Even after a solid night’s sleep, waking up tired is disappointing. While eight hours in bed should have made you energetic and alert in the morning, you end up battling fatigue throughout the day. When even a long slumber doesn’t feel enough, and you wonder why do I wake up tired, the contradiction points to something important: poor sleep quality, which impacts our daytime energy levels.
A recent study published on BMJ Open sheds light on how young adults with poor sleep quality at night tend to fall short on physical activity during the day. Improving your sleep quality should be on your priority list if you want to stay active and energized throughout the day. Let’s investigate the correlation between daytime fatigue and sleep quality and find ways to enhance sleep quality.
Key Takeaways
- Poor sleep quality, rather than quantity, significantly impacts energy levels, requiring multiple complete sleep cycles for restorative rest.
- Factors disrupting sleep include health conditions like sleep apnea and insomnia, hormonal imbalances, and lifestyle choices like diet and irregular sleep schedules.
- Enhancing sleep quality involves improving sleep environment, adopting relaxation techniques, maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, and managing health conditions.
- Persistent morning fatigue, despite efforts to improve sleep quality, warrants professional evaluation to address potential underlying health issues.
Delving Into Sleep Quality: Why You’re Still Tired After a Full Night
Sleep quality and quantity are two different phenomena, both playing a vital role in how you will feel after waking up. Sleep quality defines the nature of sleep, depending on factors such as sleep stage completion, alertness, continuity, and satisfaction. Getting through REM and non-REM stages once isn’t enough for good sleep quality. You must complete the pattern of sleep stages at least four to five times at night.
On the other hand, sleep quantity refers to the hours of sleep. While 6-9 hours is typical, sleep quantity varies in terms of the individual’s age, health condition, and lifestyle. Adequate sleep quantity is important, but it doesn’t determine sleep quality solely. An NIH research highlights that sleep quality is more important than sleep quantity, as the former impacts the functioning and health of an individual.
Sleep Cycles: Key to Overcoming Fatigue
Understanding how the sleep cycle works is important, as it helps you discover why you often feel tired even after sufficient sleep. Commonly, the sleep cycle has four to five stages, from light sleep non-REM stages to deep REM stages. It takes approximately 90 to 110 minutes for the sleep cycle to be completed.
It is important to ensure an uninterrupted sleep cycle to combat post-sleep exhaustion. Multiple factors such as sleep disorders, stress, and an uncomfortable sleep environment disrupt these phases, interrupting the natural repetition of the sleep cycle. As a result of these disturbances, you fail to reach the essential restorative stages. The incomplete process leaves you tired with low energy levels during the daytime.
Factors That Disrupt Sleep and Cause Morning Tiredness
There are abundant factors impacting sleep quality. To help you understand them better, we have categorized the factors into four main categories: health issues, psychological issues, daily habits, and technological influences.
You must identify the factor that is hindering your sleep quality and making you feel fatigued in the morning is important. It allows for a targeted approach to address that particular factor and improve sleep quality.
Health Issues Contributing to Fatigue After Sleeping
Certain medical conditions can significantly impact sleep quality, leaving you exhausted and sleepy in the morning, no matter how long you sleep. Many factors, such as chronic pain, sleep apnea, and physiological concerns, such as diabetes and heart diseases, can disrupt your sleep multiple times at night, resulting in persistent morning fatigue.
Here are some of the most common medical conditions impacting sleep quality:
1. Sleep Disorders and Their Impact on Feeling Tired
Sleep disorders such as insomnia or sleep apnea are one of the most common reasons to disrupt a restful sleep. Sleep apnea is a condition where breathing frequently pauses while a person is sleeping, making the sufferer wake up gasping for breath. Snoring is another symptom of Obstructive Sleep Apnea. As the condition often interrupts sleep, it leads to morning fatigue.
On the other hand, insomnia is the condition where one finds it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep. People with insomnia feel exhausted in the morning due to a continuously disturbed sleep cycle.
2. Hormone Imbalance and Morning Energy Levels
Certain hormonal imbalances, such as thyroid disorders and menopause, significantly influence our energy levels in the morning. The imbalances contribute to daytime exhaustion, even if you have spent enough time sleeping at night.
Thyroid issues affect metabolism, impacting sleep quality and leaving you feeling tired upon waking up. Women going through menopause also suffer from a disturbed night’s sleep. Hormonal fluctuations associated with menopause bring hot flashes and night’s sweat, both of which repeatedly disrupt sleep.
