Why do I always feel sleepy?
Jul 17, 2025
Source: Cainiu Health
Dr. Yang Ziqi
Introduction
Feeling constantly drowsy may be caused by factors such as insufficient sleep, excessive fatigue, iron-deficiency anemia, hypothyroidism, or obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. It is recommended to seek timely medical consultation to identify the underlying cause and receive appropriate treatment under a doctor's guidance. Daily routines should include maintaining regular sleep and dietary habits, engaging in moderate aerobic exercise such as brisk walking or swimming, and improving overall physical fitness and energy levels.
Generally, feeling sleepy all the time might be caused by factors such as insufficient sleep, excessive fatigue, iron deficiency anemia, hypothyroidism, or obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. It is recommended to seek timely medical consultation to identify the underlying cause and receive appropriate treatment under a doctor's guidance. Detailed explanations are as follows:
1. Insufficient Sleep: Long-term late nights and irregular sleep schedules can lead to inadequate sleep duration or poor sleep quality, preventing the body and brain from getting sufficient rest, manifesting as frequent drowsiness and difficulty concentrating. Adjusting sleep schedules, ensuring 7-8 hours of sleep daily, avoiding staying up late, reducing electronic device usage before bedtime, and creating a quiet sleeping environment can help alleviate drowsiness once sleep improves.
2. Excessive Fatigue: Prolonged high-intensity work or strenuous exercise can excessively consume body energy, keeping muscles and nerves in a continuous state of tension, causing fatigue and drowsiness, which can be relieved by resting. Reasonably arranging work and exercise intensity, avoiding excessive physical exhaustion, taking appropriate breaks every 1-2 hours of work, relaxing the body through walking and stretching, and increasing dietary intake of proteins and vitamins to replenish energy are recommended.
3. Iron Deficiency Anemia: Inadequate iron intake or excessive iron loss leads to reduced hemoglobin levels, decreasing the blood's oxygen-carrying capacity and causing insufficient oxygen supply to the brain, resulting in drowsiness accompanied by pallor, fatigue, dizziness, and headaches. Patients can follow medical advice to take iron supplements such as ferrous fumarate tablets, ferrous succinate tablets, or ferrous sulfate sustained-release tablets, while consuming more iron-rich foods like lean meat and animal liver. Drowsiness will decrease once the anemia is corrected.
4. Hypothyroidism: Insufficient thyroid hormone secretion slows down body metabolism and reduces energy production, manifesting as persistent drowsiness, cold intolerance, and weight gain. Patients should follow medical advice to take hormone supplements such as levothyroxine sodium tablets, thyroid tablets, or alfacalcidol soft capsules, regularly recheck thyroid function to adjust medication dosages, and improve drowsiness symptoms once metabolism returns to normal.
5. Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome: Airway blockage during sleep causes frequent breathing pauses, leading to oxygen deficiency and interrupted sleep, manifesting as severe daytime drowsiness, snoring, and headaches. Patients should control body weight, adopt a lateral sleeping position, avoid alcohol consumption before bedtime, and use continuous positive airway pressure therapy or undergo uvulopalatopharyngoplasty for severe symptoms, thereby expanding the upper airway passage, improving ventilation and sleep quality, and reducing drowsiness.
Maintaining regular sleep and dietary habits and engaging in appropriate aerobic exercises such as brisk walking and swimming can enhance physical fitness and energy levels. If drowsiness continues to affect daily life, recording sleep patterns and associated symptoms will help doctors identify the cause and implement targeted interventions to improve daytime alertness.
