Reasons Why Can't I Sleep Even Though I'm Tired

Here are more details about the causes of not being able to sleep despite sleepiness and ways to help you sleep:

Reasons for not being able to sleep despite sleepiness

Most of the time, if you feel tired after a long day, but you are unable to sleep, this is because the biological clock in your body has stopped or malfunctioned. .

The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is the body clock in the brain that secretes the sleep-regulating hormone melatonin.

During the day and with light outside, melatonin levels remain low, and are highest at night.

Reasons for not being able to sleep despite other sleepiness

Among the reasons for not being able to sleep despite other sleepiness are as follows:

1. Stress and anxiety

One of the biggest challenges to sleep is stress and anxiety, especially for those who suffer from panic attacks. Continuing anxiety throughout the night disrupts the functioning of the biological clock, and raises levels of the hormone cortisol, which is supposed to be at its lowest level at night, so that melatonin is at its highest. .

2. Hormonal changes

If you are a woman and you experience changes or imbalances in your hormones specifically before your period due to a decrease in rapid eye movement, a lack of melatonin production, exposure to menstrual cramps, in addition to headaches and an increase in body temperature, all of these factors make it difficult to sleep despite sleepiness.

Symptoms of menopause also cause this condition due to the decrease in the hormones estrogen and progesterone in the body, which play a role in the sleep cycle in the body and affect the quality and efficiency of sleep. Hormonal changes also lead to night sweats and increased levels of anxiety, which makes sleep difficult despite drowsiness and fatigue.

3. Caffeine consumption

Consuming a large amount of caffeine, such as drinking 5 cups a day, affects sleep by prolonging sleep latency, decreasing sleep efficiency, decreasing total sleep time, and decreasing sleep efficiency.

4. Use of devices

The use of electronic devices that emit blue lights disrupts the natural biological rhythm and limits the production of melatonin, and may make a person not feel sleepy, which is an incorrect sense for him, and the content displayed on the Internet may be a catalyst for tension before bedtime, which is one of the reasons for the inability to sleep, despite drowsiness.

5. Insomnia

Insomnia is defined as difficulty falling asleep or maintaining an uninterrupted sleep through the night or early in the morning. Insomnia may last for several days or weeks, or it may be chronic and lasting more than 3 months.

Insomnia treatment

After identifying the causes of inability to sleep despite sleepiness, we will mention practical steps to help you, in addition to medical treatments that require a doctor's approval.

Learn about the treatment as follows:

1. Home treatment

Here are some CBT steps that may help you:

• Eliminate certain habits: such as consuming caffeine or alcohol before bed, being in a noisy environment, inappropriate room temperature, or watching TV in bed.
• Cognitive relaxation therapy: which includes learning correct beliefs about sleep, such as: reducing stress and anxiety, and practicing relaxation exercises or meditation.
• Other treatments: including: acupuncture or learning relaxation techniques.
• Set a time for sleep: Spending a long time in bed before bed may cause an inability to sleep, so it is recommended to set a fixed bedtime every day.

2. Medical treatment

This treatment needs a doctor's approval, such as:

• Antidepressants that help get rid of insomnia and anxiety.
• Benzodiazepines.
• Doxepin.
• Eszopiclone.
• Lemborexant.