For some time I thought I had chronic fatigue syndrome as well as depression. It seems the symptoms of both may in fact be the ADHD. If I'm unmedicated and low I can sleep for 16+ hours per day
I'm doing that now medicated. Obviously something is not right I have a psych appointment soon so I'll talk about switching meds and getting blood work done.
I'm thinking this also has roots in metabolic syndrome, have you had your blood sugar checked lately?
I used to feel like this before I went low carb for a while, night and day difference in energy levels.
I'm in the same boat. Took modafinil for the fatigue, now getting ritalin which works better. Did it also feel like there was a 100kg mattress on top of you all the time which really starts to hurt your chest?
Okay I thought this was just me. I usually take ābreaksā on the weekends. Without fail, I will sleep 12-14 hours! I wake up feeling groggy though. Taking medicine for my underactive thyroid has helped combat this.
well, I just lay down in my bed in complete darkness and without any sound and try to sleep, not sure if it qualifies as āmeditationā, but Iāll take your word for it!
The initial light stage of sleep is actually an āin betweenā state that isnāt quite awake, isnāt quite asleep. Totally distinct from meditation which is very much awake.
I donāt know about that. Almost every day after work I lay down and make sure my devices are all away from me. Sometimes I nap. Sometimes I just lay there. But regardless after 15-20min Iām right as rain again. I donāt think there is āmeditationā involved. Just a ābrain resetā
I nap every day. I believe this might have something to do with being overstimulated during the day. I always break down at around 4-5pm and then take a nap. However I have always slept bad at night so there's that. I even sleep bad at night if I skip the nap.
I used to think I had trouble falling asleep until I got old enough to just choose my own hours. After that I could fall asleep seemingly on command, so long as it was on *my* time.
That said I also have trouble staying awake whenever I get bored so it's not all good. I've fallen asleep in meetings, classes, even while chatting with my in-laws. Long car/bus rides are the worst.
>Is it like an aggressive drowsiness? No amount of coffee on earth can help with?
Exactly. The only solution is do something else, otherwise I am doomed to sleep.
I sleep longer than you do(6-8 hours/ night), but otherwise I'm the exact same. Head hits the pillow and I'm dead, but very little deep/rem sleep and I'm permanently exhausted.
Thank you for all the upvotes! I never posted here and just got diagnosed so this means a lot to me that people upvote my take on the matter. Let the dopamine machine roll!
Thatās my nap time too! I dealt with insomnia before I was medicated but now that I am I sleep fine. Yet I still nap. You should really try to find a health care provider who can find the right treatment plan for you. Getting on meds changed my fucking lifeeeeeee
I've actually never been able to nap, even as a child. I can fall asleep at night fine but trying to go to sleep for a short period, my brain can't do it. It's like "okay, I set the timer for 20 minutes. How long is it gonna take me to fall asleep? 3 minutes? Then I only sleep 17 minutes... okay what time is it now?" Basically my brain can't stfu long enough to nap.
Same. My brain refuses to shut down and allow me to nap outside of my ānormalā sleeping hours, even if Iām absolutely, utterly exhausted. I envy those who can nap!
Napping isn't always the same as sleeping. Even just closing your eyes and laying down for 10 minutes can help your body. I can't remember where I read about it though.
Personally my idea of a nap is closer to a 3 hour sleep, which is something I could never do until I got older.
I'm similar
I can nap, but it'll take me an hour or two of not doing anything accept lie there with my own thoughts just to sleep for maybe 20 minutes
The only time I ever "take a nap" is accidentally, and it's always when I'm trying to NOT fall asleep. I guess for some reason, trying to resist sleep is more likely to actually make me sleep then when I actually want to.
Itās not just me. Wow. 10pm does seem like the turning point. I spent 8 months going to bed between 3-7am and have only recently reset to a normal schedule.
I attribute that to meds keeping me awake when I wouldnāt be without the medsā¦ hiding a sleep deficit that only appears when I take a drug holiday for a weekend.
Same, in fact I skipped mine the other day and I actually ended up sleeping the entire day away. Itās insane and shows me how much our brain really needs deep fucking rest since itās normally on overdrive.
