Excessive Sleepiness and Sleep Apnea

Extreme Fatigue and Sleepiness During Daytime

Excessive sleepiness is the most common sleep complaint in patients with sleep apnea.

Sleepiness appears normally during the process of falling asleep, when your body "feels" that sleep is approaching. However, an abnormal situation is when sleepiness is excessive and interferes with daytime activities.

Medicine called this symptom excessive daytime sleepiness or EDS.

Some people have this symptom for a long time, and they don't realize what does excessive really mean, or how much sleep is enough. And how can you blain them if they lived with excessive sleepiness all their life?

It's not normal to have to struggle to stay awake at work, at theatres, at parties, while driving or watching a sport game on the stadium.

Causes of Excessive Daytime Sleepiness

Excessive Daytime Sleepiness results mainly from sleep fragmentation, or frequent awakenings from sleep.

The cause of these awakenings (to a person with sleep apnea disorder) is repeated apnea episodes during sleep. That's why your sleep quality is so poor, and that's why you want to sleep more in the morning and throughout the day.

Other causes of excessive daytime sleepiness are:

• working during the night,


• insomnia,


• restless legs syndrome


• narcolepsy.

Fortunately these sleep disorders can be easily diagnosed and effectively treated. Don't forget to check the page about the sleep test to find how to diagnose the cause of your symptom.

People who read about Excessive Daytime Sleepiness also read about:

• Causes of extreme fatigue


• Chronic fatigue syndrome symptoms


• New treatments for Sleep Apnea

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