Signs You Are Getting Too Much Sleep

1. You struggle to wake up in the morning

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Life is busy and it often feels like we are not getting enough rest, even if we are sleeping often.  But it is possible to get too much sleep and the first tell-tale sign of you getting a little too much shut-eye is that you are completely unable to wake up in the morning, even with an alarm clock!

2. You often take naps during the day

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Your body clock might be all out of kilter if you are getting too much sleep day to day and you might find that you are having to take naps throughout the day.  This is a sign that you are actually getting too much sleep because this is going to stop you from doing things when you need to.

3. You frequently oversleep

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In addition to not being able to wake up when you need to, you might find yourself frequently oversleeping.  This might not affect you too much on the weekends, or on the days you don't work but this can have a negative impact on work if you are late often due to your sleeping pattern.

4. You have trouble falling asleep at night

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Now this is a strange one because you feel like you literally ALWAYS sleep.  But a sign that you are sleeping too often is not actually being able to sleep when you should, or when you believed you are supposed to!  So you might have trouble falling asleep at night because you have had too much sleep already.

5. You have trouble concentrating or remembering things

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We all know that sleep is good for us, right?  There's no denying that.  But a recent study has actually found that too much of the good stuff can really lead to a decline in cognitive ability, as well as reasoning skills.  So if you have more than 8 hours of sleep every 24 hours, you may suffer from very undesired brain fog.

6. You wake up frequently during the night

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If you are sleeping so much that you have thrown your body clock completely out of the ordinary, you might also find that you are waking up more frequently at night and you are not getting the sufficient amount of REM and deep sleep that you need to feel energized the next day.

7. You struggle to stay awake during the day

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It must be really frustrating if you feel like you are sleeping a lot but you are always tired.  But if you do sleep more than 8-9 hours at night, you will probably wake up feeling tired.  If this continues to happen though, this could be a sign of a health problem so it might be worth seeing a medical professional.

8. You have a decreased sex drive

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A study found that sleep deprivation had a big effect on both men's and women's sexual desire and arousal and it was found that a lack of sleep can significantly reduce a person's sex life.  On the other hand, more sleep was linked to a higher arousal rate for men and women.  It's not all good news though because if your sleep is interrupted and you're actually still feeling tired all the time, your libido has been found to remain low.

9. You fall asleep during meetings, classes, or anything else that requires your attention

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So, the study that we previously mentioned a few points back found that too much sleep is linked to reduced cognitive ability, and this goes for your concentration too.  This is going to have a huge impact on various parts of your life and you might find that you're regularly falling asleep during meetings and classes.

10. You have vivid dreams or nightmares

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If you sleep too often or even have a sleep disorder, it has been found that you are more likely to have really vivid dreams or even nightmares.  People with a condition called narcolepsy 

often report their really vivid dreams and also tend to feel constantly fatigued.

11. You suffer from eyestrain or eye soreness

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A study from back in 2016 found that people who sleep for more than 8 hours a night are more likely to develop a degenerative eye condition.  This condition is called glaucoma 

and can make a person's vision deteriorate over time.  The study found that those that slept more than 8 hours, particularly over 10 hours or less than 4 hours, were more likely to develop the condition.

12. You experience headaches

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If you sleep too much on the weekend, or even on a regular basis, you might begin to experience headaches.  You see, a longer lay-in can cause the quick release of neurotransmitters which generally tell your blood vessels to contract or dilate, causing you to have a sore head.

13. You struggle to do simple tasks

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Sleeping all the time stops you from doing even the simplest of tasks.  And if you're concentration levels are zapped, as well as your energy, things are going to start to get neglected.  This can include even the smallest day-to-day tasks and this can really affect your well-being.

14. You feel physically weak

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Upsetting your circadian rhythms with too much sleep can really affect how much energy you have.  And if you have very little energy, you are not going to be feeling your best self and some research has found that this even includes making you feel physically weak.

15. You're irritable

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And because your energy levels have been zapped by how much you disrupt your body clock, you are inevitably going to feel incredibly irritable and short-tempered.  You don't have the energy to have enough patience for those around you and therefore begin to feel annoyed all of the time.

