Why you always want to sleep: from fatigue to diabetes. Constant sleepiness: reasons

It often happens that we feel sleepy at work. It seems like you got enough sleep at night and are busy with interesting things, but still, closer to lunch, you constantly feel sleepy. Why does this happen, and how to avoid falling asleep at work?

There may be several reasons why we feel sleepy during the day, usually after lunch, and specifically in the workplace:

The first reason is that lack of oxygen slows down the functioning of the body. Perhaps the room is simply hot, stuffy and lacking fresh air. As a result, mental and physical activity, and makes you sleepy at work. Please note: if you yawn frequently, it means that you really do not have enough oxygen. The solution is to ventilate the room more often, and it is better to open the windows rather than turn on the air conditioner.

Satiety is another one possible reason, along which you are drawn to sleep. If you feel sleepy after eating, this is normal. It’s not for nothing that in Spain there is a siesta for afternoon relaxation, and in Japan there are beds next to workplaces.

However brain performance and energy directly depends on what you ate. In order not to lose activity, give preference to protein foods (meat, eggs, cheese, etc.), after such a meal, performance increases by 40%. Carbohydrate foods (cereals and cereals, potatoes, flour, etc.) increase performance by only 5–10%. And fatty foods even reduce energy metabolism, so after such a meal you feel very sleepy.

The reason why you feel sleepy during the day may be a decrease in atmospheric pressure. This happens when the weather changes and there is a decrease in oxygen in the air. In this case, it is recommended to take tonic drinks made from ginseng, lemongrass, etc. You should also avoid stressful situations and do not physically overwork yourself. And sometimes it’s better to take a day off and rest.

In general, you need to be prepared for changes in the weather, and the best preparation is hardening. You don't have to douse yourself ice water, just make it a habit to accept contrast shower. If you have heart and vascular diseases, it is better to consult your doctor so that hardening does not bring harm instead of benefit.

And finally, the fact that you constantly feel sleepy at work may be due to normal overwork. The means of combating this are the most common: get enough sleep, rest periodically and go to school more often. fresh air.

P.S. Lack of sleep and sleep deprivation increase the risk of making short-sighted and risky decisions. So, if you want to feel cheerful and energetic throughout the day, you must get enough sleep and train yourself get up without an alarm clock. And if you suffers from insomnia, find out how to deal with it in the article - “ How to fall asleep quickly".

If you feel sleepy and there is constant lethargy and weakness, many people brush it off, thinking that it’s just chronic lack of sleep. But the problem with this condition may lie much deeper. Decreased performance and a regular desire to sleep during the day may even indicate some chronic diseases. Therefore, a few cups of coffee a day solves this problem for me.

Sometimes it makes even those who sleep the required 9 hours at night sleepy. This may depend on the weather, on internal problems in the body, on overstrain of the nervous system.

There are several main reasons to pay attention to if you often feel sleepy during the day:

Other causes of drowsiness include disruption of normal night sleep. If you sleep in stuffy room, go to bed late and don’t get enough sleep, then your body gradually begins to malfunction and you want to lie down even during the day.

Of course, no one wants to be in a state of somnambulism all day. But before you take any action, you need to understand the reason for what is happening. Perhaps you are simply not getting enough sleep, or perhaps you are taking medications that have this effect. Why does dreaming haunt you during the day, even if you get enough sleep at night? The answer may lie in you daily habits, including harmful ones.

What to do if you feel sleepy every day, both at work and in transport. There is no desire to do anything, apathy haunts me, I just want to take a nap.

First you should try following methods:

If all of the above methods do not help, be sure to see a doctor. He will produce full examination your health. You will need to take a blood test for hemoglobin, check the spine and blood circulation in the brain. You may need to get tested for vitamin deficiencies.

The reason may also be hormonal imbalance, which requires studies of the pituitary gland and thyroid gland, as well as the work of the adrenal glands. The doctor will definitely answer the question of why you constantly want to sleep.

If you get enough sleep every day, then sleepiness is not the norm. Why such a failure occurred, your doctor will be able to answer you after detailed examination.

The dream is important aspect in a healthy lifestyle. Normally, a person should spend 7-9 hours sleeping. But sometimes people can sleep for 10-20 hours and still not get enough sleep. This is already a clear deviation from the norm and, if it becomes regular, it means that your body is trying to warn you about some problems. If the sleepy state does not go away after a day or two, this is already a disease that needs to be treated.

