Sleeping 8+ hours and still can't enough sleep (1 Viewer)

Hey everyone, it seems like no matter how much sleep I get, I'm still tired. I usually go to sleep at 8:30 everynight and get up 4:45am in the morning for work, but I always have trouble getting up. The alarm goes off, but I usually fall asleep for another half hour, sometime being late for work. Today the alarm rang, i shut it off, and slept until 6:30. I was an hour late for work. On weekends, I sleep no shorter than 12 hours. Anyone else have this problem? I'd like to do other things besides sleep all day :frowning:
BTW, I'm just turning 21 years old, and am 5'11 and 130lbs.

My first thought is it was your Thyroid but your weight and height kind of rule that out (Not all the way).
A lot of times I find that it come down to setting a schedule and now I live off of about 6 hours per night and I dont even need an alarm to wake up. (OK so I have a 10 months old alarm that works just as well )
Most of the mornings I wake up about 5 minutes before my son just because that is the time I wake up every morning and I dont change my schedule on the weekends. Maybe that is it you sleep extra on the weekends which throws your system off for the week.
If you are worried about turning off the alarm get it away from the bed and turn the sucker up. That way you actually have to get out of bed, not just reach over, to turn the darn thing off. Do you exercise a lot? If not that can help to get your body into shape mentally and physically. I actually sleep better (not longer) after I have had a good workout. You may be having a problem of getting bad sleep. Its quality not quantity that matters.
KyleS

you sleep 12 hours on weekends? wow. for me, i think the body will always want more sleep than it's used to: if you're used to 6 hrs of sleep, the first few nights you get 7, it'll be enough, then the body will want more. if your body is used to 10 hrs of sleep, then the first few nights you get 11, it'll be enough, then you'll want more, etc.

i used to be (well...sorta still am) in the same boat as you.

i used to sleep so much my friends often joked that i was a narcoleptic.

i think some people just need more sleep than others. it's not a big deal - if you need 10 hours, then get 10 hours. don't feel like you're a freak or something.

one thing that is probably screwing you up though is the fact that you're sleeping 12 hours on the weekend, but only getting 8 the rest of the week. it's throwing your body off. try to be consistent in your sleeping hours - it'll help.

also, when the alarm goes off, get up!!! snooze is the worst thing you can do. also, as mentioned, it helps to put the alarm somewhere else.

Man you only weigh 130lbs and you are a tad under 6 ft tall? Wow.
Anyways you may want to start sleeping less. I get about 5 hours of sleep per night and i'm fine. If I sleep anymore I get too tired. I've always heard that sleeping too much will make you tired.


Jeff

Diet has a lot to do with this. If your body is not getting all of the nutrients it needs and a balanced diet (which is practically impossible to do without some kind of supplement) then your body could feel run down like this. Also, make sure to drink lots of water.

That's not bad folks.
I have a buddy that works from 11-7:30a.m. goes to bed at 8, and with the exception of grabbing a bite at 5-5:30 sleeps till 10P.m.
This is 5 days a week too
I'm quite happy to get 7 on a good night. I also have to force myself to lie down for the extra hour to make it eight.
Brent

Ron:
Have you always needed so much sleep ? Or felt tired during the day ? Is this coincident with your early start time ?
If this is a recent phenomena, you might want to go to the doc and get a physical. 130 pounds at almost 6 feet sounds light to me, have you always been 'thin' ?
If there is nothing wrong, then you will have peace of mind and know that you need to modify your habits to try to get along on less sleep.
Let us know how you make out.

