Why am I still tired, despite spending hours in bed?
Do you find yourself thinking more and more about your sleep, energy levels, getting to bed on time, hoping you get a good night’s sleep and wondering if you’re going to feel rested in the morning? Are you unsure about taking sleep medication and looking for other insomnia treatment options?
Adjusting your day to accommodate your energy levels?
Are you committing to less and less to avoid letting your friend down at short notice as you no longer have enough energy to meet them?
If this sounds like you, there could be numerous things at play here. The good news is that many of them are very modifiable.
Sleep Quantity: It might be that you’re not actually scheduling in enough hours for sleep consciously because you have too many demands, life is hectic and every moment of the waking day is accounted for. Maybe subconsciously, you’ve just fallen into a bad routine, have lots of late nights and variety in your sleep and wake time.
Sleep Quality: You may be scheduling a good window of opportunity for sleep but just not feeling rested in the morning, the quality of the sleep isn’t as good as it used to be, you’re waking frequently, restless, or waking early and unable to drift back to sleep. Many people find it difficult to initiate sleep as they find it difficult to switch off their mind and often report racing or anxious thoughts close to bed time and they find it difficult to quieten their mind.
The good news is that both of these are very modifiable and people can make huge gains with their sleep quality and quantity from making small changes in their lifestyle and mindset towards sleep and these can be far better insomnia treatments than sleeping tablets and melatonin in the long term.
When should I check in with my GP regarding my insomnia?
Some people get 7-9 hours sleep and still don’t feel rested in the mornings despite sleeping through the night undisturbed. If this is the case, it’s worth checking in with your GP first to ensure everything is in order from a medical perspective. Your GP might run a blood panel to ensure none of your markers are off. Simple things like low iron, haemoglobin, ferratin, changes in thyroid function, HBA1C level, hormonal levels, screening for glandular fever. etc., are some examples of tests your GP may screen for if they feel it is clinically indicated.
What is the difference between sleepiness and fatigue?
Fatigue varies from sleepiness in that sleepiness is technically the sensation of your eyes becoming heavy and feeling like you need to drift off to sleep. Fatigue is a full body sensation where you mind and body may feel exhausted and in need of a break. (Think about how drained you feel from small tasks when you have the flu, this is similar to fatigue).
It’s worth noting here that fatigue can be a common symptoms or side effect of concussion, menopause, neurological diseases like M.S., Stroke, Brain Injury, Parkinson’s, Motor Neuron’s Disease, and can also be a common side effect of viruses like Covid-19, Glandular Fever (Mono) etc., so if you have recently been effected by any of these your fatigue is likely linked to this. There are LOTS of reasons why fatigue can be present so best not to start thinking about these conditions if this is not already a part of your health story to date.
The medications I take for my health conditions are making me groggy:
Some medications can also induce sleepiness/grogginess so be sure to read the information leaflet of any medication you are taking or discuss with your Pharmacist and GP if you notice you are experiencing significant side effects.
Never come off prescribed medication without consulting with your medical team and coming up with a safe and effective weaning plan. Medications for certain health conditions require close monitoring when coming off them, so I would advise against ever doing this unsupervised for your own safety.
My bloods were clear but I’m still not sleeping:
If your blood tests all come back clear, and your medical history doesn’t point to anything in particular which could be the driving force of the tiredness, we know that we can redirect our focus onto other factors which may be contributing to your experience of tiredness, grogginess, sleepiness and/or brain fog.
It is quite common for simples things in our daily routine to impact our energy levels and within our sessions we explore lifestyle factors and social factors in depth to establish if these may be playing a role in your sleep and fatigue experience.
We will delve into:
Your daily routine
Activity levels
Stressors on the body
Diet
Relaxation strategies
Possible insomnia treatment options
and more to try an establish your current baseline.
Finding your trigger is the first step to finding an insomnia treatment for you.
Busy, stressful periods in your life can trigger changes to your sleep and overall health & wellbeing.
I like to reflect back and jot down past medical history and events to see if we can establish a clear timeline of events. It is common that stressful events, busy periods or periods of upheaval can act as a trigger or catalyst for future medical events. Often when people take the time to sit back and reflect they can join the dots and make connections with past life events and the turning point in their health.
If you cannot pinpoint your change in energy to any particular time, place, event, do not despair. We don’t need to find this answer out in order to recover. Establishing a good routine, modifying some lifestyle factors and making tiny adjustments can make the world of difference as an insomnia treatment when performed consistently over a period of time.
If this sounds like you and you would like support in trying to get the the root of the problem and identify some areas where you could make small but meaningful changes and find an insomnia treatment for you then my one-to-one online sleep and fatigue consultation is for you (Fee: €120). All you need is a a working camera and microphone (your mobile phone will do) and a quiet space where you feel you can talk freely. If you have any other questions please feel free to check out the FAQ section of my website, or avail of my complimentary 20 minute discovery call.