To be so sleepy in the mornings

[Ceci03]

So I'm at the office this morning- work hybrid partly wfh partly in the office. But every mor I g I sit down at my computer and just feel so sleepy. I want to just close my eyes. It's like a heavy feeling in my head. I've had 2 coffees and some breakfast and I slept medium well . I'll be fine as the day goes one but I hate this heavy sleepy feeling. One thing that helps is having an energy drink like monster which seems to pop my eyes open but I don't like having them as I'm sure they are very bad for you so I limit them to a few times a month when I really need to be "switched on" . Anyone any tips or advice or going through similar. TIA

Have you tried doing a little bit of exercise in the morning? Nothing major like a 10km run, more like 10min of stretching & mobilising your body to get the blood flowing?

Groggy feeling in the morning is normal and usually lasts for about 90 minutes or so. I always struggle in the morning myself so my answer to that is go to bed early and wake up much earlier as well. I start work at 9 but typically up around 6.30. I have a very slow morning with two coffees, gentle stretches and a bit of news. Slowly getting dressed and ready for work. By the time I am at my computer, I am typically well out of the grogginess window.

What do you have for breakfast?

Swap at least one of the coffees for iced water.

It sounds like it is a mental block more than anything, rather than actual tiredness.

@Safarisling lol at the steak

I got up at 7 today and was at my desk by 845. I tho k it probably comes back to not getting great sleep. Am in menopause and sleep has been one of the hardest things to cope with. Yeh that's a good idea I'll try having a walk before I start. It is partly mental rather than real tiredness. Today anyway. Some days I really struggle if I've been awake a lot during the night .

I am in my 50s and only function in the morning if I’ve done about 30 minutes of exercise outside, walking is fine.

I think it’s very good for health and sleep and circadian rythm to get sunlight on your face every morning (does not have to be sunny, just being out of doors)

honestly, daylight and fresh air and gentle exercise do a lot more than any amount of caffeine

if you really want to “bio-hack” your body, have a cold shower too 😁

I think getting outside first thing even for 10 minute walk, really helps with feeling awake

My husband is a sleepy morning person too, it drives him nuts that my eyes snap open at 6am and I'm immediately wide awake, whereas he'll sit at his desk nursing a coffee still half asleep until 10am.

As pp have said he finds exercise in the morning the most helpful. Even just a ten minute walk around with the dogs to wake his system up. Then a big glass of ice cold water.

Maybe if your brain is tired and in protest at having to do something it doesn't want to do you could start the day with something you really like before work? Like a pre-reward for your brain to gee it up a bit?

HRT.

Do you have a Carbon Monoxide alarm?

I was going to ask the same thing

I'm wondering about the quality of your sleep OP. I've just been diagnosed with sleep apnoea and have this problem.

Do you tend to feel refreshed after a night's sleep, or not so much?

Ignore question re sleep quality, I see your subsequent posts answer this!

4/5 days per week I get up early and do a workout. Today is my rest day so I stayed in bed. Honestly I was yawning on the way in and feel lethargic whereas on an exercise day I don’t feel tired at all, despite an hour less in bed. Trust me, I would never have wanted to hear this and I’m far from a gym bunny but tiredness was ruling my life and now it doesn’t.

Everyone's different, so these might not work for you, but I often have the same problem. The things that help me:
Lots of water in the morning
Exercise in the morning (just 10 minutes of stretching or a walk helps)
Going to bed early (even if I wake up early and get less total sleep I still feel better)
Early dinner
Enough calories (I do a lot of exercise and if I don't eat enough during the day I feel really groggy the following morning)

I feel the same! I could sleep for 12 hours and still need a nap. There’s no way you’d get me exercising at that time.

I wonder how safe it is that everyone drives to work in the morning as well, as I find it amazing that anyone feels alert at that time. I also find an energy drink really useful on the days I need to be fully awake for big meetings and things. Sorry I can’t offer much advice, just empathy!

I feel like this some morning and I just finished reading a book called the lost art of breathing which is about the importance of nasal breathing.

I have definitely noticed that I am waking up some mornings with a blocked nose and have been mouth breathing because of it. Those mornings are the worst for the grogginess. I have also noticed those mornings there is loads of condensation on the inside of the windows - probably from my heavy mouth breathing. Snoring and sleep apnea all are causing my mouth breathing and lead to that horrible foggy feeling in the morning.
I have been doing breathing exercises to improve the quality of my breathing during the day. Its early stages but I am hoping it will help me breathe better at night.

I’m not sure this is true - whenever I’ve had a fitness monitor it’s always records that I have the deepest sleep in the morning hours, shortly before I wake up. The longer I can lie in / the later my hours of sleep happen, the more deep sleep I seem to get.

How does your body know “before 12” and “after 12” - surely this is an “old wives tale”

All these suggestions people are making - particularly the ways of shocking your body awake, like drinking ice cold water - seem to me to be a sticking plaster over the fact that people differ in the times of the night when they get their best, most refreshing sleep.

If I can start work later and finish later, they get a far more alert and useful person.

Have you had and blood tests done or thyroid levels checked? I spent a year really struggling in the morning when I used to be such an early bird. Turns out my thyroid was not functioning correctly, they gave me a little white pill to take and it makes such a different to my life.