Causes of weakness after waking up include insomnia, sleep apnea, poor sleep hygiene practices, circadian rhythm disturbances, and anemia. To overcome this, you can try to get enough sleep, exercise regularly, and limit drinking at night.
Table of Content
1. Causes of the body weak and tired after waking up
2. How to overcome the condition of waking up feeling weak and tired
After waking up, naturally a person feels more refreshed and energized. But there are times when the body even feels weak and tired after waking up. This indicates a sleep disorder that should be addressed immediately.
So why after waking up the body feels weak and tired, and how to overcome it? Let’s look at it in full in the following article.
Causes of the body weak and tired after waking up
There are several reasons that make the body feel weak and tired after waking up, including:
1. Insomnia
A person with insomnia may have difficulty initiating sleep, maintaining sleep, or waking up too early and unable to fall back asleep. This condition causes you to not get quality sleep and makes your body feel tired and weak when you finally wake up.
Insomnia can occur in the short term due to several things such as stress, trauma, or an uncomfortable sleeping environment.
But if you have insomnia for a month or more, then this is a chronic condition that requires immediate treatment.
2. Poor sleep hygiene practices
The National Sleep Foundation defines sleep hygiene or sleep hygiene as the various practices or habits necessary to have good quality sleep and a focused state of mind and body during the day. Sleep hygiene can determine the quality of your sleep.
Poor sleep hygiene practices can be the reason the body feels weak after waking up. Some of them are like:
1. Irregular sleep time
2. Nap more than 30 minutes
3. Staring at a phone or computer screen in the 2 hours before bed
4. Uncomfortable environment and bedding
3. Anemia
Another cause of the body feeling weak and tired when you wake up is anemia or a lack of red blood cells in the body. People with anemia may feel weak and tired during the day and may also feel very tired when they wake up.
4. Chronic fatigue syndrome
Chronic fatigue syndrome or myalgic encephalomyelitis is a body condition characterized by extreme fatigue but not due to any other medical condition.
People who experience this disorder, will feel his body feels very weak and tired when he just woke up.
In addition, other symptoms that can appear due to chronic fatigue syndrome are headaches, lack of concentration, muscle or joint pain, and sore throat.
5. Sleep inertia
Sleep inertia is a condition of cognitive and sensory-motor disturbances that occurs immediately after waking up.
This is a normal condition that usually occurs when a person wakes up suddenly from a deep sleep or when the brain waves are slow, so that part of the brain is not fully awake at that time.
The brain stem, which controls basic functions, is activated immediately upon awakening. On the other hand, the prefrontal cortex, which is involved in decision-making and self-control, can take up to 30 minutes to fully prepare. Until then you may feel tired after waking up.
6. Sleep movement disorders
The cause of the body tired after waking up can be caused by sleep movement disorders. This is a condition that causes your body to move unconsciously before or during sleep, which can cause you to have trouble falling asleep or wake up frequently in the middle of your sleep.
Common sleep movement disorders include:
1. Restless legs syndrome
2. Periodic limb movement disorders that occur periodically
3. Bruxism which involves clenching or grinding of teeth during sleep
7. Sleep apnea
Sleep apnea or sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder that causes breathing to stop periodically during sleep. A person may not be aware when they have the condition.
This can be the reason the body feels weak after waking up because people who experience it often wake up in the middle of sleep, so the quality of sleep is disturbed.
8. Experiencing nocturia
Nocturia or excessive urination at night can also be the reason why after waking up the body feels weak. This condition can interrupt you from deep sleep and make you have to wake up repeatedly in the middle of the night.
9. Circadian rhythm disorders
Circadian rhythm disturbances can cause a person to have trouble falling asleep and waking up at the right time. This is due to a misalignment of the internal biological clock which also regulates the desire to sleep with the natural light-dark cycle.
People with this disorder can feel extreme sleepiness, so that the body feels tired throughout the day, from the moment you just wake up to even during the day when you are on the move.
10. Narcolepsy
Narcolepsy is a condition when a person cannot stabilize the situation while sleeping and awake. People with this disorder, even though they are sound asleep, can suddenly wake up for no apparent reason.
Some of the signs of narcolepsy include sudden excessive daytime sleepiness, sleep paralysis or sleep paralysis, experiencing hypnagogic hallucinations while asleep, and cataplexy (sudden paralysis in response to emotions).
How to overcome the condition of waking up feeling weak and tired
There are several ways you can do to overcome fatigue and weakness when you wake up, such as:
1. Enough sleep
This is the main key to not feeling tired after waking up. Avoid habits that can cause sleep delays such as staying up late or putting off work until late at night.
2. Apply good sleep hygiene
Applying good sleep hygiene can help the body get used to getting enough sleep. In addition, good sleep hygiene will also help you be more productive and focused during activities during the day.
3. Regular exercise
Regular exercise can help improve sleep quality as long as it’s done at the right time. You are advised not to exercise too close to bedtime.
4. Limit drinking at night
Drinking too much at night can increase the risk of waking up in the middle of the night to urinate. Although if it happens occasionally is completely normal, but in some people this habit can lead to nocturia which will reduce the quality of your sleep.
5. Drink caffeine
Consuming caffeine before bed can disrupt sleep cycles but drinking it right after waking up in the morning can help increase alertness and reduce feelings of weakness. But avoid caffeine consumption after 12 noon for a better night’s sleep.
6. Morning sunshine
Exposure to the morning sun can help regulate the body’s circadian cycle. Getting 10-15 minutes of sunshine every morning can help your body fully awake and relieve fatigue.