We all feel tired from time to time but feeling tired all the time can have a negative impact on your happiness.
If you have only had your ABI for a short time, you could still be adjusting to life outside of hospital. Every little thing that you do requires concentration and this can be hard work for your . This can make you feel very tired. For more information and tips on feeling very tired- known as - whilst at school see the tiredness and fatigue section in problems an ABI may cause.
If you have been given medicine to stop you from having an epileptic , this can sometimes make you feel sleepy. If this problem goes on for sometime, you should speak to your doctor. They may be able to give you other medicine that doesn’t make you feel as tired.
Feeling very tired can also be part of being a teenager even if you don’t have an ABI. This is because there are lots of hormonal changes in the body and you will spend a lot of the time growing. This can be quite tiring for the body too.
Teenage boys have particularly hard time with hormonal changes in their body affecting their sleep pattern. This means they cannot get to sleep at night, cannot get up in the morning and feel sleepy in the afternoon. This can put them in a bad mood and can be even worse if you have a .
It is also tiring learning to be an adult. There are lots of different things that change as you grow older. When you were younger you often get protected from things and can on just having fun. As you grow older you have to take on new responsibilities and this can make you tired too.
Feeling tired all the time can affect your ability to learn things as well. People tend to learn better if they have had a good night’s sleep.
How can I get help with sleeping problems?
Keep a sleep log: Get a family member to keep a log of how you are sleeping. This can include things like how long you slept for, when you slept and if you felt better after having a sleep. Look at the following questions:
- When do you feel sleepy? Not everyone with an ABI wants to sleep at night. Feeling sleepy in the day can be really difficult sometimes.
- Do you feel better by taking afternoon naps? Some people benefit from an afternoon nap although if you sleep too long it can stop you sleeping at night time.
- How long do you sleep for? Some people find it hard to get to sleep and others find it easy to fall asleep but wake up easily. This can make sleeping difficult and you don’t feel refreshed.
- Are you worried, stressed or ? This can really affect your sleep and you may find it difficult to fall asleep it all if you have any of these problems. If you are worried about something, you should tell someone.
- Is there anything you can do to help you sleep? Some people find it useful to have a milky drink before bed but this might not be good for you if you take anti- at night time. Others read a book or try relaxation exercises. You might want to try some relaxation exercises in our stress section. Having the same every night can also help, so if you usually listen to some music and go to sleep at 9.30pm, try and do that every night. It is also important not to do anything too exciting or stimulating before going to bed, so playing a shoot ‘em up computer game is a bad idea, as is having any containing food or drink.
What else to do
If sleep is becoming a real problem, you should go and see you doctor. They may be able to give you some sleeping pills or some pills that make you stay asleep when you do drop off. Some sleeping pills can make you fall asleep and others can help you fall asleep naturally by increasing your levels of sleep hormone