I don't know why...but everytime I get home from work, I have all these things I plan on doing...but then I get the terrible sensation of going to sleep..I start nodding off. So I say to myself, we'll its 7...I can take a nap and wake up at 1 and start doing my preparation...but no! I fall asleep until 5:30 in the morning. I honestly don't know of I'm just being lazy or if I'm a little off. But it's frustrating that I do this a lot lately which translates to no work being done. I am very worried. I tried coffee and coke, doesn't do it anymore. I went to the doctor and she said I was fine. Any suggestions? Please help!

[nyteacher29]

this is my night.....come home around 4:30, do about 2 hours of work here and there...by 8 i am winding down and 830 i lay down and either watch a show or sleep. in the profession we are in today, i think it is perfectly normal to be exhausted by 8 especially if we are getting up at 5am! on weekends i try to push it till 10

if the doc said nothing seems to be wrong then i would not worry about it too much.

[teach_love]

..too much stress can cause exhaustion.

However, I was curious if you had labs done when you went to the doctor? Sometimes your blood work can reveal issues the Doc might not otherwise see.

I just called the doctor, my lab results say that I'm not anemic, just hormone imbalance of estrogen..which means that I may need to take something for regulating my period...I was told that it doesn't cause exhaustion...sigh.

[glaciergirl]

I would have said thryoid or blood sugar but if the doctor says you are okay, I don't have a guess.

[Ima Teacher]

Wait on the hormone thing!

I'm peri-menopausal, and my worse issue was with sleep. I wasn't sleepy when I was supposed to sleep, and I was tired when I should be awake. When I did fall asleep, I didn't sleep well. I was awake often.

It was all related to my estrogen levels. I won't take hormone replacement, but I had to have rest. My solution is melatonin and Benadryl. The Benadryl makes me sleepy and helps with itchy, crawly skin. The melatonin has helped normalize my body clock.

[kbrown]

Have you been outside in the sun at all??? I swear this happens to me all the time in the winter. I can not stay awake, but a few days of sunshine and I am recharged. My sister went to the Dr. for the same thing and they prescribed mega doses of Vitamin D. She was better in a few days. If it has come on gradually, this may be the cause.

[imafive]

Are you married? Does your husband snore? His snoring will keep you from sleeping, leading to exhaustion.

Are you single? Do you snore? Sleep apnea will leave you feeling exhausted.

[Mme Escargot]

Whenever I feel overwhelmed and drowning in things I need to do, I get extremely sleepy. I've decided it's sort of a coping mechanism when I get over-stressed.

[EarthMonkey]

I am confused, why would you think that your body is wrong in needing more than six hours sleep a night. Your body is being sensible and telling you you need to sleep more like 10 hours. My advise would be give yourself plenty of sleep.

[newoldteacher]

Sleep Apnea is a problem. You may THINK you are sleeping soundly, but in reality...your body never gets to REM sleep. Since having a sleep study and using a CPAP, I rarely get the urge to sleep after I get home. Something to consider...

[cdr18]

For me to be productive at night, I have to have about 2 cups of coffee. I have that at about 4:00PM, and by 10:00PM I am tired enough to go to sleep. It is just enough to keep me going through the evening! Perhaps I have a slight addiction to coffee...

Thank you all for your thoughtful words of wisdom. I feel a bit better now to know that it is okay to feel tired...my main concern is basically being able to be more productive. Maybe I should do a more specfiic to do list rather than: grade papers to make me more efficient and get things done? Does that sound ok?

Thank you all!

I do the exact same thing...