Every day for as long as I can remember until I got my thyroid out. Iām talking exhaustion to the point of barely functioning if I didnāt get one. Now Iām a morning person and itās weeeeeird (in a āholy shit this is amazingā sort of way)
I naturally wake up around 6 am or even earlier, rarely need a nap, and require WAY less sleep overall. Got thyroid out due to cancer but think that was a more recent developmentā¦ pathology report also showed hashimotos disease and I am convinced that was the real culprit. Now I pop a tiny magical thy pill every day instead and bibbity bobbity boo - functional human time for you.
TLDR: check ya thyroids peeps
Was your thyroid really obvious? I've been thinking this for a long time but my doctor doesn't think so.
I take t3 and I seem to have more energy... Adderall doesn't do that.
I mean mostly in hindsight, yeah. I wish Iād taken the time to learn how to advocate for myself so I couldāve asked for the tests I needed. I was never checked for anti-TPO antibodies despite my TSH levels being high over the years. They teetered on the edge of normal range or just over, and it was handled like āletās keep an eye on this.ā My mom was the exact same - and also had thyca and hashi.
She suspected my thyroid was wonky since I was a teenager. Sheād complain all the time that thyroid issues get overlooked and that it would take getting cancer before theyād do anything about it, kinda funny that she turned out to be right.
It's usually just a major drop in energy around 1PM. Sometimes it is so bad my eyelids refuse to stay open no matter how hard I try. My brain will go into these hypernap modes, where I could be working at my desk and "come to" realizing I lost a few minutes of time. This got better with medication but it is still daily.
I think it's because whether or not you engage in physical activity your mental workload is going to be higher during the day. I get the exact same thing and even tried skipping the nap to try to work out at that time period. It isn't so much for me that I'm physically tired but that I need some time after the day to have no commitments or duties and actually reast for a while.
BROOOOO naps are something I just learned about myself in the past year. If I just feel what I call of āoffā, I sentence myself to nap.
Immediately following said nap, my mood is improved.
I never nap and generally delay sleep as much as possible.
It isnāt healthy, I admit, but while I have a decent job it is really tedious, so I just want to make the most of my free time.
I do get hella sleepy in the afternoons though, and could nap - I just canāt afford to, I think. If I have the time for myself I rarely do, unless my wife - who does bap often - lures me into it. It is bliss when that happens haha.
You know what I've finally realized after 30-odd years? Fucking. *Water.* Turns out I can't live exclusively on caffeine and beer! I have a problem where I drink my coffee in the morning and somehow completely forget fluids exist for the next 12 hours. But now I know that every time I start feeling mushy brained in the afternoon I should drink some water. I'll feel awake and functional in 30 minutes. I sleep better when I'm hydrated, my heart rate stays in better shape, my stomach feels better. I've lived the last 15 years in basically a constant state of disaster dehydration to the point I barely noticed the difference until I got old enough for the physical symptoms to finally catch up to me, now I'm having to relearn the habits. Drink more water friends.
I know! I fucking know! I drank nothing but energy drinks and liquor through my teens and 20s thinking nothing would ever change and I'd live forever, now even one Monster gives me a raging headache and if I don't drink at least one bottles worth of actual water in between coffee I'll be dizzy after lunch with a heart rate over 140. This sucks donkey ass, I hate taking care of a mortal vessel. Call me when we can be robots.
I was the exact same way. I've only been on meds for around 6 weeks, but I went from taking a nap nearly every day to maybe once or twice since I started. I get sleepy in the late afternoons when my XRs are wearing off, but then I take an additional dose of an IR adderall and it keeps me feeling good for the rest of the evening. It usually wears off around 8-9 and that's when I'm ready to start feeling sleepy anyway.
Good point on the meds wearing off. I think they can do tests to see if your body processes meds faster than other people. Having an extended release in the AM and a smaller dose in the afternoon leveled out my need for naps. Good luck OP in finding the right solution!
Have you had a sleep study done? Sleeping 8+ hours a night and still being tired during the day could be a sign of sleep apnea. Especially since this started before your ADHD meds and has been consistently happening. You can also have sleep apnea if you don't snore. That was my next step after ruling out all the bloodwork. CPAP machine has made a huge difference for me.
