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What Causes Lethargic After Waking Up From A Nap?
I am a 30-year old female, very slim, with no health problems. On the rare occasion that I get to take a nap, I have noticed that I often wake feeling lousy and craving sugar. If my 3-year old daughter takes a cat nap (as opposed to a 2-3 hour nap) I have noticed the same phenomena...she wakes upset and not feeling well and typically cries for 20 minutes or so until I can get her to eat a snack. What could cause this?
Mon, 17 Aug 2015
Excellent question.
What you're describing sounds like sleep inertia. Basically, sometimes when we wake from sleeping, our brain activity takes some extra time to adjust from sleep to waking. This results in feelings of grogginess, "lousiness" as you say, and sometimes even feeling more tired than when we went to sleep. This is a common phenomenon that many people experience. It is unlikely to be related to an underlying medical problem, but if you are especially concerned you can visit a primary care doctor or psychiatrist for a more thorough evaluation.
Hope this helps.
Dr. Sheppe
What you're describing sounds like sleep inertia. Basically, sometimes when we wake from sleeping, our brain activity takes some extra time to adjust from sleep to waking. This results in feelings of grogginess, "lousiness" as you say, and sometimes even feeling more tired than when we went to sleep. This is a common phenomenon that many people experience. It is unlikely to be related to an underlying medical problem, but if you are especially concerned you can visit a primary care doctor or psychiatrist for a more thorough evaluation.
Hope this helps.
Dr. Sheppe
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