Reasons why you sleep too much

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Oversleeping is sometimes associated with an underlying health problem, such as narcolepsy, heart disease, obesity, or depression. Knowing the specific causes of oversleeping will help you identify effective treatments for the condition.

1. How many hours should sleep each night?

Most of us are advised to get enough sleep each night to avoid a condition called “Sleep Debt”. This problem, if it persists for a long time, can lead to a number of noticeable symptoms and health problems.
In fact, each person's sleep needs are often different. It will be determined based on factors such as age, or an individual problem, including aging, pregnancy, sleep quality or lack of sleep.
If your sleep is too little each night, you can make some small changes to your daily lifestyle. However, in the event that these changes don't help you deal with your lack of sleep, you should talk to your doctor to determine the specific cause.
On the contrary, some people may also suffer from oversleeping. This can make you feel sleepy during the day, despite sleeping a lot the night before. Excessive sleepiness can also be a sign of a noticeable health problem, so you should see a specialist if you are experiencing these conditions.

Here are the US National Sleep Foundation's recommendations for sleep needs for a certain age:
For newborns, they will need 14-17 hours of sleep each night. day. Newborns need 12-15 hours of sleep every day. Toddlers need less sleep, about 11-14 hours a day. Children of preschool age will need 10 to 13 hours of sleep every day. For school-age children, they will need 9-11 hours of sleep per day Adults will need 7-9 hours of sleep every day. For the elderly, the need for sleep is at least, about 7-8 hours a day.

2. What causes too much sleep?

Oversleeping is also known as somnolence or lethargy. As research shows, this problem tends to affect around 2% of the world's population. People with hypersomnia may need 10 to 12 hours of sleep each night to feel adequate.
Impacts from outside life, such as work responsibilities, family make many people not have time to rest. This over time creates an overwhelming sense of fatigue for them, and when they have time to rest, they can sleep up to 15 hours at a time.
In addition, you may also suffer from excessive sleep if you often wake up in the middle of the night. These awakenings can disrupt sleep, leaving you feeling restless and tired when you wake up the next morning.
In fact, lethargy can begin as early as a person's childhood. Besides, daily lifestyle factors also play an important part in sleep. If you regularly do not get enough sleep, your body will try to compensate by stimulating more sleep.
And yet, unusually long sleep can also be linked to a number of health conditions, including:
Sleep apnea Heart disease Thyroid problems Narcolepsy Depression

3. Some Complications Related to Oversleeping

People with too much sleep can experience some of the following health complications:
Anxiety Decreased body energy Experiencing memory problems Even in people without the disorder sleep disorders, but sleeping too much for a long time can also have some adverse effects on their overall health. Some dangerous complications can occur, such as:
Diabetes Headache Back pain Obesity Heart disease Depression, anxiety

4. How to diagnose oversleeping?

If you have symptoms of excessive sleepiness that persist for more than 6 weeks, you should see your doctor for an accurate diagnosis. During the examination, the doctor will ask the patient to provide some information about sleep, medication use, health history and daily lifestyle habits.
If your excessive sleep is not caused by other medical conditions, your doctor may ask you to perform some of the following diagnostic methods:
Use the Epworth sleepiness scale to assess The level of sleepiness, through the measurement results, will help your doctor assess the effects of sleep on your daily life. Keeping a sleep diary, your doctor may ask you to keep a sleep diary for a week, including recording your sleep habits, the time you fall asleep, and the time and frequency you wake up. This will help the doctor determine the length and pattern of the patient's sleep. Polysomnogram: the patient will sleep overnight in the center. During polysomnography, the doctor attaches several devices to certain locations on the patient's body to measure brain activity, heart rate, eye or leg movements. Sleep latency test, this diagnostic test is usually used after the patient has had polysomnography. The sleep latency test typically measures your sleep at noon of the day.

5. Treatment of sleeping too much

If your oversleeping is caused by an underlying health problem, early treatment can help get you back to a normal sleep cycle. In addition, to improve your sleep, you should also make some lifestyle changes, including diet and exercise.
In certain cases, your doctor may recommend certain medications, such as Modafinil (Provigil), to help you feel more alert and prevent you from sleeping too much and still feeling tired. Several recent studies in people with idiopathic insomnia or narcolepsy have shown that the use of Modafinil can help them stay awake and increase their performance while driving.

6. Any measures to help you sleep better?

To improve the quality of your sleep each night, there are a few things you can do:
6.1 Try to go to bed at a certain time You should keep going to bed and waking up at the same time. certain times of the day, even weekends. This will facilitate your body to get used to that sleep cycle, and make it easier for you to get into sleep.

6.2 Create an ideal sleeping space You should try to keep your bedroom cool, quiet and free of disturbing light. This will give you a comfortable feeling to fall asleep easier. To prevent light from entering the room when you sleep, you can cover up with curtains and turn off surrounding electrical appliances, such as night lights. Alternatively, you can also change the mattress or pillow if you find them uncomfortable for sleep.
6.3 Turn off electronic devices Including phones and computer screens can emit blue light. At night, the blue light from electronic devices can disrupt your body's natural circadian rhythms and disrupt your sleep. Therefore, it is best to turn off all these devices and try not to use them within 2-3 hours before going to bed.

6.4 Change some lifestyle habits Some of your daily eating habits can affect the quality of sleep each night. Consuming a lot of caffeine near bedtime can make it harder to fall asleep, because it's a psychostimulant. Also, although drinking alcohol can make you feel drowsy, it actually affects the quality of your sleep. Instead of drinking these stimulants before bedtime, you can opt for a glass of warm milk or herbal tea. In addition, limit exercise right before bedtime because it can disrupt sleep.
To be able to understand your own health status and find out what causes your body to sleep too much, you can visit your doctor to discuss more.
A general health examination at Vinmec International General Hospital will help the doctor understand your health condition, thereby advising on the best diet and sleep. The examination is always done by doctors, experts with rich expertise to help the examination and treatment become more effective.

Please dial HOTLINE for more information or register for an appointment HERE. Download MyVinmec app to make appointments faster and to manage your bookings easily.

Reference source: healthline.com