it tends to confuse your 24-hour internal biological clock, or circadian rhythm. Normally, the body secretes the stress hormone cortisol during the day. Cortisol levels peak in the early morning, just after waking, and then decrease gradually throughout the day. During the night, anxiety and stress can disrupt this cycle, causing the body to secrete cortisol when it should be secreting the hormone that helps us sleep, i.e., melatonin.
Hormonal Imbalances
If you are a woman, another possible reason for your tiredness and inability to sleep at night could be hormonal changes. Hormonal changes that occur immediately before menstruation cause reduced REM sleep, decreased production of melatonin, mood swings, severe menstrual cramps and migraines, and increased body temperature. These changes cause sleeping problems and/or increased arousals during the night.
If you are experiencing perimenopausal symptoms, this could be another reason for your tiredness and inability to sleep. When you enter perimenopause, levels of estrogen and progesterone, which play an important role in the sleep-wake cycle, start to decrease and affect your sleep patterns. These hormonal changes also cause night sweats and increase anxiety levels, making it difficult for you to sleep even when you feel tired.
Too Much Caffeine and Late Meals
What you take during the day is significant. Coffee or tea, for example, has caffeine. Caffeine keeps your brain alert. Even when you feel sleepy, caffeine blocks your sleep signals. Eating heavy meals late at night can also interfere with your sleep. Your body is busy digesting food. This makes it difficult to relax. Light meals at night are better.
Excess Screen Time
Your internal circadian rhythm responds to light and darkness cues. Light cues you to be active, while darkness cues you to rest. However, when you expose yourself to electronic gadgets before sleep, you interfere with your natural biological rhythm. Electronic gadgets emit blue light, which interferes with the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone. The blue light from gadgets glaring at you tricks the brain into thinking you should be awake, making you feel energized when you should be sleeping.
Circadian Rhythm Disorders
Our 24-hour internal clock, or circadian rhythm, is regulated by the natural light and darkness, as well as hormones in the body, making us diurnal creatures, wired to operate during the day and sleep at night.
What is a Circadian Rhythm Disorder?
A Circadian Rhythm Disorder is an imbalance between the light/dark cycle and the 24-hour internal clock, causing insomnia symptoms and excessive daytime sleepiness when the internal clock is not properly signalled.
While jet lag is a mild Circadian Rhythm Disorder, shift work disorder is a more debilitating disorder. If you are working the night shift, your work hours may push you against the dials of your internal body clock. This is the reason why the most conducive working hours, the 9-to-5 shift, are the most suitable for our sleep-wake cycle, as anything outside of this is bound to cause confusion in our internal clock system.
Should You Stay Up All Night If You Can’t Sleep?
If possible, try not to stay awake the entire night if you are not able to sleep. Sleep deprivation impacts all facets of your physical, emotional, and mental well-being. It also creates a cycle of fear and insomnia, as these two problems often go hand in hand.
Rather than resigning yourself to not sleeping, try the following:
- If you are not able to sleep after 25 minutes, get out of your bed and go to another room.
- Try not to look at your phone, eat, or turn on the main lights, as this may trigger your body to wake up again.
- Read in dim lighting, be mindful, read, or fold your laundry, and only return to your bed when you feel sleepy. There is no time constraint for this, and as you continue, your mind will learn that your bed and your bedroom are places where you get sound sleep.
- Lastly, never berate yourself for not being able to sleep. Negative self-talk will only keep you awake. Instead, try to accept that everyone has a bad night’s sleep now and again.
Final Thoughts
The occasional sleepless night is acceptable. However, you must not take recurring problems lightly. If you are unable to sleep for days or weeks, it may be a point of concern. This can affect one’s health in many ways.
Sleep deprivation can impair one’s concentration and vitality. In addition, it may affect one’s mood and immune system. It is advisable to consult a doctor and get advice on the matter to avoid bigger problems.