too much sleep, or still not enough? - Sleep Disorders Message Board

mustangbuff03 · 10-15-2003, 10:10 AM

hello, i was wondering maybe some of u guys could help me out here?

ever since, say, halfway through the summer i think, i've realized i've been sleeping a lot more than b4. a lot of times i'd stay up until 1 or 2 talking to my girlfriend, then sleep until 11:30 or so. no big deal, but then the school year started and i decided i needed to start getting to bed earlier. so b4 days i had to get up for college (wake up at 10:00) i'd get to sleep at 1:00 at the LATEST, but i'd still feel totally exhausted after 9 hours sleep! so bad where i could hardly stay awake during classes! so i kept trying to get to bed even earlier, even on non-school nights. i would get to bed at 12, and STILL sleep in to 11! another thing that has started to happen is i'll get to bed at 12, and then i'll waken up at 7:00 from hearing my sister and brother get up for school, and then i can't fall back asleep! it feels like i lay in bed for hours after that, and then i'll fall back asleep for like another hour and still be exhausted and want to keep going back to sleep.

this is really frustrating, becuz personally i hate sleeping in really late becuz it wastes away my day and the time that i have to do stuff b4 i go to work in the afternoon. but, if i'm getting to bed even earlier and STILL sleeping in that late, what am i supposed to do?

do u see what i mean? i just keep trying to get more sleep but it still seems like it's not enough. my girlfriend think i'm getting too much sleep. is this true? what should i do to change this and still not get up feeling exhausted?

thanks in advance!

danmc15 · 10-15-2003, 10:49 AM

Yes, I remember when I was once young and could sleep in late....
What is happening is that you are awakening frequently during the night and just not remembering it. This could be caused by sleep apnea, which occurs when the tissues around your throat relax and then collapse, causing you to choke briefly and then wake up, or it could be caused by stress and/or depression.
You should see your physician, and he/she may recommend a sleep study to see if you have apnea. If you don't, you could try any number of prescription medications which can help you sleep.
(Trust me, drinking a six pack before bed may help you to fall asleep, but definitely won't help you sleep any better!)

mustangbuff03 · 10-15-2003, 11:53 AM

ok, thanks...i also forgot to add that i work out 4 times per week. how much does this affect the amount of sleep my body needs?

the thing is though, i've been working out for 2 years, and never b4 was my sleeping affected by it...

Corinna_H · 10-15-2003, 11:59 AM

Sleep apnea is certainly a likely cause.

another possibility, we are such creatures of habit that if we try to get up early it hurts! It's related to jet lag, LOL!

So allow yourself time to adjust to the new getting up time, which may take a week or so. If you indulge yourself at the weekends, it will just take even longer to get used to the new time.

However, if you were feeling this tired before you tried to get up earlier, then that points you towards sleep apnea or something else interfereing with your quality of sleep.