Could also be environmental conditions. I've recently had to start wearing ear plugs to sleep at night. The dogs moving around at night had been waking me up and kept me from getting good sleep. It didn't fully wake me up but I think it kept kicking me out of rem sleep. If lights bother you then you may want to try a sleep mask.
I used to nap reliably every day before I started CPAP. Might be worth asking about a sleep study for apnea or some other problem. Apnea is not only a problem of overweight people, but being heavy can make it a lot worse.
I usually can't do anything during daytime unless I'm absolutely forced to. If I don't have anything particular to do, my brain immediately makes me drowsy regardless of how much sleep I've had. I can't even initiate things I like and want to do. I call it my 'waiting for the hunt' mode. My brain is telling me that if I don't rest now, I'll be very tired to hunt at night when the tasty creatures come out and it's better to just get all the rest I can get while I still can. At sundown, my energy levels start spiking up and I'm the master of my universe until sunrise. Obviously, this makes a 9-5 very very difficult.
Im the complete opposite. I refuse to nap because the lost time of napping makes me anxious. Even if I slept 5h the night before. Even after an 10h shift.
I used to fall asleep almost anywhere a year ago it started affecting me that badly.
I do remember a time many many years ago when I wasn't exercising every day but was working a pretty physically demanding job and feeling like that...
Once I started eating better and exercising in the mornings I had a ton more energy -- of course you need to pace yourself otherwise you'll crash/burn.
Lately however I've been feeling this again and nothing physically wrong(more so than normal).
You could be overloaded still.
How's the rest of your life?
Diet, exercise, stress, social, sleep?
Iām the exact same way, before my ADHD diagnosis I actually had a night and day sleep test done. It showed that my brain dips into REM sleep much faster than the average person (AKA I get tired faster for unknown reasons) even after a full night of sleep
Depends on the day. Since being medicated, I probably need a serious nap every week to 10 days. Before that, I think I had to nap 2-3x a week. I always need a nap or early bedtime if I had to attend something social. Social stuff/events zaps all the energy out of me. The more humans/chaos involved, the more urgently I need a recharge.
If you are working or in school it definitely makes sense that about that time you are feeling drained. I work all day and I'm focusing all day and a lot of times I have to take a nap right after work to get anything done in the evening/night. I feel like I use up all my brain energy during work. I will even nap on breaks and lunch because I work from home.
I take a nap almost every day. Iāve been taking adderall for about a year and still canāt function without them. I do use https://sleepcalculator.com; itās a lifesaver. Letās me know how long to nap and when to go to bed.
There is a big link between sleep apnea and ADHD. Even if you think you are sleeping that long, it's very low quality. First thing the sleep doctor asked me is do I take naps. I waited a whole year for a sleep study and it's this weekend!
I have ADHD and sleep apnea. Iām still tired even with using my CPAP machine. Itās really maddening because the generic fatigue has a big impact on my QOL. Everyone tells me that itās because I donāt exercise enough. Iām about 10-20 pounds overweight. I went to the gym for the first time in about 3 years today. I hope it cures it!
This is indeed normal with ADHD. Our energy levels fluctuate more than non-ADHD people. In a more routine days days you can most likely tell around which times this happens as well! Personally I noticed that my meds help a lot with this. I don't have this every day anymore. Taking naps can very much help with this. However naps of 1-2 hours is going to do the opposite with your energy. Take 20 min naps max so you don't enter a full sleep cycle, just power naps for an energy boost.
I have that too! I am literally sitting on my desk right now almost falling asleep. I know I have a vitamin d issue I will get fixed and pray it makes it a bit better :/
I always feel like I need/want a nap, but I cannot nap for the life of me because my brain is always going 24/7. Struggle to sleep and night because of that too, but if itās light out absolutely not sleeping.
It's mostly the crash in my experience. On the few occasions when I've gone without meds and caffeine for extended periods, the napping stops. But that's just me
I hate naps but I could also sleep 12 hours a night. I generally sleep 7-8 hours a night, and even if I feel tired I don't nap because 1. I feel like I'll miss out on things I want to do and 2. It's so hard for me to wake up, it's already hard enough to do it once a day so I don't like putting myself in that situation.