You wake up - you want to sleep, you come to work - you want to sleep, you have lunch - you want to sleep... Sometimes drowsiness overtakes you even on the weekend, when you seem to have overslept sufficient quantity hours. Sound familiar? Drowsiness not only interferes with learning, working and relaxing, but can also be life-threatening - for example, if you drive a car. Let's figure out why Morpheus so wants to get you into his arms.

Look around you: a young guy is sleeping while standing on the bus, an office worker is dozing off during a boring presentation, and a whole line of sleepy citizens is lining up at a coffee shop for a latte! Modern man processes a huge amount of information, and drowsiness indicates that the brain requires a break. Here are the main signs of drowsiness:

• difficult awakening in the morning;
• lack of vigor and energy during the day;
• urgent need for daytime sleep;
• feeling of irritability and restlessness;
• deterioration in concentration and memory;
• loss of appetite.

The reasons why you constantly want to sleep vary. Some of them are natural and can be dealt with on your own. In other cases, we can talk about serious disorders and diseases - here the help of a specialist is already necessary. The main causes of drowsiness are:

• sleep disturbance;
• Unhealthy Lifestyle;
• overwork and stress;
• various diseases;
• poorly ventilated area.

Let's look at them in more detail.

Most common reason drowsiness is the most obvious: You simply don’t get enough rest at night. Everyone needs certain time to get enough sleep. As a rule, it is 7-8 hours, but there are exceptions. In addition, the feeling of drowsiness occurs due to disruption of sleep cycles: waking up in the middle of a cycle, a person feels overwhelmed, even if he slept enough.

You may not know how much sleep you need. And if you do, you may sacrifice sleep due to work or other responsibilities. Deliberate sleep restriction is one of the most important problems in modern society. Many people think that this way there will be more time for things to do, but this is not entirely true: the one who “nods off” has his attention scattered and motivation disappears. The body does not work at full capacity and goes into reserve mode.

Drowsiness occurs not only due to lack of sleep, but also due to its poor quality. Insomnia can have the most different reasons, one of them is the presence of artificial light. For example, watching TV or studying the news feed on a smartphone before going to bed excites brain activity and does not contribute to good health for the morning.

The constant desire to sleep often worries people with sleep disorders and a flexible work schedule. Someone who frequently goes on business trips, flies from one time zone to another, and also works in night shift, most susceptible to sleep problems.

Love to discuss interesting topics with friends over a cup of coffee or with colleagues in the smoking room? Then the reason for lethargy lies on the surface. Caffeine in moderate doses can improve alertness for a short period of time, but consuming too much can have dire consequences. The adrenal glands produce the hormones adrenaline and norepinephrine, which “stimulate” the body and give us a feeling of vigor. But if the adrenal glands work too hard and too often, as happens with lovers of caffeinated drinks, then a new portion of hormones simply does not have time to be formed. And we know about the dangers of smoking from an early age. Nicotine causes spasms blood vessels, the brain does not receive enough oxygen, and the smoker develops a feeling of lack of sleep against this background. By stimulating the nervous system, both caffeine and nicotine can cause insomnia and other sleep disorders.

Some people like to have a big lunch, thinking that a hearty meal will provide the energy they need for the rest of the day. However, this is not quite true. Why do you always want to sleep after eating? After the body has spent a significant part of its energy on digesting food, it is difficult for it to maintain other activities: after all, to ensure normal digestion, blood flows from the brain to the stomach and intestines. So you shouldn’t overeat: in order to overdigest a large number of food, the body will need more strength.

In addition, the lack of breakfast is directly related to drowsiness. Many people frantically get ready for work in the morning, forgetting about the first – and most important – meal. By having breakfast within an hour of waking up, you start your biological clock. And when, on the contrary, you skip breakfast, the body has nowhere to get energy.

Many people are faced with a situation where drowsiness occurs in winter. The reasons for such “hibernation” lie in the peculiarities of the season. In winter, daylight hours decrease, and in general the sun is rarely seen in winter. Due to central heating in apartments, the air becomes dry. To avoid this, you need to regularly. Also in winter you often want to sleep because of... We don’t always get the right dose useful substances We consume less food, as well as vegetables and fruits, in winter. Therefore, doctors advise taking vitamin and mineral complexes.

