Waking Up Tired After 8 Hours of Sleep? Here's Why
Waking Up Tired After 8 Hours of Sleep? Here's Why
Sometimes, you wake up feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to take on everything and anything that life throws at you. Accidentally spill coffee on your blouse? Tire flat? Left your CBD Calm Drops at home? No problem — you got enough sleep, and nothing can bring you down!
And then other times, regardless of how early you hit the hay or how many relaxing deep breaths you do before crawling into bed, you still wake up feeling tired. Sound familiar?
While not everyone can dance out of bed with a chipper attitude when it's time to start the day, if you struggle to drag yourself from under the covers on a regular basis — even after eight hours of shut-eye or that sleepiness persists for a prolonged period of time— it can quickly start to have a negative effect on your ability to live your life to the fullest.
So, if you find yourself frequently asking, "Why am I so tired?" after getting a good night's rest, perhaps it's time to take a step back to assess your habits — both in what you do during the day and at night — to find what could be contributing to your morning fatigue.
In this post, we're exploring some of the most common reasons why you could be waking up exhausted and what you can do to help alleviate the issue.
So draw the curtains, don your pj's, and enjoy a tasty CBD-infused Sleep Chew; it's time to adventure into the dark depths of what can get you to good sleep to help combat morning grogginess.
But First, What’s So Important About Sleep?
"You'll feel better after a good night’s sleep."
Whether said in passing as a caring suggestion from a loved one or by the local bartender trying to end an awkward conversation, the chances are that, whatever you're dealing with, you will, in fact, feel better after a long, restful snooze.
This is because sleeping not only allows your body to enter a different phase of consciousness but it also enables different phases of metabolic balancing, cognitive assimilation, immunological signaling, hormonal coordination, and emotional processes. These imperative sleep-coordinated changes make us much more resilient, both mentally and physically, allowing us to make better decisions, heal faster, fight illnesses and feel better.
That being said, regardless of how critical it is to our overall health and well-being, more than one-third of Americans are not getting enough sleep on a regular basis. This is a huge problem as sleep deprivation can weaken your immune system, put a damper on your sex drive, cause cognitive issues, lead to weight gain, and more. Sleep is not something to be taken lightly.
When you practice good sleep habits and make deep restful sleep a priority each and every night, some of the incredible health benefits that you may experience include:
- Healthier heart
- Weight control
- Improved athletic ability
- Sharper cognitive function
- Better mood
- Balanced blood sugar
- Immune boost
- Less stress
- Reduced inflammation
- Faster healing
Okay, So Why Am I Waking Up Tired?
Truth be told, there are quite a few reasons to explain morning sleepiness that persists even after eight hours of shut-eye. One of the simplest explanations, however, is that it could be your specific body needing more rest than the average Joe or Jane.
However, it's also likely that your grogginess is due to the lack of quality sleep at night — rather than the quantity of it. In fact, some of the seemingly harmless things you do before bedtime can have an adverse effect on your sleep quality, causing you to wake up feeling as if you didn't even sleep at all.
So, here are a few reasons why you could be waking up tired:
Reason #1: Drinking alcohol late at night
While many people enjoy a nightcap before hitting the hay, the truth is that alcohol can severely restrict the amount of quality sleep you get. Sure, you may drift off to dreamland sooner rather than later after enjoying a glass of wine, but alcohol actually prevents your body from easing into the all-important state of deep sleep — which is the time when your body begins to heal, restore, and repair itself.
If you're looking for something to help you find calm before climbing into bed, we recommend our Sleep Drops — a fast-acting, sleep-inducing blend of the highest quality U.S. organically farmed CBD with active levels of essential botanical oils and a powerful custom sleep terpene blend to support your body in promoting a healthy sleep cycle with no next-day grogginess.*
Super easy to use, simply start with a mild or medium dose of CBD placed directly under your tongue 20 minutes before bedtime voila — fall asleep, stay asleep, and wake up feeling refreshed!
Reason #2: Using digital devices before bedtime
Believe it or not, scrolling through your favorite social media channels when it's close to bedtime can have a detrimental effect on the quality of shut-eye you get at night. Why? Because the blue light emitted from your device screens suppresses your body's natural production of melatonin (aka the sleepy hormone). This can immensely affect your sleep cycle as it inhibits restorative sleep.
To reduce the effects of blue light on your slumber, avoid screen time two to three hours before you go to bed. This means no smartphone, tablet, computer, or TV. If you simply can't summon the Sandman without using electronics, use blue-light-blocking glasses or turn on Night Mode or Night Shift in your device’s Display settings.
Reason #3: Sleeping too much
By now, we know sleep is essential for good health, but too much of a good thing is rarely a good thing!
Too much sleep can make you feel especially sleepy when you wake up as you're disrupting the body's biological sleep clock. Otherwise known as the internal circadian pacemaker, this group of cells in your brain controls thirst, hunger, sweat, and internal rhythms — including exhaustion.
You see, the pacemaker is triggered by light signals from your eyes, signaling that it's daylight. It then sends chemical messages to the rest of your body to suggest it's time to wake up and start the day.
When you sleep too much, however, the pacemaker is thrown out of whack and off its regular schedule, which can make you feel super groggy when you rise in the morning. But that's not all — in addition to morning fatigue, recent studies suggest that spending an excessive amount of time in bed is also linked with a few health hazards.
Of course, everyone is different and has different sleep needs, but the gold standard of normal sleep is eight hours — not an hour less and not an hour more.
Reason #4: Waking up during the deepest stage of sleep
Ever wake up in complete confusion, wondering what time it is and where you are? This is known as sleep inertia, and can happen when you wake up during the deepest stage of the REM sleep cycle.
Sleep inertia can last for 15 to 30 minutes or longer, but even when it passes, you still may experience a little trouble to hit the ground running and start the day the way you'd like.
When this happens, we recommend our Well-Being Drops to help restore mind and body balance to improve focus and feel clear-headed throughout the day.* Simply place a few drops directly under the tongue for 30 seconds before swallowing, and you're good to go!
A Final Word
If you're waking up tired after getting eight hours of sleep, there's a pretty good chance the quality of your sleep is lacking. Avoid alcohol and blue light before bedtime, and do your best not to oversleep. Practice good sleep hygiene to help create the ideal conditions for a quality slumber and to help your mind find calm — try our CBD-infused Sleep Drops!
CBD oil formulated for sleep can help you fall asleep easier, stay asleep, and wake up the next morning feeling rested and refreshed, so you're ready to conquer whatever life throws at you.
Sleep is a wonderful thing. We'll help you defend it.
Sources:
Waking up is the hardest thing I do all day: Sleep inertia and sleep drunkenness | NCBI
1 in 3 adults don't get enough sleep | CDC Online Newsroom
Sleep Basics: REM & NREM, Sleep Stages, Good Sleep Habits & More | Cleveland Clinic