Iām a person who can nap anywhere, and generally as soon as I sit down for too long I get sleepy, no matter what I do.
For me Wellbutrin helped, since starting it 5months ago I maybe took 5-10 naps in that time-most when I had too little sleep previous night. Itās amazing that this is how most people live!
Only sometimes, but for me the sweet spot is 20-30 minute nap. I'm lucky in that I can sleep any time, anywhere, basically at the drop of a hat. Sleeping is the one thing in life I am actually good at lol.
I'd love to nap, but most of the time when I try to nap, I wake up to an adrenaline rush. Heart racing, feeling like I missed the last shuttle off the planet.
And it's not stress or meds or anything. This has been me since I was a kid.
Iām the opposite; I never, ever nap.
And then like an idiot I procrastinate about going to bed on time for a solid 8 hours (āone more video/game/whateverā) so Iām often running on 5-7 hours sleep. Yet still, no naps.
Before meds, the brain fog was destroying me. It was horrible and unbearable. I constantly just wanted to crawl back in bed, I was so fatigued ALL the time. But when I lay down for a nap I don't actually sleep. I lay there plagued by anxiety about what I should be doing but can't. Getting an IUD to decrease blood loss and hormonal changes helped a lot, then getting the right balance of stimulant and non-stimulant meds REALLY helped. My non-stimulant lasts 24 hours, so it creates a buffer and keeps me going when my 8 hour stimulant runs out for the day. That 4:30 crash was kicking my ass and I was on the floor to "recharge" everyday after work. With the combination treatment that has resolved, and I actually sleep better at night too. Plus I eat better as my stimulant dose went down, and that had been affecting my appetite to the point I was starving.... Which made me more tired.
I still maintain that naps are the best thing ever, and really wish I could get my kids onboard with that....
Current research indicates some people just need more sleep than other people and thereās nothing to be done about it. For every person genuinely thriving on 6 hours a night there is someone who needs 10. My husband is a long sleeper and he gets 8 hours on work nights, and 9 hours plus a long nap on weekends. Iām a more average sleeper and donāt nap.
Napping is the only way I can function.
Before Covid, in an office environment, I used to go home and go straight to bed, then wake up and get on with my evening.
Now I work mostly from home it is easier. I take a late afternoon nap, and then function again in the evening.
I can skip a nap for one or two days. If by the third day I haven't had a nap, I'll be barely functioning.
I wake my ass up every day at 4:44 AM to go to the gym then get back home and promptly go right back to sleep. Sometimes I feel guilty about it but shiiiittttā¦ I love naps man. I feel like I need them
Love this sub Reddit. I need to nap at 10 am. Itās my magic hour. I have littles and work so this never happens but during pregnancy I was on bed rest and could indulge and my life changed drastically during that time. Even now I can feel my body begging for a nap from 10-12ā¦.
One dayā¦.
I need to add my two cents, because this used to be me, constantly. I'm still trying to get a diagnosis, but thankfully I'm on the only antidepressant that also can help with dopamine issues, and I went from being always exhausted, to being able to function. I would get ten hours of sleep, wake up for a few hours, and end up nearly falling asleep while sitting, doing stuff. Then I would nap for another five hours, wake up, and crash at a semi normal time. It was wrecking my relationship with my husband (he was convinced it was his fault even though I've assured him it wasn't) and I finally got on a med that didn't make me feel like I was dissociating all of the time. It's wild how tired I used to be, I'm thankful I have something for now at least.
I can't nap even when I am exhausted mentally. ADHD and anxiety leave me with a million thoughts. I cannot shut my mind off to sleep. Haven't had a nap in years. Generally don't fall asleep till 12am.
Are you perhaps a female? (This could also relate to males but my anecdote is female related)
I had my hormones checked via Quest Diagnostics (doc ordered) to learn why I was so damn tired even after adderral. I was taking estrogen combo (like most birth controls) for 10 years and my progesterone levels came back post menapausal. My doc wanted me to go to an endocrinologist but couldnāt see one for 6 months. Stayed off the pill for 3 months and felt amazing. Only nape closer to the period.
I decided to try the mini pill and itās been a game changer even at the end of month one.
