Staring at the ceiling for hours before you can sleep is horrible. The same goes for waking up every couple of hours. No doubt, when morning comes, you’ll be like a zombie. Worse, you are a semi-thinking zombie, knowing you have responsibilities to tend to in spite of feeling tired.
Now, waking up without understanding why you feel tired is another story. You may have fallen asleep the moment your head hit the pillow and – as far as you know – you slept through the night, but you still wake up feeling as if you had a bender the night before.
Obviously, there are reasons for this that you are not aware of. Let’s take a look at some of those reasons – which you may be surprised to find out – and then talk about simple ways how to not be tired in the morning.
1. Waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom
There are times when one has to go to the toilet in the middle of the night. If it’s an occasional thing, then it’s not an issue. However, if you always feel tired in the morning, perhaps you’re not getting enough sleep because of habitually having to wake up to go to the bathroom. Having to do this more than two times a night can cause the feeling of tiredness.
This condition is called nocturia.
What you can do: Avoid drinking liquids two or three hours before going to bed. This can be difficult if you like your water or have dinner late and have soup, but try it and see if you feel more energized in the morning. Make it a habit to go to the bathroom right before going to bed. This will lessen the chances of having to wake up in the middle of the night.
It is also important to realize that nocturia may be a symptom of another medical condition. If you continue experiencing this, go to a doctor.
2. Teeth grinding
Also called bruxism, teeth grinding is more common than many might think. In most cases, it doesn’t cause any problems, but when it happens regularly and the jaws are clenched too tight as a result, then it can affect the quality of sleep. The thing is, teeth grinding is closely associated with stress. That is, the more stressed you are, the higher the chances of teeth grinding.
Related: 5 Daily Rituals to Reduce Stress and Maximize Happiness
What you can do: Since teeth grinding can be a result of stress, address your stress problems first. Easier said than done, yes? But it’s something we all ought to do anyway – teeth grinding or no. You can also see a dentist for solutions to teeth grinding.
3. You’re all over the bed all night
Your partner may tell you how they don’t get any sleep at all because you’re all over the place at night. You start on your side of the bed, then you move over, crowding your partner. You move some more, and then some more. You wake up at some part of the bed in a weird angle.
You may attribute this to simply being a “messy” sleeper, but it can actually be a sleep movement disorder such as restless leg syndrome, periodic limb movements, and sleep leg cramps. You can learn more about these specific disorders here if you exhibit signs of moving all over the bed. These disorders lead to fitful sleep that, in turn, leads to that feeling of tiredness in the morning.
What you can do: For this, the best thing to do is go see a doctor. They are in the best position to help find solutions.
4. You have abnormally horrible morning breath
Morning breath is normal, but what if yours is just so bad even you can’t take it? I mean, even if you brush your teeth for an hour at night and then gargle with the strongest mouthwash you can find and still wake up with horrible breath, something is wrong. But what does it have to do with being tired in the morning?
Well, abnormal morning breath can be a sign of GERD or gastroesophageal reflux disease. While we usually associate obvious heartburn and acid reflux with GERD, it can also happen without our knowledge. This can happen while you’re sleeping, and this results in shallow, fitful sleep, thus making you feel tired when you wake up.
What you can do: Avoid food that is known to trigger heartburn. Eat at least two hours before going to bed. If nothing changes, see your doctor.
5. Your room is too dark
But isn’t a dark room supposed to help you sleep soundly? True.
However, come morning, when it’s still dark, your body doesn’t “feel” that it is time to get out of that sleep mode. Your circadian rhythm gets messed up if your room stays dark when it’s time to get up. And guess what? When you finally get up, you feel tired.
What you can do: Set up your room so that it is dark enough at night but sunshine can come in (even if just a bit) in the morning.
Feeling tired all the time without knowing why? Perhaps it’s because of one of the reasons above. Try looking into them. Good luck. Let us know how it goes.
Originally posted on July 21, 2016 @ 8:30 am