3. Chronic Pain conditions
The condition that has chronic pain as a symptom, such as arthritis and fibromyalgia, may cause morning fatigue. With arthritis, the inflammation in the joints is a major discomfort that causes frequent awakenings. Fibromyalgia patients suffer from widespread pain, which diminishes their ability to rest properly through the night. Both these conditions significantly impact sleep quality and can cause persistent morning exhaustion.
4. Respiratory issues
Medical conditions affecting a normal breathing mechanism cast a shadow over nighttime rest. These include asthma and allergies, which can potentially disrupt sleep and leave you exhausted the next day as your body doesn’t get the rest it needs. Coughing, wheezing, and breathlessness are common asthma symptoms, requiring one to get up frequently during the night.
Similarly, allergies trigger congestion and discomfort, leading to frequent interruptions in sleep.
5. Gastrointestinal disorders
A peaceful night’s sleep becomes an unachievable dream if you are suffering from a gastrointestinal disorder such as GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) or IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). GERD brings with it the discomfort of heartburn, which disrupts sleep. Laying flat further aggravates the condition, and knowing the correct sleeping positions for GERD can significantly help.
People diagnosed with IBS suffer from symptoms such as abdominal pain and flatulence, which disrupt restful sleep and lead to morning fatigue despite adequate sleep quantity.
6. Cardiovascular problems
Morning energy levels can also be affected by cardiovascular problems such as heart disease and hypertension. Symptoms of heart disease, such as chest pain or arrhythmias, usually show at night, disrupting the sleep cycle. Hypertensive people are at the risk of developing sleep apnea and other disturbances that negatively impact the body’s natural way of rejuvenating itself while sleeping. As these cardiovascular conditions hinder restorative sleep, they cause you to feel drained after waking up.
Psychological Barriers to Restful Sleep
Optimal brain function is vital for overall well being, so we cannot underestimate the role of mental health in sleep quality. If you are having stress, anxiety, or depression, disturbed sleep patterns can be frequent, resulting in morning fatigue. Here are some mental health issues that impair the body’s ability to get restorative sleep, leaving you feel tired upon awakening.
1. Anxiety, Poor Sleep and Morning Fatigue
People with anxiety find it hard to sleep, which sets the stage for morning fatigue. Racing thoughts, fears, and worries are common with anxiety, and they make the nights even worse. Even if you manage to sleep with all the constant mental chatter, staying asleep is hard. You wake up frequently during the night, contributing to grogginess after waking up in the morning.
Treating anxiety is important to improve sleep quality, which eventually helps overcome morning fatigue.
2. Depression
Disturbed sleep due to depression is quite upsetting but a prevalent occurrence among those diagnosed with the mental disorder, according to a study by NIH. Sleep disturbances and depression form a vicious cycle, which is very hard to break. The sleep architecture is severely compromised, where the patients fail to achieve the restorative deep sleep phases.
Addressing depression aids in better outcomes not only in terms of restored mental health but also in the form of improved sleep quality and daytime energy levels.
3. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is another mental illness that unsettles your sleep quality and worsens daytime fatigue. PTSD symptoms such as nightmares and intrusive thoughts cause the sufferers to wake up again and again, preventing the achievement of a complete sleep cycle with restorative sleep stages. To get better quality sleep and to wake up feeling fresh, it is crucial to identify and address PTSD.
4. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Compulsive behavior, the hallmark of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), can potentially hinder a good night’s sleep. People with OCD face obsessive thoughts about nighttime rituals, which eventually delay the onset of sleep. Anxiety stemming from compulsions that are unresolved may worsen at night, disturbing the sleep pattern. The depth and quality of sleep both get affected, leaving you feeling drained the next morning.
5. Chronic Worry or Rumination
People with chronic worry or rumination engage in excessive overthinking at night, dwelling on negative thoughts and feelings, which impacts their ability to unwind and fall asleep. As a result of compromised sleep quality, they feel tired in the morning.
Daily Habits That Influence Tiredness After Sleep
When mom repeatedly told you to stick to a regular sleep schedule, you must have listened to her. Apart from the health conditions, your daily habits might be instigating morning tiredness. Factors affecting sleep quality include irregular sleep schedules, late night screen time, or excessive caffeine consumption. Identify and address the habits that might have been playing a resistive role in achieving a restful sleep that energizes you for the upcoming day.
1. Diet high in caffeine or sugar
While it seems trivial, how much caffeine or sugar you have, particularly closer to bedtime, hugely impacts your sleep quality. The stimulating effect of caffeine interferes with falling asleep, affecting the natural sleep cycle.