16. You suffer from back pain

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If you are in bed a lot and you rarely move much, your body is going to tell you that it is unhappy.  And one common ailment people tend to develop if they're in bed all the time is a bad back.  It might ache a little or be completely unbearable and is definitely a sign that you're sleeping too much.

17. Your hair is getting thinner

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Your hair gets start to thin out for many reasons and it is not always just sleep-related.  But it is common for people to start to lose volume from their hair if they are lying on it constantly.  But other underlying issues like stress can contribute to this too so it is worth considering different reasons if you are worried about hair loss.

18. You experience weight gain

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Not moving much due to your sleeping habits can really play havoc with your body and as well as having various aches and pains, you might also notice that you are putting on some weight.  This may be due to not moving your body enough or as much as you used to.

19. Your muscle tone is weaker

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If you sleep too much, you will notice changes in your body.  These might include aches, lack of mobility, and weight gain, and you might also find that your muscle tone is much weaker than it once was.  This might be a sign that you are sleeping too much if you notice this bodily change.

20. You have trouble regulating your body temperature

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You might also begin to notice that your body is having trouble regulating its temperature.  During non-rapid eye movement sleep or nREM, your body's core temperature cools down and then heats up when you enter REM sleep.  But if this is disrupted, your body can start to struggle to regulate its core temperature and you might feel too hot or too cold.

21. You experience chronic fatigue

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If you sleep too often, and for too long, studies have found that you won't wake up feeling refreshed after a good night's sleep!  In fact, you are more likely to feel more tired, particularly if you get more than 8 hours of sleep.  And the research found that the longer you sleep beyond 8 hours, the more tired you'll become.

22. You have an increased risk of developing health problems

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Multiple studies over the years have found that humans are more likely to develop chronic health problems if they regularly sleep for more than the recommended amounts.  These conditions include stroke, dementia, obesity, glaucoma, and heart disease, to name a few.

23. You have an increased risk of developing dementia

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Back in 2019, a study conducted into the effects of sleeping too much found that if you regularly sleep for 9 or more hours a night, you are more at risk of developing dementia later in life.  But other studies found that if you sleep less than 5 hours a night, you are also twice as likely to develop dementia.

24. You might experience depression

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It is a common misconception that oversleeping causes depression and many health professionals will attest to this.  But oversleeping can be a common symptom of depression so if you are worried about your sleeping pattern, it is advised that you share this with a loved one or expert.

25. You may have higher levels of anxiety

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Oversleeping is often referred to in the medical world as hypersomnia.

And amongst many of its effects on the body and the mind is also heightened anxiety.  Studies have, in fact, found a link between sleeping too much and experiencing symptoms of anxiety and trouble concentrating.

26. You might experience digestive issues

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If you sleep too much and spend a lot of your time in bed, it is likely that you are not moving your body as much as it needs in order to function normally.  And not moving can give you digestive issues, including bloating, and constipation, because your digestive system and metabolism will slow right down.

27. You have an increased risk of developing obesity

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Amongst the health problems you might experience if you sleep too much is the risk of developing obesity.  This could be because you are not likely to be moving half as much as you need to in order to burn off the calories that you are eating.  This, alongside a slow metabolism, can really cause health issues related to obesity.

28. You have an increased risk of developing a stroke

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If you regularly oversleep, you are also more likely to develop a stroke.  A large-scale study found that those who oversleep regularly are twice as likely to develop a stroke than those who slept the recommended amount.  Other research found that those who sleep too much are 85% more likely to suffer a stroke.

29. You have an increased risk of developing heart disease

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A medical study found that sleeping for too long puts a lot of stress on the body.  And these elevated levels of stress on the body increase the production of C-reactive protein, which is associated with heart disease.  And sleeping over 9 hours has been linked to an increased risk of suffering a heart attack.

30. You experience a general feeling of unwellness

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So if you sleep more than the recommended average of 7-9 hours per night, you are possibly putting yourself at risk of a number of physical and mental health conditions.  So it's no wonder that people have reported that when they sleep too much, they constantly have a general feeling of being unwell.