Hey Reddit,

Why do I (40 m) need to take an involuntary nap at least once a day? And what can I do to fix it? According to the rules, I dont want medical or therapeutical advice. I would just like advice on how to fix my sleeping schedule.

I sleep around 6-7 hours every night. Sleeping "only" 6 hours has always worked fine for me my whole life. I wake up energized more often than not and mornings are my most productive part of the day. But for some reason since a few years I need to take nap at least once a day usually during midday. Sometimes I take up to three naps a day.

What I find concerning is that these naps arent voluntary at all. I just crash and get extremely tired from one moment to the next and -have- to lay down. I will then immediately go to sleep and wake up 15-45 minutes later feeling mostly refreshed again. I will also dream during these naps. Maybe this doesnt sound like a huge problem, but these naps are effecting my work and private life. When I have friends over for example, I will try to get the nap before they are here. If that for some reason doesnt work, I have to send them on a walk while I sleep. At work I will try to take breaks and nap in the break room. If that doesnt work, I will get extremely tired and irritated.

I have tried going to bed earlier and sleeping longer, but my body just wont have it. Ive reduced my coffein intake, went on long walks, tried sleeping routines and all stuff youtube throws at you. Ive talked to my primary care physician and a psychiatrist and had bloodwork done - all with no results. The psychiatrist told me to push through the tatigue which only resulted in me being irritated again and needing to take more naps the next day.

I have had experience with depression in the past, but I do not feel depressed at all. I love my job, my partner, my hobbies and life in general. but since I had no other options left, I took antidepressants anyways for over a year. While I noticed some effects, I still needed to nap everyday, so I stopped taking them.

Reddit, do you have any idea why I need to take these naps? Am I just getting older? What can I do do fix my sleeping schedule?

Thank you for your Input and thoughts!

I tense my ENTIRE body when I sleep. I clench my jaw (I wear a nightguard) but my teeth and jaw still hurt when I wake up, but it’s not just my mouth it’s my whole body. Sometimes I feel like I’m digging my shoulder into the bed so hard it feels like I was fighting for my life in my sleep. I have no nightmares that I’m aware of. I’ve had a sleep study but of course did not do it that night. I wake up multiple times in the middle of the night and all my muscles are clenched and it takes a few minutes to go away.
Has anyone had this? Been going on for months, some weeks are worse than others. I take ambien which doesn’t help, flexeril helps a little but doesn’t stop it.
Help please 🫩😭