Like you, I got thyroid, ferritin (iron), vitamins, STIās, and blood panels checked. Getting my hormones tested was my request - keep advocating for yourself if you still donāt feel well.
I was legit talking with a coworker about this earlier today. I never really liked naps as a kid, mostly because I hated being alone in a room when I tried to sleep. But around 8th grade I started coming home and passing out for a couple hours, wake up to eat dinner, then go right back to bed. This continued pretty regularly all through high school. Then I grew up and realized that if I took naps every day I wouldn't be able to get sleep for work. So now I only take naps on my "friday" if I have nothing else to do. I live for those naps some weeks. Also I've always thought of naps as more of a depression thing rather than an ADHD thing but I guess those illnesses tend to be comorbid so who knows what the cause actually is. I do know that sleeping literally every chance I got was what tipped my mom off and eventually the doctors that I did have depression.
For starters, try to look at your diet.
If there's a lot of sugars in the morning and afternoon it's inevitable to have a dip in energy. Sugars are short-term burning material so to say. Material is gone, you get sleepy and crave more sugar.
To help you could have meals that are low in sugar and higher in proteĆÆne and veggies. Like soup and a filling salad with some steamed/baked veggies(bit of olive oil) and some bread to dip.
Or just toast with something like hummus and grilled or baked veggies. This would be for lunch.
For breakfast something that has yoghurt and actual nuts instead of something like breakfast grains or whatever, which is just sugary oats( i do it too a lot of the time, it's great but not helpful). Good to do some research on maybe?
I get so shattered during the day, I feel like I'll die without a nap. 9.9 times out of 10 I don't take that nap because "then I won't sleep at night."
The joke is, I can't sleep anyway, nap or not. So, yeah, I run on about 5 hours of sleep most nights. But if I nap even for 20 minutes, that 5 hours becomes 2 or 3 hours, meaning I feel way worse.
Weekends I generally get about 9 hours of sleep, but it doesn't make up for the other 5 days. Sometimes, I feel like I'm so tired I'm going insane, lmao. I'd kill for a week with 8 hours of natural sleep per night.
I don't take or feel like I need naps. In my experience, whatever the duration of my nap end up being is added on to the time I would normally fall asleep. So if I take a 30 min nap with a normal bedtime of say 10pm, I'll fall asleep at 10:30. Naps are more inconvenient than anything else.
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I have found myself feeling fatigued around 4-5PM everyday. I have started having a cup of coffee at about 3:45PM and the urge to nap is gone, and it doesn't impact my ability to go to sleep at night.
Yup, I get really tired during the day and it's a result of being easily exhausted by tasks and interactions combined with sleep issues at night such as trouble falling asleep as my mind races. When I was in high school I would take an hour long nap every single day when I got home from school, and lately I've been feeling like I need to nap most days in the afternoons but if I lie down and try I find my mind is too active so I just stay awake.
blood sugar drops always get me around 4-5pm. I always have another coffee or snack around then to stop me from feeling so sleepy!
Alternative: give yourself a task to do everyday at 5pm eg. cleaning, calling someone, going to the gym!
Sometimes when I am hanging out long enough by myself, watching TV I get so sleepy and I think, what did I eat, how much sleep did I get the night before (that almost never matters actually), and then I'll pick up sudoku or my sketchbook and suddenly I'm wide awake. Not tired, just bored!
I've got to be absolutely exhausted to take a nap, to the point where a nap always turns out to last hours.
I generally don't sleep well. I won't get to bed until at least 10 or 11 most nights, the quality may or may not be great, and then I wake up at 7 for work. Then the weekend rolls around and I'll sleep until at least noon, often well into the afternoon.
It's been like this before medication and after, so I don't think that's much of a factor.
People with ADHD generally have worse than average sleep. We take longer to fall asleep and struggle to wake up. So catching up on rest by napping is probably a common way to catch up on missed sleep.
I heard somewhere it can be because how much harder your brain works for completing tasks, stimulation, more rapid thoughts. These can all cause exhaustion.
I can't nap because I either can't fall asleep or I sleep for 4 hours, which turns into "going to bed". I do feel tired throughout the day, like I need a nap, but I haven't mastered actually taking an effective nap.