Drowsiness due to health problems

Some people feel sleepy because they are taking certain medications that have a sedative (calming) effect. These are antidepressants, tranquilizers, antipsychotics, etc. In this case, it is worth discussing existing problem with your doctor - perhaps he will recommend another drug that causes less drowsiness.

Some people are constantly sleepy due to cloudy and rainy weather. This is not surprising: melatonin, the hormone that controls our sleep, ceases to be produced only when exposed to daylight. Also, changes in atmospheric pressure in bad weather provoke a decrease in blood pressure, we receive less oxygen and because of this we want to get to bed faster. The most pronounced weather dependence is observed in hypotensive patients.

Drowsiness may be a sign serious problems with health: brain pathologies, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, etc. Therefore, if you cannot explain the reasons for fatigue and drowsiness, you should consult a doctor.

Why do you still want to sleep during the day? Weakness and drowsiness can be reactions to stress or overwork - both physical and mental. If at the very beginning of influence stressful situation For a person, his condition is accompanied by excitability and insomnia, then after prolonged stress the body wants to recover, and the most effective rest is sleep. In this case, it is recommended to sleep more than usual to make up for the lack of rest during the day. Depression, which often develops against a background of stress, also poses a danger to your health and sleep. Depression is often mistaken for Bad mood or harmfulness of character, although in fact this is a very serious disorder. If you feel apathy, fatigue and causeless anxiety, you should definitely consult a specialist.
Sometimes the feeling of drowsiness is associated with the syndrome chronic fatigue– it manifests itself in the form of lethargy, which does not disappear even after a long rest. Chronic fatigue syndrome often leads to significant deterioration in vital signs.

Drowsiness due to stuffiness

Stuffiness is another reason for constant drowsiness. High level CO2 in the air reduces alertness, worsens mood and causes fatigue. If the situation is not corrected in any way for a long time, mild discomfort will turn into severe discomfort and insomnia. Can the only way– let in fresh air from the street. You just need to get the house right - then the drowsiness will go away. The simplest and effective method organize a good microclimate - system. It will help to get rid of street noise and supply fresh, clean air to your apartment.

Drowsiness in different people

Let's figure out who is more susceptible to drowsiness. Why does a woman always want to sleep? It is believed that in women, drowsiness occurs more often due to fluctuations hormonal levels. However, men also often suffer from loss of strength: for example, low level testosterone provokes muscle weakness and poor attention.

The issue of drowsiness worries many. A sleepy state is especially characteristic of the first trimester. This happens because the body gets used to hormonal changes and switches to new mode work. Also, during gestation, progesterone is produced, which causes drowsiness. Fatigue and malaise will disappear when the body is completely rebuilt. Also, the occurrence of lethargy can be affected by the emotional background - excitement and anxiety. Therefore, during pregnancy it is necessary to adhere to a clear sleep schedule and a calm lifestyle.

Preparing for future motherhood, many women are interested in: ? Typically, newborns and children under one year old spend most of their lives sleeping. The baby's sleep schedule depends on the daily routine in the family, nutrition, and the state of the nervous system, but on average the permissible number of hours of sleep is 18 hours a day for children aged 1-2 months and 11-14 hours for children under one year old. A child spends so much time sleeping because he nervous system and the brain were not fully formed at the time of birth. IN calm state, that is, in a dream, they develop most productively. However, if you notice excessive drowsiness for his age and suspicious symptoms in your child (for example: pallor, lethargy, lack of appetite), then you should definitely consult a doctor.

“I fall asleep while walking”, “I sit at lectures and sleep”, “I struggle to sleep at work” - such expressions can be heard from many people, however, as a rule, they evoke jokes rather than compassion. Drowsiness is mainly due to lack of sleep at night, overwork, or simply boredom and monotony in life.

