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Do you doze off normally when you’re not even tired? Are you fighting the urge to close your eyes even though you just had a good 8 hours of sleep a few hours ago? What is the reason behind it? Should you visit a sleep clinic Silver Spring? Here is everything you need to know.

Causes Of Excessive Sleepiness

Hypersomnia

There’s insomnia, which is the lack of sleep, and then there is hypersomnia, which is excessive sleepiness. Even if you are sleeping 8 hours a day, you will still feel very sleepy and you will want to put your head on the pillow and take a dive into dreamland, because you’re just so sleepy. You’re not necessarily tired, but you will feel so sleepy that you might as well believe that you are.

Hypersomnia is common and sadly, there is no cause for it. It can happen to anyone and everyone and this is something that you need to navigate through to understand and manage the disorder. Here are some things you can try to manage the disorder so that you don’t sleep anywhere.

Try to have a routine and build your sleeping habits in a healthy way.
Avoid drinking caffeine late in the night, because if you don’t sleep at night then you will feel sleepy throughout the day.
Try to work out at the beginning of your day, so that you are energized and chase the sleep away with endorphins. You’ll feel so much better in no time.

Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder that can progress in your 20s and it only gets worse with time. It is the definition of randomly falling asleep out of the blue. Your brain is wired to think that it needs sleep all the time. Symptoms include the following:

You will want to sleep all the time, even if you’re not tired.
You will close your eyes during work, or even while eating or driving, which can be quite dangerous if you think about it.
You will still feel sleepy after a good night’s rest with zero interruptions and that is frustrating.

Fatigue

This is kind of ironic, because you are wondering why you’re sleepy if you’re not tired, but what if you really are and just can’t feel it?

Chronic fatigue and tiredness are really common in adults and because of this ingrown feeling of being tired, you kind of get adjusted to the lethargy and keep thinking about why you’re dosing off, when the answer is right there as clear as day. Chronic fatigue can have a lot of causes, some of which are:

Working too much without taking any breaks or giving your body a break.
Having preexisting conditions like anemia or low blood pressure and even low blood sugar levels.
Family history can also cause fatigue and even if you sleep, it doesn’t go away, which means that you’re tired all the time and will doze off.

Daytime Sleepiness

Daytime sleepiness is a type of sleep disorder in which you are awfully sleepy during the day and wide awake at night. It is kind of similar to insomnia, but the difference is that sleepiness hits you when the sun is high in the sky and even if you’re not tired, you will feel the sleep seeping into the brain. Some symptoms include:

Sleeping during the day
Not sleeping at night
Being tired and sleepy even after waking up
Difficulty in falling asleep and staying asleep

Working Odd Hours

This is something that a lot of people can do, and then they will complain about not being able to stay awake for long. Working night shifts or odd hours can really mess with your body’s biological clock and it will cause you to sleep when you are supposed to stay awake and do work, which can be highly frustrating and can mess with your daily life activities a lot.

Lifestyle Changes

Have you done something recently that is causing you to not sleep peacefully at night and then you’re dozing off in the middle of the day or at really weird hours? Have you recently moved to a place with a new time zone? Are you eating something different? Are you trying out a new workout and it’s not going well?

These can be some of the reasons why you’re sleepy, and even though you feel like you’re not tired, this slight change in your routine wreaked havoc in your body. So, you want to get to the bottom of this before your brain shuts down for good.

Caffeine/Alcohol

A lot of people have the habit of chugging on coffee or sipping alcoholic beverages late into the night. Sometimes, it’s for fun, but other times, it is a necessity and you just can’t say no.

Well, if that is the case, then these stimulants will force your brain to stay awake and then you will fall asleep when you least expect it, even when you’re not tired and that is really hard for you, especially if you have to go to work or school the next morning.

Electrolyte Imbalance

There can also be medical issues that can cause you to sleep anywhere and everywhere, even though you’re not tired. One of them is electrolyte imbalance. If you’re a fan of eating out all the time and you don’t follow a balanced diet or drink a lot of water, then it’s only a matter of time before you fall into the pit of electrolyte imbalance.

Your body needs all of the electrolytes in a specific quantity to function properly and that includes sleeping on time too. So, you need to look after your body and make sure that it is well taken care of.

Anemia

If you have blood-related issues, then anemia is at the top of the list of why you’re randomly falling asleep without any reason. This is bad because if you suffer from low hemoglobin, then you will be very lethargic and will want to sleep all the time.

Even if it is a minute deficiency, you will still have to fight the urge to fall asleep everywhere and that is something that can alter your lifestyle and daily activities. This is why you should see a doctor and get some supplements to replenish the iron stores in your body.

Restless Leg Syndrome

Another sleep disorder that can disrupt your sleep and cause you to sleep randomly anywhere, is restless leg syndrome. It is a disorder in which your limbs shake and rock out of control and even though 8 times out of 10, you don’t feel it, you will see the effects and that is through your sleep and how drowsy you feel.

This is bad and you want to consult with a doctor right away, so that you can manage the disorder and get your sleep cycle back on track permanently.