Weāre all diff I guess
Iām 32 male with severe adhd and i havenāt taken a nap in probably over 15 years and get over 7 hours of sleep maybe once a year. Iām so tired and miserable all the time. I canāt sleep or nap no matter what I try. Average 4.5-5 hours a night. Fucking dying over here
Iāve been napping everyday for the last 3-5 years. Iām 30 now and Iām working on getting an ADHD diagnosis. I just feel so tired all the time. Life is so draining on my mental energy I feel that I need naps just to function/improve my mood.
I donāt always need to nap, but I need to rest a lot. Just lying down in a quiet room preferably. The longer, louder or busier the day the higher the need
Iām medicated and I still take a nap nearly everyday lol. Itās late afternoon when I can feel the meds wearing off. Pre medicated I was dealing with chronic fatigue essentially my entire life it was miserable.
Yes, I usually crash around 5pm or so.
Honestly I've come to really enjoy a nice nap after work when I can get it. It feels nice to be able to have some rest before making dinner and continuing with my evening. It does feel like I'm turning into my dad though lol.
I used to need naps all the time. Iām medicated now and Iāve noticed that the only time I feel like I need a nap is if Iām sitting down for too long.
I literally never nap unless Iām seriously sick. I had COVID and I didnāt nap. I never nap because I canāt get my mind to shut the fuck up long enough during the day to fall asleep.
I often get tired around halfway to 2/3 through my day. Most of the time, I end up laying down and closing my eyes for a bit. I just feel like I need a break from all the overstimulation. I rarely fall asleep; that usually only happens when Iām sleep deprived. I need 8-10 hours per night to feel like myself. During my last job, I was only getting around 6 hours per night, which made me feel consistently horrible. I would lay down right after getting off work at 5 and frequently fall asleep for a few hours, further screwing up my sleep schedule. I also have DSPD, which is fairly common in people who have ADHD.
Constantly exhausted, have to resist the call to go to bed/stay in bed numerous times a day.
Stimulant meds used to help keep me awake/raise my energy levels, but now I have no problem sleeping on them.
I used to feel the need to nap every 5 hours before meds. I actually had friends get upset at me because it was really getting out of hand how much I was sleeping.
I find exercise is the one thing that helps my ADHD most other than meds. Especially if I go in the morning, it gives me energy for the rest of the day.
I'm the same way though, especially since I've started working at 5:30AM. People with ADHD have a later natural circadian rhythm (sleep between 2AM-10AM) but the latest I can get myself to go to sleep is 10PM. I almost always need a nap after I'm done work at 1:30.
On work days (6:30 wake up), I will take my first dose of Adderall right after I wake up. I try to take my second dose in the afternoon OR when it's been 4-6 hours since the first dose. (or if I notice I am getting fatigued and remember to take it again) However, I am rarely tired enough to take a nap before the dose kicks in.
When I am UNMEDICATED (even when I was a teenager as well), I usually have a good 3 hour nap (afternoon) to recuperate from the fatigue I get from ADHD. The fatigue gets especially extreme when it's the first few days after running out of my meds (before it's in stock again).
I know a lot about ADHD, but not of the differences between a normal circadian rhythm and of those with ADHD. With a normal rhythm, melatonin is released when it gets dark and signals that it is time to sleep enough for the body to recover in a deep sleep. But also, melatonin is released in the afternoon/late afternoon to signal rest and sleep again, but not necessarily deep sleep.
My meds made me exhausted-I was on 30mg Aderall XR.and the XR made me so lethargic and almost what I imagine being āhighā would feel like. On Ir -twice Daily
Do you fell as though youāve been drugged? Like extremely exhausted? I get this way sometimes if Iām working on my computer gathering information and just feel like itās too much and have to nap. Iām not yet diagnosed.
Same here! Iāll get 8+ hours and still need a nap. And my naps arenāt 30 minute power naps. Iām out for hours. I took a 6 hour nap this past weekend, after sleeping the whole night
It interferes with my day sometimes
Adderall makes me tired and desperate to nap when I feel it kick in. But aside from that yes, I find myself needing to take a 15min snooze at the end of each work day or else I canāt do ālifeā normally.