However, fatigue should go away after rest, boredom can be dispelled by other methods, and monotony can be diversified. But for many, drowsiness from the activities taken does not go away; the person sleeps enough at night, but during the daytime, constantly holding back a yawn, he looks for where it would be “more comfortable to sit down.” The feeling when you irresistibly want to sleep, but there is no such opportunity, frankly speaking, is disgusting, capable of causing aggression towards those who prevent you from doing this or, in general, towards the entire world around you. In addition, problems do not always arise only during the daytime. Imperative (irresistible) episodes throughout the day create the same intrusive thoughts : “When I come, I’ll go straight to bed.” Not everyone succeeds, the irresistible desire may disappear after a short 10-minute sleep, frequent awakenings

In the middle of the night they don’t allow me to rest, and nightmares often come. And tomorrow - everything will repeat again from the beginning...

With rare exceptions, watching day after day a lethargic and apathetic person constantly trying to “take a nap”, someone seriously thinks that he is not healthy. Colleagues get used to it, perceive it as indifference and indifference, and consider these manifestations more of a character trait than a pathological condition. Sometimes constant drowsiness and apathy generally become the subject of jokes and various kinds"joke"

Medicine “thinks” differently. She calls excessive sleep duration hypersomnia. and names its variants depending on the disorder, because constant sleepiness during the day does not always mean full-fledged night rest, even if a lot of time was spent in bed.

From the point of view of specialists, such a condition requires research, because daytime drowsiness that occurs in a person who seems to have slept a sufficient amount of time at night may be a symptom of a pathological condition that is not perceived ordinary people like a disease. And how can one evaluate such behavior if a person does not complain, says that nothing hurts him, he sleeps well and, in principle, is healthy - just for some reason he is constantly drawn to sleep.

Outsiders here, of course, are unlikely to help; you need to delve into yourself and try to find the reason, and, perhaps, contact a specialist.

Signs of drowsiness are not difficult to detect in yourself; they are quite “eloquent”:

• Fatigue, lethargy, loss of strength and constant obsessive yawning - these signs of poor health, when nothing hurts, prevent you from plunging headlong into work;
• Consciousness is somewhat dulled, surrounding events are not particularly exciting;
• The mucous membranes become dry;
• The sensitivity of peripheral analyzers decreases;
• Heart rate decreases.

We should not forget that the sleep norm of 8 hours is not suitable for all age categories. For a child under six months of age, constant sleep is considered normal condition. However, as he grows and gains strength, his priorities change, he wants to play more and more, to explore the world, so he has less and less time to sleep during the day. For older people, on the contrary, the older a person is, the more he needs to not go far from the sofa.

Still fixable

The modern rhythm of life predisposes to neuropsychic overloads, which, to a greater extent than physical ones, can lead to sleep disorders. Temporary fatigue, although manifested by drowsiness (which is also temporary), quickly passes when the body rests, and then sleep is restored. M It can be said that in many cases people themselves are to blame for overloading their body.

When does daytime sleepiness not cause concern for your health? The reasons may be different, but, as a rule, these are transient personal problems, periodic emergency situations at work, a cold, or rare exposure to fresh air. Here are a few examples when the desire to organize a “quiet hour” is not considered a symptom of a serious illness:

• Lack of night sleep caused by banal reasons: personal experiences, stress, caring for a newborn, a session with students, an annual report, that is, circumstances to which a person devotes a lot of effort and time to the detriment of rest.
• Chronic fatigue, which the patient himself speaks about, meaning permanent job(mental and physical), endless household chores, lack of time for hobbies, sports, walks in the fresh air and entertainment. In a word, the person got caught up in the routine, he missed the moment when the body recovered in a couple of days, with chronic fatigue, when everything has gone so far, perhaps, in addition to rest, long-term treatment will also be needed.
• Fatigue makes itself felt more quickly when there is insufficient oxygen supply to the body, why the brain begins to experience starvation ( hypoxia). This happens if a person works for a long time in unventilated rooms and spends little time in the fresh air in his free time. What if he also smokes?
• Lack of sunlight. It is no secret that cloudy weather, the monotonous tapping of raindrops on the glass, the rustling of leaves outside the window greatly contribute to daytime drowsiness, which is difficult to cope with.
• Lethargy, loss of strength and the need for longer sleep appear when “the fields are compressed, the groves are bare,” and nature itself is about to plunge into sleep for a long time - late autumn, winter(it gets dark early, the sun rises late).
• After a hearty lunch there is a desire to lay your head on something soft and cool. This is all the blood circulating through our vessels - it strives for the digestive organs - there is a lot of work there, and at this time less blood flows to the brain and, along with it, oxygen. So it turns out that when the stomach is full, the brain is starving. Luckily this doesn't last long, so afternoon nap passes quickly.
• Fatigue and sleepiness during the day may appear as a protective reaction of the body with psycho-emotional stress, stress, prolonged anxiety.
• Reception medicines, primarily tranquilizers, antidepressants, antipsychotics, sleeping pills, certain antihistamines, having as direct action or side effects lethargy and drowsiness can cause similar symptoms.
• Mild cold which in most cases is carried on the legs, without sick leave And drug treatment(the body copes on its own), it manifests itself in rapid fatigue, so during the working day it tends to fall asleep.