Similarly, high sugar intake causes an increase in blood sugar levels, which causes frequent awakenings due to thirst, hunger, or trips to the bathroom. According to a study, a high-sugar diet decreases slow-wave sleep, which is a deep and restorative sleep stage.
One study found that consuming a high-sugar diet resulted in a decrease in slow-wave sleep, which is the deepest and most restorative stage of sleep.
It’s wise to cut down on sugar and caffeine, specifically before bedtime, to improve sleep quality and reduce fatigue after waking up.
2. Alcohol consumption
For those who believe alcohol aids in sleep, it is important to understand the paradoxical correlation. While alcohol may induce initial drowsiness, it disrupts the sleep cycle. Alcohol consumption is believed to suppress REM sleep, which is important for restoration. Being in shallow sleep all night long will eventually result in grogginess when you wake up.
3. Lack of magnesium
Magnesium is an essential mineral for sleep regulation. It calms the nervous system, promoting relaxation and better sleep quality. Magnesium deficiency leads to difficulty in falling asleep, resulting in restless nights and morning tiredness. Adequate magnesium intake (through diet or supplements) may resolve morning fatigue issues by improving sleep quality.
4. Poor digestion or eating late at night
Habitual late night snacking and poor digestion take a toll on your sleep quality, resulting in daytime tiredness. If you consume heavy meals close to bedtime, your digestive system needs to work harder to break down the food. As a result, you may end up suffering from indigestion, which interrupts nighttime sleep.
Go for a light meal earlier in the evening, so that your body gets enough time to digest it before bedtime. As you feel lighter, you will find it easier to fall asleep and will wake up feeling refreshed in the morning.
5. Inconsistent sleep schedule
If you have read till now without being able to relate to any of the factors, more reasons you might be waking up at night could be an erratic sleep schedule. When your sleep schedule is not consistent, it confuses your body’s natural rhythm, affecting sleep quality and quantity. It disrupts the body’s internal clock, contributing to frequent awakenings at night and disturbing the sleep pattern. Developing a consistent sleep schedule does wonders to improve sleep quality.
6. Lack of regular exercise:
A lack of physical activity directly correlates with increased morning fatigue, according to a study. Being physically active helps you sleep faster and complete the natural sleep cycle. An increase in physical exercise regulates the sleep-wake cycle, making you feel energized the next day. To improve sleep quality and reduce morning tiredness, it is important to incorporate regular physical activity into your daily routine.
7. Over-stimulation before bedtime
Before you hit the bed, disconnecting from anything stimulating is a wise move. If you engage in a mentally stimulating activity such as screen time, it hinders the ability to unwind. As a result, you feel tired even after adequate sleep. Instead, try adopting relaxing activities before bedtime to achieve better sleep quality.
Technology’s Impact on Sleep and Nighttime Rest
While technological advancements bring us convenience, letting them disrupt our much needed sleep time can backfire. According to research, blue light emitted by screens suppresses melatonin production, affecting our body’s natural sleep cycle. Engagement with digital devices before bedtime can potentially overstimulate your brain, inhibiting a restful sleep.
1. Exposure to blue light from screens before bed
As explained earlier, blue light from screens negatively impacts natural sleep patterns. The light hampers the production of melatonin, a sleep-regulating hormone. As you constantly remain in front of the screen, your brain will be tricked into thinking it’s morning. This disrupts your circadian rhythm, delaying the onset of sleep.
You should limit screen time and avoid using it before bedtime. Try using a blue light filter to reduce the chances of sleep disruption.
2. Overuse of electronic devices
Constant use of electronic devices, particularly before bedtime, stimulates the brain. It is important to let the brain wind down and relax to get a satisfying sleep. You can do this by limiting the usage of devices and adopting relaxation techniques, such as meditation or deep breathing exercises, to transition to restful sleep. Consequently, morning tiredness is also mitigated.
3. Work-related stress from technology use
Our work lives are intertwined with an extensive use of technology in this era. While it improves our work in many ways, work-related stress induced by technology affects our sleep quality. We habitually check work-related emails or messages before sleep and can’t resist engaging in work-related thoughts, which makes it difficult to unwind.
To improve sleep quality and feel rejuvenated in the morning, it is important to establish boundaries and disconnect from work-related technology before bedtime.
4. Noise pollution from electronic devices
Electronic devices, even when not in use, contribute to noise pollution. Background noise from TV, computers, or mobile phones, even if subtle, disturbs the environment in which we sleep, disrupting sleep and contributing to morning fatigue. Creating a device-noise free ambiance helps you fall asleep easily so that you can wake up feeling energized.
