November 14, 2008, Newsletter Issue #197: Reasons for Excessive Sleepiness

Tip of the Week

You just can't seem to feel awake during the day. All you want to do is nap. If you feel an overwhelming urge to sleep all day, but realize you are already getting an excessive amount of sleep, here are some possible diagnosis:

- Insufficient or inadequate sleep - long working hours and overtime can be tolerated for months or years before the symptoms of sleepiness take effect. Teenagers may stay out until the early hours of the morning on weekends and be tired during the week.

- Environmental factors - a snoring partner, a baby that wakes, noisy neighbours, heat, cold or sleeping on an uncomfortable mattress.

- Shift work - it is very difficult to get good sleep while working shift work, especially night shift. As well as the problem of trying to sleep, there is also the effect of being out of sync with the body's internal clock (or circadian rhythm).

- Mental states - anxiety can keep people awake at night, which makes them prone to sleepiness during the day. Depression depletes energy.

- Medications - alcohol, caffeinated drinks, tranquilizers, sleeping pills and antihistamines can disrupt sleeping patterns.

- Medical conditions - hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid gland), oesophageal reflux, nocturnal asthma and chronic painful conditions.

- Changes to time zone - jet lag. Sleep is regulated by an internal biological clock that responds to light.

- Sleep disorders - such as sleep apnoea, Restless Legs Syndrome, sleep walking, narcolepsy, idiopathic hypersomnia and insomnia.

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