Feeling physically tired all day but can't sleep at night

Post Reply New Topic

I don't get like this all the time, but I have done, and my mum gets it a lot. You go to bed at reasonable times. You're tired all day, and even when you're sitting your muscles relax and you could easily doze off if you shut your eyes. So that night you get into bed thinking that all this tiredness means your body wants you to sleep, but you find that you are uncomfortable, tossing and turning, hot, and unable to sleep most of the night. Then it starts all over again the next day. It's as if your body wants you to sleep during the day and won't let you sleep as soon as it gets dark or something.

Thank God I don't get this too often. But is there a psychological explanation why this happens? I have tried looking up about this on Google but the people asking were either pregnant, elderly, on meds, do different shifts at work, drink a lot of alcohol, take drugs, etc etc etc. I'm talking about a healthy adult with regular/part time working hours, doesn't smoke or drink or is on any drugs or meds, is not pregnant or has nothing else interfering the person's body clock (like being pregnant or looking after a baby).

I would just like to know if there is any scientific or psychological theory for this.

This happens to me a lot. Sleeping problems are caused by many different things (stress, anxiety, poor sleep hygiene,for example ) and are very common in people with ASD. I've had trouble sleeping since I was a kid. As for sleep hygiene, waking up at exactly the same time everyday (including weekends), not drinking anything with caffeine in the evening and not doing anything but sleeping in your bed (like reading or playing on your computer) have been shown to improve sleep. There are also over-the-counter pills you can take occasionally for sleep like melatonin and Valerian and some herbal teas or warm milk can help as well.

It's called day-night reversal. I've read about it in schizophrenia, but it can probably occur in other disorders, too. (If you're still pretty functional, or at least as functional as you've been, job-wise, social-wise, self-care-wise, then you don't have to worry about that.)

I function as well as I've generally had, but I've been running into this problem lately too. My psychiatrist has put me on clonazepam to help get to sleep at night and regulate my sleep/wake schedules.

I'm prone to this too, I've found that daily exercise is the best solution for me but I haven't the motivation for any such activities lately. Maybe an anti-depressant will kick me into gear, I hope so. Always a struggle for me.

It could be many things. Ask your doctor next visit if it could be melatonin related.

Melatonin is known as the sleep hormone. Recent studies discovered that its main role is in allowing all the built-up waste your brain produced during the day to exit through the blood-brain barrier and thus 'clean' your brain out. If you do not have enough melatonin that process may not be cleaning your brain properly.

You can get melatonin supplements over the counter but its always best to ask the doctor first.

My psychiatrist suggested taking melatonin at night one hour before bed. Try and see if that helps.

It might but its best if she gets her doctor's OK for it.

I use natural supplements for both day and night. Both Valerian Root and Passion Flower will give me at least 5 hours of sleep. One small side effect is that Valerian Root can cause just a little bit of acid reflux at times. As for daytime sluggishness, a Vitamin B pill helps keep me productive til lunchtime, and Omega-3 fish oil helps even-out my mood for the entire day. Hope this helps.

Hi, we almost have the completely same problem, I think we should change our working and living habit. Try to go to bed before 11:00pm every night, do some sports, listen music to relax, or reading books before sleeping. What's your idea?