• Pregnancy in itself, of course, it is a physiological condition, but one cannot ignore the changes occurring in a woman’s body, primarily related to the ratio of hormones, which are accompanied by sleep disturbances (it is difficult to sleep at night, and during the day there is not always such an opportunity).
• Hypothermia– decrease in body temperature as a result of hypothermia. From time immemorial people have known that, once in unfavorable conditions(blizzard, frost), the main thing is not to give in to the temptation to rest and sleep, but one feels incredibly sleepy from fatigue in the cold: a feeling of warmth often appears, a person begins to feel as if he is in a well-heated room and a warm bed. This is a very dangerous symptom.

However, there are conditions that are often included in the concept of “syndrome”. How should we perceive them? In order for the presence of such a disease to be confirmed, you need not only to undergo some tests and go to some kind of fashionable examination. A person, first of all, must identify his problems and make specific complaints, but, unfortunately, in most cases people consider themselves healthy, and doctors, to be honest, often brush aside the “insignificant claims” of patients about their health.

Disease or normal?

Lethargy, drowsiness, and daytime fatigue can cause various pathological conditions, even if we don’t consider them as such:

1. Apathy and lethargy, as well as the desire to sleep at inappropriate times, appear when neurotic disorders and depressive states, which are within the competence of psychotherapists, it is better for amateurs not to meddle in such subtle matters.
2. Weakness and drowsiness, irritability and weakness, loss of strength and decreased ability to work are often noted in their complaints by people suffering from sleep apnea(breathing problems during sleep).
3. Loss of energy, apathy, weakness and drowsiness are symptoms , which nowadays is often repeated by both doctors and patients, but few have seen it written down as a diagnosis.
4. Often lethargy and a desire to sleep during the day are noted by patients whose outpatient records include such a “semi-diagnosis” as or , or whatever else such a condition is called.
5. I would like to stay longer in bed, sleep both at night and during the day for people who have recently had infection - acute, or having it in chronic form . The immune system trying to restore their protective forces, requires rest from other systems. During sleep, the body inspects the state internal organs after an illness (what damage has been done by it?), in order to correct everything if possible.
6. Keeps you awake at night and makes you sleepy during the day "syndrome restless legs» . Doctors do not find any specific pathology in such patients, and night rest turns into a big problem.
7. Fibromyalgia. Due to what reasons and circumstances this disease appears, science does not know for sure, since, apart from excruciating pain throughout the body, disturbing peace and sleep, doctors do not find any pathology in the suffering person.
8. Alcoholism, drug addiction and other abuses in the status of “former” - in such patients, sleep is often disrupted forever, not to mention the conditions after abstinence and “withdrawal”.

The already long list of causes of daytime sleepiness that occurs in people who are considered practically healthy and able to work could be continued, which we will do in the next section, identifying as causes conditions that are officially recognized as pathological.

The cause is sleep disorders or somnological syndromes

The functions and tasks of sleep are programmed by human nature and consist of restoring the body’s strength spent during daytime activities. As a rule, active life takes 2/3 of the day, approximately 8 hours are allocated for sleep. To a healthy body, for whom everything is safe and calm, the life support systems are working normally, this time is more than enough - the person wakes up cheerful and rested, goes to work, and in the evening returns to a warm, soft bed.

