Why You Still Feel Tired Even After Enough Sleep: The Science of “Not enough” sleep

For as long as one can remember, the narrative of the “perfect 8-hour sleep” has been looped into our daily lives as the golden standard for health. 
Yet, even when we miraculously achieve that 11:00 pm bedtime and secure those precious eight hours, we still wake up feeling restless and fatigued. We still feel tired even after getting enough sleep, or at least what we think is enough for us.

What many people fail to realize is that sleep duration is not the same as sleep recovery.

THE REASON BEHIND DAYTIME FATIGUE

Daytime Fatigue, clinically often referred to as Excessive Daytime Sleepiness (EDS), is a common symptom that indicates your body isn't getting the rest it needs, even if you are sleeping for 10 to 12 hours a day.

The causes behind daytime fatigue can differ from person to person.

The most common cause might be that your brain is not able to properly rest. It is being awakened by disturbances such as noise, light, or minor pain. One might not properly remember these disturbances, but they tend to “RESET” your sleep cycle, preventing you from deep sleep.

Another factor might be related to your body. Nutrient deficiencies, such as low levels of Iron (Anemia) and vitamin D, can make one feel extremely exhausted.

Mental health illnesses such as depression and anxiety often cause mental fatigue. Depression often manifests as hypersomnia (sleeping a lot but never feeling properly rested).

Daytime fatigue can also be a consequence of your lifestyle. If you wake up at 7:00 am on weekdays but sleep late until 12:00 pm on weekends, you are effectively confusing your brain regarding your sleep schedule; in return, you give yourself the feeling of jetlag every Monday.

Dehydration, even a mild case of it, reduces blood volume, making your heart work harder to pump oxygen, which again manifests as daytime fatigue.

SLEEP QUALITY VS SLEEP QUANTITY 

The debate of quantity over quality persists even in the world of sleep. While a good, heavy sleep of 10 hours might seem like a better proposition. If the sleep quality is not great, there is no use sleeping for such long hours.

While quantity measures how long you were unconscious, sleep quality measures how well your brain cycled through the four stages of sleep. You might find yourself waking up a dozen times during the night. These tiny interruptions are called Microarousals (MAs), which tend to pull you right out of a deep sleep.

Stage 3 sleep, also known as Slow Wave Sleep, is the most physically restorative phase of the sleep cycle. It is the phase during which tissue regeneration, bone growth, and cellular repair take place. If your brain gets deprived of this stage, your body is essentially skipping out on the maintenance and repair needed every night.

WHAT ARE SLEEP DISORDERS?

If your sleep hygiene is good, and yet fatigue persists. There might be a chance of an underlying sleeping disorder sabotaging your rest time. Causes of daytime fatigue are often hidden within these common disorders:

• Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA): You briefly stop breathing throughout the night, causing your brain to spike cortisol to wake you up. Thus, disturbing deep sleep.
• Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS): You might feel uncomfortable sensations leading to constant movements and adjustments, preventing you from transitioning to deep sleep.
• Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome: Our body often recognizes patterns. Your internal clock might be disturbed due to a lack of a proper sleep schedule.

SYMPTOMS: YOUR SLEEP ISN'T ENOUGH

The easiest detectable symptom that your sleep isn't enough is having constant morning hangovers.
Feeling groggy for 10-15 minutes after waking up is completely normal, but your poor sleep quality extends this into a state of chronic sleep inertia, where one feels drugged. And your body feels heavy and out of sync.

If your brain is unable to reach Stage 3, it cannot function properly during your day-to-day activities. You might find yourself zoning out without realizing it, having poor impulse control, forgetting the simplest things, and breaking off a train of thought mid-sentence, all signs that your brain hasn't properly recharged.

Frequent health issues, unexplained weight gain, and extreme hunger can also be a likely sign that you're not getting enough sleep.

Suffering from anxiety spikes and short fuses, causing you to snap at your loved ones, or feeling frustrated easily, also attests to a bad quality of sleep

HOW TO ATTAIN THE “PERFECT SLEEP”

First, you need to condition your brain.

Keep a fixed window in which you sleep. This will help your body attain a schedule that it will then follow. In just a few days, you would feel yourself becoming sleepy at around 11:00 pm naturally.

Caffeine has a lifespan of 5 to 6 hours, ensuring you do not consume any before your bedtime. This will cancel out any disturbances and help you ease into sleep. 

Adjusting your room can also be a major move. Invest in some blackout curtains. Buy softer pillows, blankets, and bedsheets so you feel cozy.

Keep the temperature of the AC/Heater to your liking, and don't keep any gadgets near you.

A warm shower an hour before bed cools you down. When you step out, your body heat dissipates rapidly, signaling to your brain that it's time for sleep.

PRIORITIZE THE RIGHT THINGS

You need to prioritize your mental well-being and energy levels. Sleeping is one of the most essential processes that all humans partake in. Focusing on getting better sleep will benefit your health and lifestyle.