Constant drowsiness is a fairly common symptom. It can occur both due to overwork of the body, and due to the development of any diseases or medications. In this case, apathy arises, difficulties in performing even the most ordinary daily activities, a feeling of constant fatigue and weakness. It is possible and necessary to fight this condition, which does not allow you to live a full life, but for this you will have to find and eliminate its causes.
The manifestation of the disease
To understand what drowsiness is, it is enough to consider its characteristic features, which include:
- decreased visual acuity;
- decrease in sensitivity;
- low pressure;
- decrease in the intensity of the work of the endocrine glands;
- weakness;
- yawn.
In fact, drowsiness is a manifestation of depression of the central nervous system, the causes of which can be very different, both external and internal.
Factors contributing to increased sleepiness
If the state of constant drowsiness knocks you out of the usual rhythm of life, you definitely need to understand why it occurs. The reason may lie not only in internal physiological conditions, but also in the following circumstances.
lack of oxygen
Prolonged stay of a person in a poorly ventilated room negatively affects brain activity and performance. This results in fatigue, headache and drowsiness. Yawning in this case is the first sign of lack of air, as the body tries to get an additional supply of oxygen. You can eliminate the cause of this condition by regularly airing the room.
Magnetic storms and bad weather
These phenomena affect weather-dependent people in autumn and disturb patients with diseases of the cardiovascular system or with neuropsychiatric disorders. During such periods, they have an increased feeling of fatigue, weakness and drowsiness.
Vitamin deficiency
With insufficient content in the body of certain vitamins and microelements, a person notices a deterioration in the condition, which consists in general weakness of the body and drowsiness. These include: vitamins D and B6, rutin and iodine.
In this case, you need to increase immunity, pay attention to your diet, eat foods rich in these elements, and also start taking a vitamin complex to improve the condition of the body.
Improper nutrition and lack of fluid in the body
With food, vitamins and nutrients enter the body, which affect our activity. The body responds to poor irregular nutrition or the intake of harmful cholesterol food with poor health, wasted energy and constant weakness.
Bad habits
The most common cause of depression in the body. Abuse of bad habits negatively affects the work of internal organs, while the body is depleted, and lethargy, migraines, chronic drowsiness and irritability appear.
Sleep deprivation and stress
Constant lack of sleep and excessive stress, both physical and emotional. Calculate your strength, do not overload the body, and it will thank you with cheerfulness and good health.
Taking medicines
Incessant drowsiness may be due to the use of neuroleptics, antidepressants, tranquilizers, sedatives, antihistamines, painkillers and cold medicines.
Diseases that may cause drowsiness
Along with external factors, increased drowsiness may indicate the development of diseases or latent infections. Let’s consider the main ones.
Diabetes
If weakness and a desire to sleep accompanies a person all day, it is possible that the level of glucose in the blood is lowered or increased. You should be wary if, in addition to the manifestation of weakness and drowsiness, you experience: low or high blood pressure, itching, dizziness, constant dry mouth.
If you notice these symptoms in yourself, immediately contact an endocrinologist and take the appropriate tests. It is easier to prevent the disease and find out why these manifestations have arisen than to spend years on its treatment.
Apnea
Increased sleepiness in the elderly is often associated with a syndrome such as sleep apnea. The syndrome consists in the suspension of breathing for a short time, which occurs during sleep. The characteristic symptoms of this disease include: awakening from respiratory arrest, hypertension. Older age plays a role, complicating the situation.
In this case, the body does not get the necessary rest at night and tries to make up for it during the day, as a result of which the general condition suffers and drowsiness is constantly observed during the wakefulness period. With such manifestations, you can protect yourself by making an appointment with a somnologist, who will direct all efforts to improve the quality of your sleep.
Jumping pressure
Severe drowsiness is a symptom of a violation of pressure.
Hypertensive manifestations are susceptible to people of mature age, people who are prone to fullness, patients with diabetes mellitus. At the same time, there are: frequent headaches, irritability, nocturnal insomnia, which is why the body requires rest during the day.
With hypotension, there is a violation of the blood supply to the brain, a lack of oxygen is manifested, as a result of which the forces leave the person, and he constantly wants to lie down.
Anemia
The most common disease characterized by increased drowsiness is anemia. With insufficient iron content in the body, the production of hemoglobin, which is responsible for supplying oxygen to the brain, is disrupted. As a result of a decrease in hemoglobin, weakness, dizziness, and a sleepy state appear.
Depression
The body can react to depression with persistent drowsiness. In this case, it is worth fighting drowsiness, starting with the elimination of the cause that caused the stressful conditions. If the problems are so deep that you can’t cope with them yourself, contact a good psychologist.
Hormonal disruptions
Disorders in the functioning of the thyroid gland, which regulates processes such as metabolism and vitality, can cause chronic fatigue and prolonged drowsiness. You need to contact an endocrinologist who will recommend you drugs that bring the condition back to normal.
Pregnancy
Pregnancy is a happy time, but there are many changes in a woman’s body, which include the constant desire to sleep. Persistent drowsiness in pregnant women occurs due to hormonal changes in the body. In this case, you cannot deny yourself sleep and rest.
What is hypersomnia ?
The state of periodic or constant daytime sleepiness, accompanied by an increase in the duration of night sleep, sometimes up to 12-14 hours, is called hypersomnia .
Hypersomnia can occur as a result of the development of certain somatic and infectious diseases, narcolepsy, functional disorders of the central nervous system, organic brain damage, and for many other reasons.
The diagnosis is made by a neurologist after observing signs of hypersomnia for a month in the absence of night sleep disturbances and provided that the patient does not take any medications, the side effect of which is drowsiness. For diagnosis , the sleep latency test, the Stanford Sleepiness Scale, and polysomnography are used .
If hypersomnia is not caused by other diseases that require their specific therapy, treatment consists in taking medications selected by the doctor, often including stimulants, and observing a clear sleep regimen, with a night’s rest of no more than 9 hours and daytime sleep in several doses.
Tips for Preventing Drowsiness
If drowsiness manifests itself as a symptom of any disease, it is necessary to direct all efforts to treat this disease. But besides this, we can highlight general tips and recommendations that help improve the quality of night sleep and eliminate daytime sleepiness:
- Rest at least eight hours a day, during which time the body will have time to replenish the spent resources.
- Stick to proper nutrition, eat more foods that contain vitamins and minerals necessary for the body.
- Exercise in the morning, it will help you wake up faster and get a boost of energy for the whole day.
- Get your body used to a certain routine.
- Drink after waking up a cup of natural invigorating coffee, but do not abuse this drink.
- Taking a relaxing shower before bed and a contrast shower after waking up will improve the quality of your sleep and help you wake up in the morning.
- If you can’t fall asleep at night, you can resort to folk remedies: herbal teas and tinctures will help normalize your sleep.