Meanwhile, the order established since the origin of life on Earth can be destroyed by problems invisible at first glance, which do not allow a person to sleep at night and force him to fall asleep on the move during the day:

• (insomnia) at night very quickly forms signs indicating that a person is not doing well: nervousness, fatigue, impaired memory and attention, depression, loss of interest in life and, of course, lethargy and constant drowsiness during the day.
• Sleeping beauty syndrome (Kleine-Levin) the reason for which still remains unclear. This syndrome almost no one considers it a disease, because during the intervals between attacks, patients are no different from other people and do not resemble patients. This pathology is characterized by periodically occurring (intervals from 3 months to six months) episodes long sleep(on average, 2/3 days, although sometimes a day or two, or even longer). The most interesting thing is that people wake up to go to the toilet and eat. In addition to prolonged sleep during exacerbations, other oddities are noticed in patients: they eat a lot without controlling this process, some (males) exhibit hypersexuality, become aggressive towards others if they try to stop gluttony or hibernation.
• Idiopathic hypersomnia. This disease can plague people up to 30 years of age, so it is often mistaken for healthy sleep youth. It is characterized by daytime drowsiness, which occurs even in situations that require high activity (study, for example). Despite a long and full night's rest, awakening is difficult, a bad mood and anger do not leave the person who “got up so early” for a long time.
• Narcolepsy- enough severe disorder sleep disorder that is difficult to treat. Get rid of drowsiness forever by having similar pathology, it is almost impossible, after symptomatic treatment, it will make itself known again. Surely, most people have not even heard the term narcolepsy, but sleep specialists consider this disorder to be one of the worst variants of hypersomnia. The thing is that it often does not give rest either during the day, causing an irresistible desire to fall asleep right at the workplace, or at night, creating obstacles to uninterrupted sleep ( inexplicable anxiety, hallucinations when falling asleep, which wake up, frighten, provide a bad mood and loss of strength during the coming day).
• Pickwick syndrome(experts also call it obese hypoventilation syndrome). The description of Pickwickian syndrome, oddly enough, belongs to the famous English writer Charles Dickens (“Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club”). Some authors argue that it was the syndrome described by Charles Dickens that became the ancestor new science– somnology. Thus, having nothing to do with medicine, the writer unwittingly contributed to its development. Pickwickian syndrome is predominantly observed in people with significant weight (4th degree of obesity), which puts a huge strain on the heart, puts pressure on the diaphragm, and makes it difficult to breathing movements, resulting in blood thickening ( polycythemia) And hypoxia. Patients with Pickwick's syndrome, as a rule, already suffer from sleep apnea, their rest looks like a series of episodes of stopping and resumption of respiratory activity (the starving brain, when it becomes completely unbearable, forces breathing, interrupting sleep). Of course, during the day - fatigue, weakness and an obsessive desire to sleep. By the way, Pickwick's syndrome is sometimes observed in patients with less than fourth degree obesity. The origin of this disease is not clear; perhaps it plays a role in its development. genetic factor, but the fact that all sorts of extreme situations for the body (traumatic brain injury, stress, pregnancy, childbirth) can become an impetus for sleep disorders has, in general, already been proven.

A mysterious illness that also stems from a sleep disorder - hysterical lethargy(lethargic hibernation) is nothing more than defensive reaction the body in response to severe shock or stress. Of course, drowsiness, lethargy, and slowness can be taken as mild course a mysterious disease, manifested by periodic and short-term attacks that can occur in the daytime anywhere. Sopor, slowing down everything physiological processes and lasting for decades, of course, does not fit into the category we are describing (daytime sleepiness).

Is drowsiness a sign of a serious illness?

A problem such as constant drowsiness accompanies many pathological conditions, so there is no need to put it off until later; perhaps it will be the symptom that will help you find the real reason ailments, namely a specific disease. Complaints of weakness and drowsiness, loss of strength and bad mood may give reason to suspect:

