why does one feel worse after a nap?

[diana]

i know this is a romance message board but people on here are so knowledgeable about so many things i was hoping maybe someone would know why do you feel so drugged, disoriented, and even more tired after taking a nap during the day? i hate this feeling and after today, and suffering worse then ever after having taken a nap, i feel like i'm so strung out on drugs or majorly hung over and i want to kick and scream and pull my hair out and cry from the frustration of feeling so HORRIBLE, AWFUL, AND WORSE THEN I HAVE EVER FELT IN MY LIFE.............ARRRRGHHHH!

 

WHY IS THIS? SOMEONE TELL ME PLEASE!? I WILL NEVER TAKE ANOTHER NAP AS LONG AS I LIVE! sorry about yelling, but i'm so disoriented and confused feeling that it is driving me crazy!

[Tony T]

Every person has an internal biological clock. It sounds alarms for various things during the day, including hunger, thirst, sleep, etc. When you shock it by doing something out of the ordinary, the body reacts accordingly. Certain foods, particularly carbohydrates, eaten at lunch or other times of the day can cause fatigue and tiredness. Taking a short nap of five or ten minutes can help out greatly and doesn't upset the clock.

 

But when you take a much longer nap, this internal clock resets itself. You have basically fooled it by making it think it is down for the night. When you wake up an hour or two later, it reacts as if you have slept very little because it has set the body for a full night's sleep. You will be groggy for hours...until the body resets it's clock once again.

 

Additionally, real rest occurs during certain stages of sleep. If the proper REM cycle does not occur, the sleep has not gone its proper course and you will feel more tired.

 

Eating causes the heart to beat more rapidly so if you sleep right after a meal, your breathing slows but your heart is beating fast and requires more oxygen, not less. So the deprivation of sufficient oxygen for the faster beating heart can cause this post nap hangover feeling you describe.

 

If you get enough aerobic exercise during the day, you should seldom need a nap. As the body wears down with age, this biological clock sort of resets itself and afternoon naps seem more appropriate and the body responds well. Winston Churchill always took a one hour nap at 2p.m. each afternoon and felt great and refreshed. Of course, his internal clock was set for it.

 

Sometimes when we are ill need bed rest, we can take a nap and wake up and it seems like we are in the next day. We get this very strange feeling that we lost half of a day. We don't get the disoriented feeling because we are ill and our bodies require the rest...and we may also be on medication that is more effective while resting. Additionally, the body resets its clock at the subliminally with the doctors recommendation that we get plenty of rest.

 

Sleep is a major science in itself. There are older people who cannot get more than three or four hours of sleep each night no matter how much they try and walk around tired all the time. They doze here and with without effect.

 

Work hard to stay healthy, phsycially fit, in good weight range, and you shouldn't have any problems. But if you only take naps on occassion, expect that at least some of the time you will wake up feeling worse than before you started the nap. The body's clock just doesn't like to be tampered with.

[Janeway]

I know exactly how you feel. I have the same problem! When I lay down and take a nap, I wake up feeling like someone hit me with a brick! My head feels like it will surely fall off. My hubby tells me to take a nap--cuz I feel so tired, but I tell him I will just feel worse when I wake from a nap. I thought this was a unique problem, and I was crazy. After all, why would you feel worse after a nap? Now, whenever I feel like snoozing, I just have about 2 cups of coffee and fight the urge. Thanks for your post--glad to know I'm not the only one!

i know this is a romance message board but people on here are so knowledgeable about so many things i was hoping maybe someone would know why do you feel so drugged, disoriented, and even more tired after taking a nap during the day? i hate this feeling and after today, and suffering worse then ever after having taken a nap, i feel like i'm so strung out on drugs or majorly hung over and i want to kick and scream and pull my hair out and cry from the frustration of feeling so HORRIBLE, AWFUL, AND WORSE THEN I HAVE EVER FELT IN MY LIFE.............ARRRRGHHHH! WHY IS THIS? SOMEONE TELL ME PLEASE!? I WILL NEVER TAKE ANOTHER NAP AS LONG AS I LIVE! sorry about yelling, but i'm so disoriented and confused feeling that it is driving me crazy!

[Nic]

i don't know if this will help, but i once read in a medical journal that if you feel you need to nap during the day, it should only be for around 20 minutes and no longer. it doesn't matter if you don't actually fall asleep. just closing your eyes for no longer than 20 minutes is supposed to be rejuvenating. any longer, and it throws your whole body-clock out of whack and robs you of the sleep you should be getting during the night anyway.

 

i find it works for me if i'm feeling tired. if i fall asleep any longer than 20 minutes, i feel groggy and have trouble sleeping at night. i hope that was of some assistance.

i know this is a romance message board but people on here are so knowledgeable about so many things i was hoping maybe someone would know why do you feel so drugged, disoriented, and even more tired after taking a nap during the day? i hate this feeling and after today, and suffering worse then ever after having taken a nap, i feel like i'm so strung out on drugs or majorly hung over and i want to kick and scream and pull my hair out and cry from the frustration of feeling so HORRIBLE, AWFUL, AND WORSE THEN I HAVE EVER FELT IN MY LIFE.............ARRRRGHHHH! WHY IS THIS? SOMEONE TELL ME PLEASE!? I WILL NEVER TAKE ANOTHER NAP AS LONG AS I LIVE! sorry about yelling, but i'm so disoriented and confused feeling that it is driving me crazy!