Why am I waking up tired all the time?

Do you ever go to bed at a reasonable hour, only to wake up feeling like you never slept?

It’s normal to wake up tired every now and then, but when it happens consistently, it can start to affect your everyday life. Morning fatigue and grogginess can be caused by a number of factors.

It could be that your sleep is broken or interrupted, or it could come down to waking up in the morning during your deep sleep, leading to sleep inertia. 

What is sleep inertia? 

Sleep inertia is the feeling of heavy fatigue and disorientation you get after immediately waking up. It usually lasts from 15 to 60 minutes, but can cause cognitive impairment for up to four hours. 

In this stage, a part of your body is still asleep, meaning you’re functioning at a reduced capacity. This can impact your ability to perform simple activities. 

Severe sleep inertia can be very dangerous. This feeling of ‘sleep drunkness’ can reduce memory ability, cause drowsy driving, increase accidents, decrease productivity and cause impairment of good judgement and decision-making. 

What causes sleep inertia?

Sleep inertia is resulted by a sudden awakening during your rapid eye movement (REM) sleep state. During this stage, you have high levels of melatonin, which causes sleepiness. Therefore, waking up in the midst of REM makes you feel like you need to go back to sleep. 

This can occur with your regular night’s sleep, as well as following a nap. An alarm clock could be the culprit of your sleep inertia, as it doesn’t allow a natural awakening. 

What is broken sleep?

If you’re waking up tired all the time and don’t know why, it usually means you aren’t getting quality sleep. Broken sleep is when you wake up consistently or unknowingly in the night, despite getting enough sleep over a certain amount of hours.

What causes broken sleep?

Lifestyle habits 

Certain lifestyle habits can lead to disrupted or poor-quality sleep.

  • Drinking alcohol within a couple of hours of sleep can reduce your REM stage of sleep.

  • Stress can increase the heart rate, making it hard to fall asleep or stay asleep.

  • Eating foods high in sugar or saturated fats before bed can increase your body’s arousal, disrupting deep sleep. 

  • Not getting enough or getting too much exercise. Physical activity within the guidelines helps improve sleep quality and duration, however, too much exercise can have a negative impact. 

  • Drinking excessive amounts of water before going to bed or during the night can increase the need to get up and urinate. 

Underlying conditions

If you still can’t pinpoint why you’re waking up tired every morning, it could be an underlying condition. If you think this might be the case, its best to consult with a medical professional. Some common conditions include:

  • Sleep apnea or snoring, which can cause you to unknowingly wake up during the night, due to pauses in breathing. 

  • Chronic pain, which can disrupt REM sleep.

  • Anxiety or depression, which can lead to sleep issues such as insomnia and hypersomnia.

  • Restless legs syndrome (RLS), which can wake you up as you try to relieve the unpleasant sensation of needing to move your legs.

Hitting snooze

If you’re doing this every morning, there’s a higher chance that you’re going to wake up feeling more fatigued than if you get up when you hear your first alarm. This is because your alarm disorients your body, meaning the quality of your sleep in between your first alarm and when you finally wake up can cause sleep inertia. 

Temperature

If it’s too hot or too cold, this might be causing you to unnecessarily wake up during the night. Your body can’t regulate temperature during REM sleep, meaning it’s more likely you’ll wake up if you’re too hot or cold. This could also be the reason for your night sweats or night chills.

Sleeping position

Certain sleeping positions, pillows or mattresses might be the reason you’re waking up tired all the time. If your body isn’t comfortable or your spine isn’t aligned, it will naturally try to move into a better position. Tossing and turning all night (even if you don’t remember it) can lead to feeling groggy and tired in the morning.

Screen-time

Too much screen time or blue light exposure before bed can stimulate your mind, preventing a night of good-quality sleep. Watching certain TV shows or using social media before going to sleep can lead to pre-sleep arousal, which can make you too excited to fall asleep. Blue light especially can trigger the production of melatonin, which tricks your body into not feeling tired. 

Effects of broken sleep

Interrupted sleep every night can lead to sleep deprivation. This can be detrimental to your wellbeing and mental health. 

Like sleep inertia, sleep deprivation increases cognitive impairment, which makes things like driving really dangerous. Driving while tired, or sleep-deprived, can be fatal. So ensure to always pull over if you’re feeling tired on the road, to keep yourself and others safe. 

How to stop waking up tired

The bottom line

There are so many factors that can disrupt your REM sleep and lead you to feeling fatigued when you wake up. When this happens daily, it can take a toll on your everyday life and cause sleep deprivation. Fortunately, there are simple lifestyle changes or habits you can incorporate, to help you wake up feeling fresh as a daisy.


IF YOU’RE EXPERIENCING PERSISTENT DISRUPTIONS TO YOUR SLEEP, CONSULT WITH A PHARMACIST OR TRUSTED MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL TO DISCUSS POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS.

Any advice provided in this content is of a general nature and does not take into account your objectives, health or needs. The information in this post is not intended to substitute medical advice, diagnosis or treatment and should not be exclusively relied on to diagnose or manage a medical condition. You need to consider the appropriateness of any information or general advice we give you, having regard to your personal situation, before acting on our advice or purchasing any over-the-counter sleep product.

Peter Shakespeare