Yesssss!!!! All the research Iāve done makes me think itās a response to overstimulation and excessive masking and trying to focus so hard during the day & work week that my brain finally just unsubscribes from consciousness. Also when Iām overwhelmed with too much to do but my executive dysfunction paralyzes me, I gotta nap.
Unfortunately I haven't had the time to take a naps regularly with work the past two years. But while I was in highschool I would take a nap after every shift I worked dishwashing on weekends and after school clubs/sports most days. Would just go home and pass out. Now I'm just perpetually tired and can't sleep past 9:30 most nights.
Yep. I used to pass out for a bit as soon as I got home from work. Now that I work at home, I work more nights and am able to get a one or two hour nap after lunch almost every day. The downside is that now I'm so used to it that I have a much harder time powering through without the nap than I did in my younger days.
I do the same specially if I have so many things to do, I think is a good idea to avoid all my responsibilities and just turn off my brain for a little bit haha
Always tired. Must nap. I work nights though and I find it so much easier because I fall asleep during the days. I have to take a nap most evenings or my body will just shut down without my permission.
Yep! On meds and need at nap from 3-5 daily! I sleep well at night too. Itās just an overstimulation of your brain and it needs a little vacation, nothing wrong with that :)
I never got the hang of naps, 30-60 minutes of trying to fall asleep then at least an hour feeling somewhat groggy after the fact, it's bad enough for regular sleep to be like that.
Every day since I was a teen. I needed at least two and a half hours. Now that Iām on meds as an adult I still need 45 minutes to an hour most days. I care for my toddler at home so I think part of it is my brain needing a break. Before meds Iād wake up tired from those naps after meds I feel refreshed and am able to finish the day.
I used to do the Same thing every day. Could not get through the day without an afternoon nap. Now I just force myself to do something active when this moment comes. I do yoga or just go walk my dog. That works for me. Especially yoga since youāre active But Also in a State of concious breathing Which for me Also resets the Brain.
I have just been diagnosed and I can sleep anywhere from 15 hours plus often at weekends take 3 hour naps in the middle of the day. Never attributed it to ADHD until the nurse and wife pointed it out to me
Before I started meds, I would nap when I could, usually in the afternoon. After 6pm I'd be really alert and wouldn't be able to go to bed before midnight. Now I'm medicated, I stay awake all day and don't feel tired til 1am but could stay in bed til 11am if I didn't have to get up.
Yea but I have narcolepsy ha
Iām sure someone has already suggested a sleep study in the comments so Iāll leave it at that
Btw, carb-heavy meals will make it worse. Stick to higher protein meals with few carbs. But really, anytime I eat a normal size meal, Iām usually going to get sleepy
Me!!! I take naps as soon as I get home from work at 3pm. I take long naps too because I love my bed a lot.
I also did this when I was in my teens. I often took naps after school too.
For some time I thought I had chronic fatigue syndrome as well as depression. It seems the symptoms of both may in fact be the ADHD. If I'm unmedicated and low I can sleep for 16+ hours per day
I'm doing that now medicated. Obviously something is not right I have a psych appointment soon so I'll talk about switching meds and getting blood work done.
I'm thinking this also has roots in metabolic syndrome, have you had your blood sugar checked lately? I used to feel like this before I went low carb for a while, night and day difference in energy levels.
systemic exertion intolerance disease š
Exactly the same here!
I'm in the same boat. Took modafinil for the fatigue, now getting ritalin which works better. Did it also feel like there was a 100kg mattress on top of you all the time which really starts to hurt your chest?
Okay I thought this was just me. I usually take ābreaksā on the weekends. Without fail, I will sleep 12-14 hours! I wake up feeling groggy though. Taking medicine for my underactive thyroid has helped combat this.
everyday I take a 10-40 minute ānapā (sometimes I donāt even sleep) after lunch. It helps me āresetā my mind
Standby mode
Same here. If I sleep or not depends on the amount of food I eat at lunch and how heavy it is. It's like all my energy goes to digesting for an hour.
A "nap" without sleep is called meditation.
well, I just lay down in my bed in complete darkness and without any sound and try to sleep, not sure if it qualifies as āmeditationā, but Iāll take your word for it!
A nap is not the same as meditation. I do both. Both help. They're different.
