Why You Keep Waking Up Tired
7 Reasons Your Sleep Isn't as Restful As You Need It to Be
You get between seven and nine hours of sleep a night. But no matter what, the snooze button calls your name every morning. You wake up feeling groggy and drag yourself to the coffee machine. While it’s easy to assume that more sleep is the answer, it’s not always about how long you sleep — but how well.
“You might be hitting the right number of hours, but if the quality isn’t there, you’ll still feel drained.” according to Catarina Tucker, sensory sleep specialist and founder and CEO of Snuggle Sense. “On the flip side, if you get fewer hours but still wake up feeling refreshed, that’s because you got good-quality sleep. It’s all about reaching deep, restorative sleep — not just clocking hours.”
RELATED: Expert Hacks for a Good Night's Sleep
Sometimes, there are undiagnosed sleep disorders at play. Other times, your habits are to blame. Here are seven of the most common (and sometimes surprising) reasons you keep waking up tired.
1. Undiagnosed Sleep Apnea
"I see it all the time: men who believe they are sleeping, but still wake up completely exhausted. One of the main reasons for that is sleep apnea,” according to Dr. Emma Lin, a board-certified pulmonologist and sleep medicine specialist and the co-founder of ReadyO2.
Research shows that approximately 22% of men experience obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). If you’re unfamiliar with the condition, it causes interruptions in your breathing while you sleep, leading to fragmented rest.
2. Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome (UARS)
UARS sounds intimidating, but it’s actually a milder form of sleep apnea. It happens when the soft tissue in the throat relaxes and causes the airway to narrow. Unlike sleep apnea, it doesn’t entail complete pauses in breathing. However, it’s still disruptive and can make your oxygen levels drop at night.
“Even though you may not realize that you awakened during the night, your brain did not rest as deeply as needed. Many sleep-disordered breathing patients wake up with their mouths dry, with headaches or fatigue regardless of the length of their sleep,” adds Lin.
3. Chronic Stress
When you’re constantly stressed out, your body produces more cortisol, the primary stress hormone. Cortisol regulates your sleep-wake cycle and is supposed to peak right after you wake up, giving you energy to tackle the day. But when it’s high in the evening, it keeps you on edge as it’s time to unwind. The result? Sleep disruptions such as lighter sleep and nighttime awakenings. Over time, poor sleep can push cortisol levels even higher, which creates a vicious cycle.
4. Poor Sleep Hygiene
"If men are constantly waking up tired, they really need to look into their sleep hygiene,” says Tucker. Sleep hygiene is broad and encompasses all the habits and behaviors that promote quality sleep — or disrupt it. From inconsistent sleep times to alcohol and caffeine consumption or screens before bed, these daily choices can chip away at the quality of your rest.
5. Low Testosterone Levels
Studies suggest a relationship between low T and the quality of your sleep. That’s right: Testosterone isn’t just about libido or muscle mass. It plays a key role in sleep regulation. Men with lower testosterone are more likely to experience lighter sleep, wake up more frequently and spend less time in deep, restorative sleep.
6. Nutrient Deficiencies
Sneaky nutrient deficiencies can also lead to fatigue. B vitamins, vitamin C, iron, magnesium and zinc play a key role in energy production, muscle recovery and nervous system function, research shows. All these functions are critical for feeling refreshed when you wake up.
7. Parasomnias
Parasomnias are sleep disorders that cause unusual behaviors at night, from talking in your sleep to sleepwalking or experiencing night terrors. You might not even know these are happening until someone tells you about it. Besides being unsettling, these conditions can also fragment sleep and lead you to wake up tired.
What to Do If You Keep Waking Up Tired and Don’t Know Why
You know about some of the possible causes of your exhaustion in the morning. Now what? The first step is to keep a sleep journal, which might come into handy in terms of detecting patterns or when consulting a healthcare professional. “I get people to monitor their sleep, bed time, how many times they wake up and how they wake up feeling,” says Lin.
Also, start by addressing your lifestyle and sleep hygiene. “Avoid screens for one hour before bedtime, refrain from nighttime alcohol consumption and go to sleep at the same time each day,” adds Lin.
Tucker recommends using tools to create a relaxing nighttime ritual: “They can make it easier to get into a routine and relax faster if you find the right ones for you. Personally, I use weighted blankets and aromatherapy, and I stick to a consistent bedtime routine following the 3-2-1 rule (no big meals three hours before bed, no work two hours before, no screens one hour before).”
If you’re still tired after changing your habits, it’s worth digging deeper. A sleep study might be appropriate. Reach out to a sleep medicine professional to find out if issues like sleep apnea are getting in the way of quality rest.
You Might Also Dig:
-
Sleep