Weird tired feeling after sleep, any ideas…?!

[Imlaaa]

I feel so groggy when I wake up even after 7 plus hours of sleep. I have a toddler and often sleep is interrupted but even if it isn’t I still feel like this. It takes an hour or so to feel more alert. I take iron tablets but levels are in normal low range now. I don’t understand it? It’s so miserable as I can’t really be properly present first thing

Every person I know with children feels identical to this. Including me and my DH. Kids have slept 10hrs solid for years and we still feel like this. I don’t think it’s physical sleep, it’s just purely mind tiredness.

Not to dismiss it, but it’d be interesting to know from this thread how common it is to feel as rested and alert as pre-kids. I certainly don’t know anyone who is.

I feel worse if I've not drunk much the days before. If I make sure i drink lots and stay well hydrated I wake up better

The dark and rainy mornings often make me feel like this.

Maybe wake up before everyone else, get in the shower and eat breakfast to fuel you before you have kids to sort. Prep as much as you can the night before to make mornings easier.

I think most people take a while to wake up. Especially with kids and getting a bit older.

You’re probably not getting enough deep sleep, the type of sleep that fixes everything and does the body reset.
The answers are annoyingly obvious. Eat better, drink water, no caffeine after midday, exercise more, don’t smoke or drink alcohol.

Has anyone mentioned to you that you snore. Sleep apnea causes grogginess in the morning as you would have interrupted sleep. But you are a bit young..l think..for that but look it up.

Yep, as soon as it's got dark in the morning I feel so down and demotivated

I always wake up feeling like this regardless of how much sleep I've had too. My smart watch always reports that I've had low amounts of deep sleep. Interesting.

Worth checking something like the sleepopolis sleep calculator. I discovered that if I wake in the middle of a sleep cycle I'm basically a non functional zombie for at least an hour, whereas if I'm in the lightest part of my cycle, I feel fresh. It's not one size fits all so getting a smart watch that tracks sleep is also a good idea to get an idea of your personal sleep cycle, but considering it's such an easy fix it's definitely worth trying!

Sleep Calculator

Sleep inertia is normal as long as it clears within 90 minutes or so. It's to do with "sleepy hormones" clearing your bloodstream. The speed at which it happens depends on your genetics and stage of life.

I feel like death most mornings. Some mornings it clears, then days like today I just feel like I’m wading through treacle and could fall asleep at any moment. I think it’s related to exceptionally vivid dreaming though. I don’t go through regular sleep cycles and tend to go straight into REM and out again.

Following as I feel like this most days! Agree with all of above but would also add that some people are more sensitive to sleep disturbance, shortened sleep from kids etc. You can get a 10k lux light box and use on waking as well as a light / wake alarm clock which seem to help. Drinking coffee on the doorstep in sunlight seems to help me as it helps circadian rhythms.

Have you had your thyroid checked? Not feeling rested after sleep is one of the symptoms of underactive thyroid. It’s often dismissed as “well you have young children, so what do you expect?” But it’s a totally different ‘tiredness’ that goes bone deep and doesn’t clear no matter how long you sleep. To the PP who said “wading through treacle” that’s exactly how I described it to my GP before they (eventually) diagnosed me with a sky high TSH.

I'm like this op my children are 7 and 5 years old and I still wake up through the night thinking I can hear them or even when I decide to go to bed early myself I will wake up feeling like I've not slept and will feel like I need days to sleep uninterrupted to feel better.

Have your B12 levels checked, mine was so low and I used to wake up and my first thought was I can't wait for bedtime in 14 hours time. Amazing the difference it has having the injections every 3 months.

I always thought everyone on earth felt as you describe!

Ive always felt that way including before children and now that they are a bit older (15 and 10).

Surprises me there are people who feel at their best just after the transition from sleeping to waking - I’d be groggy whether I had a measly 6 hours or a nice long 10/11 hour stretch, or anywhere in between.

Ive noticed i feel less like this if the hours I’ve slept are later hours though ie I’d find 2-10 much more refreshing than 10-6.

Could be....

Not enough protein/too much cards
Not enough food
Lack of water
Too much caffeine
Hayfever
Not enough sleep overall
Stress
Pcos