Reaching for a third cup of coffee before 10 a.m., a foggy feeling that won’t lift, and heavy eyelids are some obvious signs of sleep deprivation, but it also has a way of showing up in unexpected places, like your appetite, your bladder, and even your jaw. The thing is, we don’t connect these symptoms to our lack of sleep, so we might not realize we have a sleep problem.
Sleep experts say these overlooked signs could point to sleep deprivation:
- You have ADHD-like symptoms - According to some sleep specialists, undiagnosed sleep disorders - especially obstructive sleep apnea - can mimic ADHD symptoms, or make them worse, particularly in kids. Dr Alice Hoagland, director of Rochester Regional Health’s sleep disorder clinic, says not getting enough sleep can trigger or worsen problems with attention, behavior and impulse control.
- You crave junk food - Sleep deprivation throws off the balance of two key appetite hormones: ghrelin, which drives hunger and leptin, which signals fullness. So when you’re exhausted, Dr. David Benavides, sleep medicine physician at Harvard Medical School, says the body “sends a stronger ‘eat’ signal and a weaker ‘I’m full’ signal.”
- You’re way more emotional than usual - From snapping at someone to crying at the drop of a hat, it could be the brain reacting more strongly to things because you’re overly tired.
- You may even confess to something you didn’t do - Now this one is weird! A 2016 study found that sleep-deprived participants were more than four times as likely as well-rested ones to sign a statement falsely claiming they’d done something they hadn’t.
- You wake up with a pounding headache - People with sleep apnea often report headaches, especially in the morning after a night of disrupted breathing. Sleep disorder specialist Dr. Saema Tahir explains, “It’s related to low oxygen and high carbon dioxide in your brain from abnormal breathing.”
- You grind your teeth - Stress may play a role in teeth grinding and jaw clenching, but sleep studies show that it often happens after breathing disruptions during sleep.
- You keep waking up to use the bathroom - Tahir says this is one of the most important and overlooked signs of sleep-disordered breathing.
- You feel wired but exhausted at night - This is common, but not normal, according to Tahir, who says it’s an “absolute sign of you not having proper healthy sleep.” It can happen in just a few weeks, as poor sleep throws off stress hormones, which keep you in alert mode so you can’t wind down at night.
- You keep getting sick - Sleep and the immune system are linked, as one study shows that just one night of reduced sleep led to a 28% drop in natural killer cell activity, the immune system’s first line of defense.
- You’re having microsleeps behind the wheel (and don’t know it) - We don’t always know when it’s time to pull over from drowsy driving. Sleep-deprived participants in driving-simulator studies experience repeated microsleeps - “brief, involuntary lapses into sleep lasting seconds” - before they realize how exhausted they are.
Source: Time