Why are we wide awake when we go to bed and really tired when we wake up?

Question

Surely its not healthy to wake up when we havent had enough sleep, but if we go to bed early we are wide awake.

Answer 1

I have been suffering from what i thought was insomnia for years, i dont normally go to bed till after mignight. this does have its problems as my wife likes her sleep and goes to bed most nights about 9.30-10pm obvioulsy this causes problems as i dont go to bed till much later. we have discussed things through and i have tried going to bed at the same time as her but always end up restless the next day, as if i have had too much sleep and tend to be sleepy throughout the day..
my doctor says it because we are all different and he asked me to ask my parents about their sleep patterns. i was not suprised to find out that my wifes parents go to bed early and mine normally stay up very late.. just goes to show we are what we are.
My doctor says everyone has their own ideal sleep paterns and their is not much you can really do about it..
so just try not to get stressed over it and sleep when you need to.. the medical world state that the human brian is the only part of the body that actually requires sleep and the ideal sleep requirement is between 7-8hrs depending on the individual. but again their are exceptions to all these figures.
Did you know that Margaret Thatcher and the current prime minister Tony Blair only sleep for about 5-6 hrs everynight.
this is predominantly because they have conditioned thier body to do this..
We can all condition our bodies to have less sleep and still function fully the next day.
When you do go to bed you should be free from any major thoughts or stress in order to recieve the correct R.E.M (rapid eye movement) enabling the brian to shut down correctly and rest.
you will then wake up when your brain is refreshed and feel ready for anything that comes that day..
hope this helps..D.H.

Answer 2

A few things I've found from experience:
- Don't drink any highly caffeinated drinks during the evening (in fact I have found it's best not to after about 5pm)
- Don't take part in vigorous exercise less than 2 - 3 hours before bed (i train for and compete in ironman races so train a lot but know that it affects my sleep if I do so too late in the evening)
- If you dont exercise try doing some early in the evening (not over strenuous though)
- Eat healthily
- Drinking alcohol can in fact enliven you rather than make you more sleepy
- Are you wound up about things when you go to bed, is your brain highly engaged in thinking about TV programmes you've been watching? Try reading a little (although nothing too exciting!) for ten minutes or so before you switch out the light, try some relaxing music
Do you find you wake really early - well before it's time to get up? Then lie there waiting for the alarm clock to go off? Well if so, as an experiment, get up then and start doing your normal morning routine. You may then feel more ready for bed the next evening.

Caveat: this may not work for you, I only speak from personal experience

Answer 3

It may be you're having too much caffeine so the body is taking longer to wind down at night but of course that means when it's time to get up you've not had enough sleep. Try going de-caf (non-chemical) or stopping caffeine drinks earlier in the day. Eat a banana before bed, apparentley the potassium helps you sleep well.Also If you go to bed and are still awake after 30 mins it is best to get out of bed and go to another room and try again later-going to bed when still wide awake just stresses you out when you can't drop off...again making you tired next day! sleep well

Answer 4

The reason is that you're not getting enough sleep.

If you go to bed at the same time each night, even if you dont feel tired, your body will eventually adjust so that you start to feel tired.

Try to get about 9 hours sleep, then when you wake up youll be refreshed.

The reason you're tired when you wake up is because you're prob interrupting the REM cycle and so not getting enough sleep.

Answer 5

Ummm.. you shouldn't be. You should go to bed feeling tired. And wake up refreshed.

Answer 6

I had exactly the same thought this morning as I pressed the snooze button for the third time!

Answer 7

our bodys are all different when we sleep we relax and do nothing its like being lazy so our body just shuts down thats why we feel tired.

Answer 8

the thought of going to work?

Answer 9

sleeping pills work wonders

Answer 10

i'm like that aswell,it's really annoying isn't it?