1. – a decrease in the content, which entails a drop in the level of hemoglobin, a protein that delivers oxygen to cells for respiration. Lack of oxygen leads to hypoxia (oxygen starvation), which manifests itself the above symptoms. Diet, fresh air and iron supplements help get rid of this kind of drowsiness.
2. , , some forms - in general, conditions in which cells do not receive the amount of oxygen necessary for full functioning (mainly, red blood cells, for some reason, cannot carry it to their destination).
3. below normal values(usually blood pressure is taken as normal - 120/80 mmHg). Slow blood flow through dilated vessels also does not contribute to the enrichment of tissues with oxygen and nutrients. Especially under such circumstances, the brain suffers. Patients with low blood pressure often experience dizziness, they cannot tolerate attractions such as swings and carousels, and they get carsick. Arterial pressure in hypotensive people it decreases after intellectual, physical and psycho-emotional stress, with intoxication, and lack of vitamins in the body. Hypotension often accompanies iron deficiency and other anemias, but people suffering from (VSD of hypotonic type).
4. Thyroid diseases with a decrease in her functional abilities ( hypothyroidism). Insufficiency of thyroid function naturally leads to a drop in the level of thyroid-stimulating hormones, which gives quite a variety of clinical picture, among which: fast fatiguability even after minor physical activity, memory impairment, confusion, lethargy, sluggishness, drowsiness, chilliness, bradycardia or tachycardia, hypotension or arterial hypertension, anemia, damage to the digestive organs, gynecological problems and much more. In general, the lack of thyroid hormones makes these people quite sick, so one can hardly expect them to be highly active in life; as a rule, they always complain about loss of strength and constant desire sleep.
5. Pathology cervical spine pos cerebrospinal fluid (hernia), which leads to feeding the brain.
6. Various hypothalamic lesions, since it contains areas that take part in regulating the rhythms of sleep and wakefulness;
7. Respiratory failure with(decreased oxygen levels in the blood) and hypercapnia(blood saturation carbon dioxide) is a direct path to hypoxia and, accordingly, its manifestations.

When the reason is already known

Chronic patients in most cases are well aware of their pathology and know why symptoms that are not classified as direct signs periodically arise or are constantly accompanied by specific disease:

• , disrupting many processes in the body: suffers respiratory system, kidneys, brain, resulting in lack of oxygen and tissue hypoxia.
• Diseases of the excretory system(nephritis, chronic renal failure) create conditions for the accumulation of substances in the blood that are toxic to the brain;
• Chronic diseases gastrointestinal tract , dehydration because of acute disorders digestion (vomiting, diarrhea), characteristic of gastrointestinal pathology;
• Chronic infections(viral, bacterial, fungal), localized in various organs, and neuroinfections affecting brain tissue.
• . Glucose is a source of energy for the body, but without insulin it will not enter the cells (hyperglycemia). It will not be supplied in the required quantity even with normal insulin production but low sugar consumption (hypoglycemia). Both high and low glucose levels threaten the body with starvation, and, therefore, feeling unwell, loss of energy and the desire to sleep more than expected.
• Rheumatism, if glucocorticoids are used for its treatment, they reduce the activity of the adrenal glands, which cease to ensure the patient’s high vital activity.
• Condition after epileptic seizure (epilepsy) the patient usually falls asleep, waking up, notes lethargy, weakness, loss of strength, but absolutely does not remember what happened to him.
• Intoxication. Stunning of consciousness, loss of strength, weakness and drowsiness are often among the symptoms of exogenous ( food poisoning, poisoning toxic substances and, most often, alcohol and its surrogates) and endogenous (liver cirrhosis, acute renal and liver failure) intoxication.

Any pathological process, localized in brain, may lead to oxygen starvation its tissues, and, therefore, to the desire to sleep during the daytime (which is why they say that such patients often confuse day with night). Diseases such as head vessels, hydrocephalus, traumatic brain injury, dyscirculatory disease, brain tumor and many other diseases, which, along with their symptoms, are already described on our website, impede blood flow in the brain, leading it to a state of hypoxia.

Drowsiness in a child

Many of the conditions listed above can cause weakness and drowsiness in a child, however You cannot compare newborns, infants up to one year old and older children.

Almost round-the-clock hibernation (with breaks only for feeding) in babies up to one year old is happiness for parents, if the baby is healthy. During sleep, it gains strength for growth, forms a full-fledged brain and other systems that have not yet completed their development until the moment of birth.

After six months, the child's sleep duration infancy is reduced to 15-16 hours, the baby begins to be interested in the events happening around him, shows a desire to play, so the daily need for rest will decrease with each month, reaching 11-13 hours by the year.