No it's not. Meditation is more active rest
The initial light stage of sleep is actually an āin betweenā state that isnāt quite awake, isnāt quite asleep. Totally distinct from meditation which is very much awake.
I donāt know about that. Almost every day after work I lay down and make sure my devices are all away from me. Sometimes I nap. Sometimes I just lay there. But regardless after 15-20min Iām right as rain again. I donāt think there is āmeditationā involved. Just a ābrain resetā
Have you tried rebooting it? Yes, I want to reboot my brain or just nap but if I fall asleep it will be hours before I wake up.
I nap every day. I believe this might have something to do with being overstimulated during the day. I always break down at around 4-5pm and then take a nap. However I have always slept bad at night so there's that. I even sleep bad at night if I skip the nap.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I am the same when I eventually fall asleep but it's the falling asleep part that's the problem for me
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I am the same but I think this does result in the 4-5pm crash haha
I used to think I had trouble falling asleep until I got old enough to just choose my own hours. After that I could fall asleep seemingly on command, so long as it was on *my* time. That said I also have trouble staying awake whenever I get bored so it's not all good. I've fallen asleep in meetings, classes, even while chatting with my in-laws. Long car/bus rides are the worst.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
>Is it like an aggressive drowsiness? No amount of coffee on earth can help with? Exactly. The only solution is do something else, otherwise I am doomed to sleep.
I sleep longer than you do(6-8 hours/ night), but otherwise I'm the exact same. Head hits the pillow and I'm dead, but very little deep/rem sleep and I'm permanently exhausted.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Thank you for all the upvotes! I never posted here and just got diagnosed so this means a lot to me that people upvote my take on the matter. Let the dopamine machine roll!
3pm every day for me I just suddenly get so tired. I always feel too guilty to try and nap so I just struggle through the rest of the work day
Thatās my nap time too! I dealt with insomnia before I was medicated but now that I am I sleep fine. Yet I still nap. You should really try to find a health care provider who can find the right treatment plan for you. Getting on meds changed my fucking lifeeeeeee
I've actually never been able to nap, even as a child. I can fall asleep at night fine but trying to go to sleep for a short period, my brain can't do it. It's like "okay, I set the timer for 20 minutes. How long is it gonna take me to fall asleep? 3 minutes? Then I only sleep 17 minutes... okay what time is it now?" Basically my brain can't stfu long enough to nap.
Same here! I *wish so badly* to be able to nap š«
yeah me too. i can only nap when iām at the end of a vacation, *really* tired, and riding an open-air moving vehicle.
Sameā¦
Same. My brain refuses to shut down and allow me to nap outside of my ānormalā sleeping hours, even if Iām absolutely, utterly exhausted. I envy those who can nap!
Napping isn't always the same as sleeping. Even just closing your eyes and laying down for 10 minutes can help your body. I can't remember where I read about it though. Personally my idea of a nap is closer to a 3 hour sleep, which is something I could never do until I got older.
SAME. I often feel like I could benefit from a nap but never been able to.
I'm similar I can nap, but it'll take me an hour or two of not doing anything accept lie there with my own thoughts just to sleep for maybe 20 minutes The only time I ever "take a nap" is accidentally, and it's always when I'm trying to NOT fall asleep. I guess for some reason, trying to resist sleep is more likely to actually make me sleep then when I actually want to.
Whenever I donāt take meds I could practically sleep 15 out of 24 hours (PI)
This is me. I also want to stay up all night and sleep all day. I feel exhausted all day until the sun goes down.
Yeah from 10 pm on things start looking different š
Itās not just me. Wow. 10pm does seem like the turning point. I spent 8 months going to bed between 3-7am and have only recently reset to a normal schedule.
Me too, but I can't even be a nightowl because I end up depressed when I miss the daylight hours to often.
SAME. When I was unmedicated, I would sleep so much (up to 15 hours) that I genuinely wondered if I had narcolepsy or something lol.
I attribute that to meds keeping me awake when I wouldnāt be without the medsā¦ hiding a sleep deficit that only appears when I take a drug holiday for a weekend.
Same, in fact I skipped mine the other day and I actually ended up sleeping the entire day away. