Q. Most mornings I wake up feeling tired. Sometimes it’s so bad I can barely make it to work. Why is this and what can I do about it?
A. Feeling tired and groggy in the morning is one of the most common sleep complaints. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to identify a precise cause of the problem.
A common culprit is drinking alcohol the night before. Booze wreaks havoc on our sleep causing us to erratically shift back and forth between sleep stages like a Volkswagen Beetle with a bad clutch.
Medications, including sleep meds, can prevent good sleep as well. All medications have a “half-life.” This is the amount of time it takes half the active medicine to leave the body. If you take a medication late in the evening, or a medication with a long half-life, you will feel groggy the next morning.
Obstructive sleep apnea is a medical condition that causes reduced airflow while asleep. This restricted airflow causes you to wake up repeatedly, leading to next-day drowsiness. If you or your bed partner suspect this to be the cause of your sleep problems, consult a health care professional.
Finally, and this will probably come as no surprise, if you don’t get enough sleep at night you’ll feel tired the next day. The average person needs between seven and nine hours a night.
Q. For the last month I’ve had a hard time falling asleep. I stay in bed for hours staring at the ceiling. I never had this problem before. What can I do?
A. The occasional night or two of insomnia affects most everyone at some point. Sometimes, however, difficulties falling asleep can persist for weeks, months or years.
The most common causes of initial insomnia (problems falling asleep) are stress and anxiety. If you worry about money, work or your relationship, it can be a challenge getting to sleep.
Poor sleep habits are almost always at play to some degree when it comes to problems initiating sleep. Exercising or eating large or spicy meals before bed, use of caffeine in the evening and lying in bed trying to fall asleep are no-nos. Regarding the latter, if you don’t fall asleep within 15 minutes of getting into bed then you need to get out. Hanging out in bed longer than this reinforces the problem.
The best approach for treating occasional insomnia that only lasts a few nights is to wait it out. If sleep problems persist, see a mental health or medical professional.
Bret A. Moore, Psy.D., is a board-certified clinical psychologist who served two tours in Iraq. Email him at kevlarforthemind@militarytimes.com. This column is for informational purposes only and is not intended to convey specific psychological or medical guidance.
