Causes of Excessive Daytime Sleepiness

Excessive Daytime sleepiness (EDS) is a medical condition in which a person experiences persistent sleepiness and lack of energy even in the case when he/she has had adequate amount of sleep in the night time. This is a sleep disorder in which any individual feels a need for taking a nap all through the day. EDS may also be a symptom of an underlying disorder or disease such as sleep apnea, narcolepsy or circadian rhythm disorder. There are many causes of excessive daytime sleepiness and details about them are given as following:

Common Causes of Excessive Daytime Sleepiness

  • One of the main and primary causes of this disorder is sleep deprivation which may be either circumstantial or self imposed. Most people these days deprive themselves of sleep in the night time or have erratic sleep timings due to which they may feel the need to sleep in the daytime.
  • Another reason for EDS is working in the night and having a routine or sleeping in the daytime. This makes people used to sleeping during the day and tend to feel sleepy throughout the day even if they get to sleep in the night time for a change.
  • Excessive need to sleep may also be a result of other primary sleeping disorders. If a person has the problem of sleep disordered breathing which is associated with snoring and obstructive sleep apnea. Due to these sleeping disorders, the person might not be able to sleep properly in the night time and hence may feel the need to sleep throughout the day.
  • Another cause of excessive daytime sleepiness may be insomnia. Insomnia basically means difficult in sleeping or staying asleep for long durations of time. Due to this, one might experience fatigue throughout the day which might result in the excessive need to sleep during the day.
  • Restless legs syndrome is a disorder which is characterized by an urge to move the legs due to a feeling of restlessness or unpleasant sensation or feeling in the legs. People who suffer from this particular disorder might experience the need to sleep during the day time because they are unable to sleep in the night due to this restlessness. So even this is another cause of EDS.

Excessive daytime sleepiness is easy to diagnose and treat and this is good news for everyone who suffers from this condition. You just need to take medical consultation and help for the same.