Are there any negative effects of getting too much sleep?
If you feel the need to stay in bed that long, and are not rested after 8-9 hours, there may be something wrong with your sleep. Before I was diagnosed and started treatment for sleep apnea, I could not sleep enough. I could literally sleep ten hours and then nap another three or four during a weekend day, and still not feel rested. This was because the quality of my sleep was so poor. Now that I am dealing with the apnea, I can put in a solid 7-8 hours and feel GREAT the whole day, with no desire to nap. If you are really putting in that much sack time regularly, it is not likely to be the cause of a medical problem, but rather the symptom. See a doctor and ask for a sleep study. An otherwise healthy adult should feel rested and ready to go after 8 hours.
Well, first I will admit that my sleep schedule is completely screwed up. I sleep 6-7 hours per night during the week (unless I have one of my not-uncommon bouts of insomnia) and then I “catch up” during the weekend by sleeping disgusting amounts – up to 14 hours + a 2 hour nap. I do think this erratic schedule is no good for me, but I’m having a hell of a time breaking out of it. I love sleep, delicious sleep, more than chocolate-covered sex. Those Saturday and Sunday mornings when I wake up at 7 am, and the birds outside are chirping and there is a nice breeze coming in through the bedroom window and the cats are snuggled up next to me and my husband are the best, when I can just curl back up and go to sleep for another 5 hours or so. But on sleepy days, I have trouble wanting to do anything, or revving myself up to accomplish a single damn thing until late at night. I often feel the need to take a nap or drink massive amounts of coffee just to do something as difficult as go to the
BigLankyBastard has something there – I thought sleep apnea when I read your post as well. Of course, there are lots of things that can make you want to sleep more than most folks (e.g. depression, as tastybrains said). But if you feel fatigue during the day, are overweight, are a snorer, and have headaches in the morning (or some combination of these signs and symptoms) you may want to look into talking with a healthcare provider more about the possibility of sleep apnea. I think maybe the most important thing is the quality of your sleep, and whether you feel rested when you awaken – although needing 10 – 12 hours every night does seem out of the normal range for most people. Pay attention to how you feel during the day – you should feel alert and interested in what you are doing, and falling asleep at night should be easy. Ask your partner if you are restless or snore during sleep. If you feel bad during the day, or your quality of sleep is poor, it’s definitely something to bring u
It depends on what kind of sleep you are getting. If it isn’t deep healthy sleep than nothing you do will make you feel good. Assuming you are getting that great sleep and you oversleep and wake up feeling groggy it is not only because of dehydration but mainly due to the low blood sugar you get from not eating for all those hours. There are alot of other things that your body can go through from sleeping too long but low blood sugar is the most common and is the cause of headaches and general grogginess.
I notice that when I sleep less I’m actually more awake and alert during the day. When I had a busy job I used this to my advantage and strictly rationed my hours under the sheets. This approach isn’t pain-free, however. The main problem is getting out of bed in the first place. Initially I had to fight nausea. There are also issues late in the evening, when sleepiness tends to come along suddenly. Lots of successful people have advocated only sleeping 6-8 hours a night. British PM Margaret Thatcher was one of them, and she regularly worked through until the early hours. On the other hand, I’ve never read about any successful person mentioning they regularly put in 14 hours a night.