Abnormal sleepiness in small child can be considered if there are signs of illness:

• Loose stools or prolonged absence;
• Dry diapers or diapers for a long time (the child has stopped urinating);
• Lethargy and desire to sleep after a head injury;
• Pale (or even bluish) skin;
• Fever;
• Loss of interest in the voices of loved ones, lack of response to affection and stroking;
• Long-term reluctance to eat.

The appearance of one of the listed symptoms should alert parents and force them to call an ambulance without hesitation - something must have happened to the child.

In an older child, drowsiness is an unnatural phenomenon if he sleeps normally at night and, as it seems at first glance, is not sick. Meanwhile, children's bodies better sense the influence of invisible unfavorable factors and respond accordingly. Weakness and drowsiness, loss of activity, indifference, loss of strength, along with “adult diseases” can cause:

• Helminthic infestations;
• Traumatic brain injury (), which the child chose to remain silent about;
• Poisoning;
• Astheno-neurotic syndrome;
• Pathology of the blood system (anemia - deficiency and hemolytic, some forms of leukemia);
• Diseases of the digestive, respiratory, circulatory system, pathology of the endocrine system, occurring latently, without obvious clinical manifestations;
• Lack of microelements (iron, in particular) and vitamins in food products;
• Permanent and long stay in unventilated areas (tissue hypoxia).

Any decrease in daily activity, lethargy and drowsiness in children are signs of ill health, which should be noticed by adults and become a reason to see a doctor, especially if the child, due to his youth, cannot yet correctly formulate his complaints. You may just have to enrich your diet with vitamins, spend more time in the fresh air, or “poison” the worms. But it’s still better to be safe than sorry, isn’t it?

Treatment of drowsiness

Treatment for drowsiness? It may be, and is, but in each specific case it is separate, in general, it is treatment of a disease that causes a person to struggle with sleep during the day.

Given the long list of causes of daytime sleepiness, it is impossible to give any universal recipe how to get rid of drowsiness. Perhaps a person just needs to open the windows more often to let in fresh air or walk outside in the evenings and spend weekends in nature. Maybe it's time to reconsider your attitude towards alcohol and smoking.

It is possible that it will be necessary to streamline the work and rest schedule, switch to healthy eating, take vitamins or conduct ferrotherapy. And finally, get tested and undergo an examination.

In any case, you don’t need to rely too much on medications, but it’s human nature to look for the easiest and most shortcuts to resolve all issues. It’s the same with daytime sleepiness, because it’s better to buy some medicine, take it when your eyes start to stick together, and everything will go away. However, here are a few examples:

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  Let's say drowsiness is caused low blood pressure(), that is, a person knows exactly the reason for his constant falling asleep. Such people, undoubtedly, can afford to love coffee or strong tea more than others, which, in general, is what hypotensive people do. I drank coffee and felt more energetic and had a desire to work, but the main thing was not to overdo it. Even for patients with low blood pressure, excessive doses of these drinks and taking them at evening time may not give a very good effect. In addition, people suffering from hypotension can turn to pharmaceutical products plant origin. These are tinctures of eleutherococcus, zamanikha, and ginseng. They increase blood pressure and performance, give a rush vitality and relieve daytime sleepiness.

• Another common cause of drowsiness is low. In this case, we can advise you to buy only vitamin complex, and iron, if it turns out that there really is iron deficiency anemia, the doctor will prescribe it. But first you will have to undergo an examination and establish the specific reason for the decrease in hemoglobin levels.
• Or, let's say, hypoxia. What kind of treatment can a person be prescribed if his body requires a medicine called "oxygen"? Of course, it happens that professional activity and leisure time are somehow structured in such a way that a person spends little time in the fresh air and is overcome by drowsiness during the day. The only advice is to take care of the nutrition of your brain yourself. In connection with hypoxia, one cannot ignore this bad habit like smoking. And what can be recommended in this case? Of course, if you quit smoking, you will probably feel less sleepy during the daytime.

It is difficult to give one universally satisfying recipe for combating daytime sleepiness to people who have absolutely different problems:thyroid disease, cardiovascular pathology, respiratory or digestive diseases. It will also not be possible to prescribe the same treatment to those suffering from depression, sleep apnea or chronic fatigue syndrome. Everyone has their own problems, and, accordingly, their own therapy, so it’s clearly impossible to do without an examination and a doctor.

Video: drowsiness - expert opinion