Why does an elderly person constantly sleep during the day: what does it mean, reasons and what to do

As people age, they tend to wake up frequently during the night with aching joints or the need to use the toilet. Many people compensate for lost sleep during the day. This is fine. The problem only appears when the elderly person sleeps most of the time during the day, sometimes falling asleep while sitting in a chair. To stay awake longer during the day and sleep better at night, you need to find out the reason why an elderly person constantly sleeps during the day. In some cases, you may need a doctor's help and treatment recommendations.

Causes of drowsiness

The main reason why a person sleeps a lot is poor health. The body needs strength to recover, and it turns on energy saving mode: it refuses to eat, the patient does not want to move much, and only one desire arises - to sleep.

Using worms as an example, scientists have found out why drowsiness occurs during illness. When a person is unwell, his cells are under stress. The same thing happens with worms; in response to this condition, their body secretes the compound FLP-13, which suppresses the nervous system and puts the creature into a state of relaxation and rest. It was experimentally found that sleep helps the body defeat the infection more quickly.

You want to sleep intensely and for a long time with the following diseases:

• Heart disease;
• Pyelonephritis;
• Poisoning;
• ARVI;
• FLU;
• Tumors in the brain;
• Hernias in the cervical spine;
• Apnea – stopping breathing during sleep;
• Impaired blood circulation;
• Oxygen starvation;
• Beginning of menstruation;
• Anemia;
• Diabetes;
• Problems of the Gastrointestinal tract;
• Epilepsy;
• Head concussion.

Why does a person sleep a lot and not get enough sleep? Why do you want to sleep? Causes.

The constant desire to take a nap has a negative impact on your studies, work, and just your mood.
To find ways to deal with this unpleasant feeling, you need to understand its causes, and there can be many of them: At night you need to sleep soundly before the alarm clock rings

• Lack of sleep. This is the most obvious answer to the question, “Why do you always want to sleep?” An adult should sleep at least 7-8 hours. There are unique people, including Emperor Napoleon, for whom 4-5 hours are enough for this. However, these are exceptions to the rule and are very rare. Give yourself enough time to sleep at night and perhaps you won’t have to “nod off” during the day anymore?
• "Food coma." This is the name for the desire to take a nap that a person experiences after eating. Most often it is observed at the end of a hearty lunch. This phenomenon is easy to explain. First, the digestive system spends a huge amount of energy absorbing food. Secondly, having received glucose, the brain stops producing orexin, which drives a person in search of food, and the body can finally relax.
• Diseases of the nervous system. Hypersommia is extremely rare. People who are susceptible to it want to sleep despite the fact that they get a full night's sleep. It is even more difficult for those who suffer from narcolepsy. These people's brains are unable to regulate their sleep cycles, and the sudden urge to sleep may be so strong that they experience muscle weakness and hallucinations.
• Overload of auditory, visual or pain receptors. This type of drowsiness is experienced by people who work in noisy workshops or in very crowded places. When a person is in pain, he needs rest all the more to restore strength, which is what the body signals by yawning.
• Stress. At first, a person who is nervous behaves more actively - cortisol and adrenaline make him move more and even cause insomnia. Then the adrenal glands that release these hormones are exhausted, their maximum activity changes from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., and it becomes even more difficult to wake up.
• Pregnancy. Many expectant mothers have encountered drowsiness in the first and last months of an interesting situation, because in order to bear a child, serious physiological changes must occur in a woman’s body. Many women want to sleep during this happy but difficult period - don’t worry. It is better to take advantage of the opportunity and sleep as much as you want. After the birth of a child, you will want to sleep no less because of fatigue, but there will be no opportunity to take an extra nap.
• Anemia. When the level of iron in the blood decreases, the brain receives less oxygen, hence drowsiness, dizziness and other unpleasant symptoms. Vegans and pregnant women often suffer from iron deficiency anemia, so it is especially important for them to undergo timely tests for the content of this chemical element in the blood.

Sleeping during pregnancy

A woman carrying a child should rest 10 hours a day. It is advisable to divide this time into two parts, that is, sleep at night and during the day. The body of the expectant mother experiences a heavy load: the heart and circulatory system work for two.

A woman may want to sleep constantly, this is due to disruptions in the endocrine system. Hypersomnia usually occurs early in pregnancy.

Not only the duration of sleep is important, but also its quality. To get enough sleep, you need to rest on a comfortable bed with a soft pillow; there are special models for pregnant women.

It is best to lie on your left side. If you turn to the right side, blood circulation will be disrupted and the load on the heart will increase. You can't sleep on your back because the genital artery is pressed.

Why is it dangerous?

Depression is a disease that requires individualized treatment. Lack of adequate sleep is dangerous to health. This affects severe psychological disorders.

In addition, complications arise in the physical condition of the body:

• dysfunction of the gastrointestinal tract (development of diseases of the digestive system);
• weight loss, anorexia;
• diseases of the endocrine system, hormonal imbalance;
• difficult adaptation in society;
• physical exhaustion;
• suicidal tendencies.

The first warning signs are: irritability, aggression, lack of joy and smile. The patient in this case needs support and adequate therapy.

Hypersomnia is a sign of vitamin deficiency

If a person sleeps a lot at night and during the day, then perhaps he lacks the necessary substances and microelements. This problem can arise due to strict diets. Anorexics suffer from increased sleepiness. The reason is that the body simply does not have the energy to function properly.

Vitamin deficiency causing hypersomnia:

• Cyanocobalamin or B12 is necessary to saturate cells with oxygen. Without air, the body wears out, metabolism slows down, and fatigue sets in;
• Ascorbic acid. With a lack of this element, mental and physical activity decreases, immunity weakens;
• With a deficiency of vitamin A, vision deteriorates, fatigue and weakness appear;
• D. A lack of ergocalciferol and cholecalciferol leads to a person getting tired quickly. You can compensate for the deficiency of this vitamin with regular sunbathing.

Is it worth getting enough sleep in reserve?

We live in an era of post-industrial information society, when there is absolutely not enough time. Many people begin to cheat and, say, sleep for the future on weekends, so that they can then immerse themselves in intense work to the maximum on weekdays.

However, it is impossible to deceive nature

This method will have an effect, but in the very short term - it will not allow you to fall asleep at the upcoming important event. It’s definitely not worth practicing it on an ongoing basis - it disrupts your biorhythm and has a detrimental effect on your well-being.

The main reasons why you cannot sleep for a long time are related to the needs of the body. Excessive deep rest takes away energy, leads to specific lethargy, weakness, apathy, and provokes the development of diseases. Watch your sleep so that your life is rich, fruitful and filled with positive emotions.

Sleepiness and mental illness

People suffering from nervous disorders experience hypersomnia. However, some patients also experience insomnia. The reason is a disruption of the central nervous system. The central nervous system cannot control the transition between rest and wakefulness. Psychotropic drugs also cause a constant desire to lie down.

Sometimes it happens that drowsiness occurs in mentally healthy people as a result of stress or emotional exhaustion. This is how the body tries to recover. Usually, if a person manages to sleep, the problem goes away without taking medications. It is much more difficult when the disorder occurs at the psychosomatic level. In these cases, it is difficult to wake up in the morning, because a difficult and nervous day lies ahead. Drowsiness occurs in people who are forced to change their bio; they have to work at night, and the “night owl” gets up before dawn.

Root Cause Classification

Depression cannot be a one-time phenomenon. The reasons for its development are varied and require individual treatment.

Psychotherapists divide it into 5 main types, which are associated with the following factors:

1. Emotional stress. The main sign of this condition is an irritable reaction to any events.
2. Anxious excitement. In this condition, the heart rate increases and it is difficult to concentrate. A person may feel like he is going crazy.
3. Generalized anxiety. Physical discomfort is clearly manifested - increased heart rate, sweating, and a pronounced feeling of anxiety.
4. Anhedonia. This type of depression is accompanied by a decrease in feelings of pleasure. Sometimes a person completely loses joy from life events. The condition can lead to loss of feelings of love for the closest people - parents, children.
5. Melancholy. People who suffer from such a disorder have difficulty adapting to society.

Constant depression and fatigue have negative health consequences. Therefore, you should contact a specialist to identify and eliminate the causes of such violations.

Pathological conditions that may cause drowsiness

If a person sleeps all night, but during the day he feels exhausted and dreams of only one thing - to get to bed as quickly as possible, then perhaps he has:

• Pickwick's syndrome. Occurs in overweight people. Fat puts pressure on the heart, slows down blood circulation, as a result the brain does not receive oxygen, and the patient experiences fatigue and develops hypersomnia;
• Narcolepsy. A complex disease that cannot be cured. The symptom returns several months after the end of therapy;
• Idiopathic hypersomnia. Occurs in people under 30 years of age. Many people mistakenly confuse this condition with healthy rest. Such a person has difficulty getting up in the morning and experiences fatigue and drowsiness during the first half of the day. All this is accompanied by aggressiveness and bad mood. As the evening approaches, the situation improves;
• Kleine-Levin syndrome. You don’t always want to sleep, but in periods that last for several months. A person sleeps 18 hours a day, eats a lot and becomes angry;
• Hysterical lethargy. Occurs due to stress, nervous tension and emotional distress. Drowsiness has a paroxysmal character. At this time, the patient feels severe weakness and dizziness. The problem goes away on its own within a few months.

Consequences of the problem

This condition is undesirable for a person and carries with it a number of negative effects. First, there will be a change in processes such as concentration and performance. We will make mistakes due to inattention, hesitations in speech, we may get into an accident, drive through a station, we may read, but not understand what we have read. This is a dysfunction.

The next thing is a change in emotional state. We become irritable, touchy, women become tearful, some changes in behavior occur, for example, you can overeat during the day.

And thirdly, our victimization increases when we become exposed to the risks that we will be deceived, that we will be provoked into something, that we will be vulnerable under the influence of others.

The dangers of prolonged sleep

Doctors say that sleeping a lot is harmful. First of all, during rest, the body reduces the production of testosterone, because of this an adult can develop diabetes. For men, the lack of the hormone is also dangerous because of the weakening of sexual function.

With prolonged sleep, blood circulation is disrupted, blood vessels dilate, and their walls become thinner. A blood clot may form or a stroke may occur. According to statistics, people most often die from a heart attack while sleeping.

During rest, cortisol is produced. The hormone is very important for health, but if there is an excess of it, then there will be more harm than good, because the substance leads to obesity.

Sleep is a useful and necessary thing, however, you should not sleep too much - this can lead to serious health problems.

You may not be able to get enough sleep

According to scientists, too much sleep can indicate problems - your rest is disrupted and you are not getting the necessary recovery. For example, people with sleep apnea, a common breathing problem, often sleep too long. If ignored, this condition can lead to stroke or heart disease. Other problems like stomach upset or hot flashes can also impair sleep, and even if the room isn't dark or quiet enough, it can be a problem. If you have a habit of grinding your teeth, you may also be making your sleep worse. When you notice that you do not feel restored even when you lie in bed for a long time, you should consult your doctor. This will help you identify the causes of your problem.