5. Sleep disruptions due to notifications or alerts
When we talk about factors disturbing sleep, who can deny the disruption caused by pings, alerts, and vibrations? With each disruption, your body fails to enter the deep sleep stage, which is crucial for restoration. Setting your devices to ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode helps prevent these interruptions.
Sleep Meditation and Routines for Enhanced Sleep Quality
Establishing bedtime routines and sleep meditation can drastically improve your sleep quality, helping your body get the rest it deserves. Meditation and deep breathing techniques provide relaxation while sticking to consistent bedtime rituals signals the body that it’s time to sleep. A restful sleep thus ensures a revitalized start to the day.
Creating the Ideal Environment for Healthy Sleep
- Dark and Quiet Room: Block light with blackout curtains and use earplugs to shut out any noise to create a serene sleep environment.
- Cool Temperature: To rest comfortably, keep the room temperature maintained so it remains moderately cool through the night.
- Comfortable Bedding: The best investment you can make for a good night’s sleep is a high-quality mattress and pillows for optimal comfort.
- Minimal Clutter: Keep the sleeping area clean and organized to reduce stress and promote relaxation.
- Aromatherapy: Chamomile and Lavender essential oils are known to induce sleep, so apply a few drops on your temples to feel relaxed, or try adding these to a humidifier to inhale the mist. Using aromatherapy oils with the humidifier also curbs snoring, a pesky sleep disruptor. Using it with a good quality mouthpiece helps address snoring effectively, enhancing your sleep environment. Here is our analysis of the best snore relief mouthpieces in the market to help you decide the appropriate one for yourself.
Pre-Sleep Routine for Better Rest
Here are some additional tips to ensure optimal sleep quality at night.
- Relaxation Techniques: Ease stress or anxiety-induced muscle tension with progressive muscle relaxation or deep breathing techniques.
- Sleep Meditation: Guided sleep meditation can be a powerful way to relax symptoms of physical and mental stress so that you can feel calm before sleeping.
- Limit Screen Time: Blue light exposure from screens disrupt your sleep. Avoid using screens at least an hour before bed.
- Warm Bath or Shower: Enjoy a warm bath to lower your body temperature, so that you can sleep comfortably.
- Herbal Tea: Drinking caffeine-free herbal tea, such as chamomile or lavender before going to bed has a calming effect on the body.
- Reading: Some people might find it easier to relax by reading a book as it helps distract from daily stressors.
Would you like insights on how a quality mouthpiece can complement these routines for better sleep?
Mouthpiece Solutions for Enhanced Sleep
If you are adopting solutions to improve sleep quality, using a mouthpiece in combination with the sleep habits mentioned above can be transformative. Not only does it reduce snoring effectively, but it also addresses Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Combined with the use of aromatherapy, sleep meditation, and a relaxing bath, mouthpieces can augment the effectiveness of your sleep routine, ensuring an undisturbed, restorative sleep.
Custom-Fitted Mouthpiece: Your sleep quality gets better if you choose a mouthpiece with a custom fit feasibility. As it is crafted to suit an individual’s unique dental structure, it stays in place all night, making you sleep and breathe comfortably through the night.
Mouthpiece for Snoring: Some mouthpieces are specifically designed to curb snoring. They align the jaw for an unobstructed airflow, mitigating snoring sounds. Read our review of VitalSleep anti-snoring mouthpiece to learn about its exceptional benefits. VitalSleep tops the list of our recommended mouthpieces, and using it will surely give you a relaxing sleep experience.
Professional Help for Persistent Fatigue Despite Sleeping Well
If you notice that morning fatigue, even after adequate sleep, is persistent, it’s time to consult with your healthcare provider. Even if you have been trying to implement sleep-enhancing techniques, morning exhaustion might continue due to any underlying causes. Especially, if unexplained weight changes or frequent headaches accompany continuous morning fatigue, it might be linked to undiagnosed thyroid disorders, sleep apnea, or depression.
A healthcare professional will assess and diagnose the underlying cause and treat it in time to address chronic tiredness.
Overcome Feeling Tired After Sleep
To combat morning fatigue, you must first identify its reason, whether it’s a health condition or a daily habit. Prioritize setting up a consistent sleep schedule and create a calm sleep environment. Limiting screen time further helps you fall asleep easily. You can also try relaxation techniques such as sleep meditation or aromatherapy, and consider using a custom-fit mouthpiece if you snore.
By incorporating these changes and seeking professional assistance where needed, you can succeed in getting a restful night’s sleep, which translates into an energetic morning.