I Was In the same Boat a few weeks Back, No matter how Much I slept I still felt like *&^%. I Just started working Out again Not Much Just a little every Night, Push ups, Curls, sit ups for about 45 minutes to an hour. I feel and sleep a hell of alot better now. Give it a Try. Also if you feel tired during the day Stay away from The Soda and Caffiene it just makes you feel worse a few hours later. my advice is Have a Few Bananas and a large OJ and Even a Zone bar to get you going. Good luck

I have a friend who used to work at night...let's say from 5PM-1AM. He would get home from work and immediately go to sleep. Thing is, he would regularly sleep until about 2 the next afternoon, get up, work out for about a half-hour, grab a bite to eat, take a shower, and off to work again. He worked at Wal-Mart and didn't do anything strenuous. He also used to do this when he was in school. I'd go over to his house after school (maybe 5 or 6 in the afternoon) and he'd be asleep. Weekends - forget it. He'd sleep all day, only getting up for food and bathroom break...it was like he was watching a movie marathon in his sleep. I don't know if there is some medical explanation to this...he was in very good physical shape and a black belt in taekwando

I used to work twelve-hour shifts. Morning shift started at 06:50, so I had to be up at 6am. I found that no matter how much sleep I got, I never, ever wanted to get up at 6. I was always dead to the world.

But getting up 4pm in the afternoon was never a problem to prepare for the night shift. I actually got a little less sleep on nights and yet never had much a problem.

You are waking up before sunrise! Something humans were never intended to do.
Come winter time, what helps me... well GETS me up, is artificial lighting. It turn up progressively over a course of an hour, and brightest about 30 minute before its actual wake up time.
Getting up wasn't a problem ever since, no matter the sleeping time, and the squinting at bathroom lights is gone too

130 lbs at 5'11" that seems awful light to me considering we're the same height. I was a good 25 ilbs heavier then you when I was your age and I was still very slim then. As someone eluded to you might want to take a look at your diet and exercise.

I'd go see a doctor and get referred to a sleep specialist -- you might have Sleep Apnea. Do you snore? Ever wake up suddenly choking?

8 hours a day is just an average - some people need more and some less. Maybe you just need 9 hours of sleep/day and your body is making up for the 1 hour x 5 days loss on the weekends. I know for me I need about 7-8/day but if I do 5-6/day for a week, I tend to "catch up" on the weekend. Or maybe that 8 hours you get is not "quality" sleep time. Maybe you're tossing and turning all night or your mattress is not comfortable. In any case, the others have posted some good tips. To ensure quality sleep time, some things you can also try is to avoid sleeping/napping during the day and avoid using your bed for anything other than sleep - no TV, reading, eating, etc, in bed.

To anwser some of your questions, yes I've always been "thin". Of course, that might be something I need to work on. I usually don't eat breakfast and sometimes I don't even eat dinner. I just don't get hungry
Anyways, I've had this job for 6 months now and always had trouble waking up. I used to wake up a 7am for school for the last 15 years until my new job. Also, I have never been able to take a nap during the day, just never been able to fall asleep. However, I sleep like a baby a night. I don't think I haven't woken up in the middle of the night for the last 5 years (as far as I can remember). I don't think I snore, although I wouldn't have anybody to to tell me that I never get sick, although I get bad alergies once I get inside the office building in the morning (usually goes away after an hour or 2 though). Right when I sit down my desk, I just start sneezing like crazy :frowning: Dunno if that has anything to do with my sleep though...

my EX-GF is nearly exactly how you describe, if she could sleep all day she would (and does on weekends)
it didn't seem to matter how much or how little sleep she got, she wtill wanted more. It got so bad we moved the alarm clock across the room so she would have to get up and go turn it off, reducing the chances that she would turn it off and go back to sleep, or worse hit the snooze all day, which she normally did for a half hour anyway.

from the outside it can be _REALLY_ frustrating to live with. She had her thyroid checked out, no issues there.

how long have you been sleeping on your current mattress? i'm at college right now, and i usually can't get more than 9 hours of sleep straight, but when i'm at home, i can go for 12 hours or more...the one at college is softer, so if the body isn't straining as much (i had pains last year when i went home for thanksgiving because the mattress is a lot more firm), it won't need as much rest...but that's just a guess.