Why do I keep feeling tired even when I get more sleep?
For months now, I’ve been sleepy and tired by the afternoon even after sleeping 8 hours. I’ve cut caffeine down to about two cups a day and I exercise three times a week, but it hasn’t gotten better.
When I looked it up, I saw that it could be sleep quality, snoring, or some other cause.
If anyone has had a similar experience and found the cause, I’d like to know which tests you started with. I’m also wondering whether I should go to an ENT clinic or a sleep clinic.
4 answers
This is exactly my situation. I went to a sleep clinic first, and they told me to get a polysomnography, so I did—and it came back as borderline snoring plus sleep apnea. ENT looks at the nasal cavity and tonsils, so it seems the right order is to go to a sleep clinic first and get tested. But the test costs a fair amount, so check in advance whether your private health insurance covers it.
Well, I think rushing to the hospital first is a bit much. Maybe it’s just because your activity level has been low lately? Working out three times a week isn’t exactly little, but I don’t know what the intensity is like. Before running tests to find the cause, it might be worth recording your lifestyle patterns for a month first.
If you're still tired after 8 hours of sleep, there's a good chance it's a sleep quality issue. Start by checking whether it takes you a long time to fall asleep or whether you wake up in the middle of the night. That was the cause for me. Also, the timing of those two cups of caffeine matters. If you drink them after 2 p.m., the long half-life can affect your sleep at night.