Lately I've been waking up feeling really groggy and sluggish, feeling like "I need more sleep.". Once I manage to drag myself out of bed and move around a bit, that feeling fades. Is that normal for genuine lack of sleep in healthy people (I can't remember)? Also, that feeling isn't worse if I get too little sleep (insomnia is common) and isn't reduced if I manage to sleep extra long. Thus, it doesn't really fit the hypothesis of defective sleep.
As I understand it, lack of sleep can dampen perceptions. So, is it possible that we're actually getting properly refreshing sleep, which sharpens our perceptions in a way that makes us feel like we have symptoms similar to lack of sleep? I haven't considered this hypothesis in depth, so I thought I'd ask the rest of those with "unrefreshing sleep" whether their symptoms and responses to various factors, such as sleep duration or changes after exertion, fits this hypothesis better?
I just thought of another hypothesis: we aren't clearing out the melatonin or related sleep chemicals properly. Melatonin tablets may help me fall asleep, but they also make me feel really groggy, like I didn't have enough sleep, so that might be supporting evidence. I suppose this hypothesis is testable, if an MRI scan can measure melationin levels in the brain.
Third hypothesis: we don't produce the "wake-up" chemicals fast enough or to an adequate level. Waking up isn't as simple as the melatonin being used up. There must be hormones or other neurochemicals involved. This should be testable too.
As I understand it, lack of sleep can dampen perceptions. So, is it possible that we're actually getting properly refreshing sleep, which sharpens our perceptions in a way that makes us feel like we have symptoms similar to lack of sleep? I haven't considered this hypothesis in depth, so I thought I'd ask the rest of those with "unrefreshing sleep" whether their symptoms and responses to various factors, such as sleep duration or changes after exertion, fits this hypothesis better?
I just thought of another hypothesis: we aren't clearing out the melatonin or related sleep chemicals properly. Melatonin tablets may help me fall asleep, but they also make me feel really groggy, like I didn't have enough sleep, so that might be supporting evidence. I suppose this hypothesis is testable, if an MRI scan can measure melationin levels in the brain.
Third hypothesis: we don't produce the "wake-up" chemicals fast enough or to an adequate level. Waking up isn't as simple as the melatonin being used up. There must be hormones or other neurochemicals involved. This should be testable too.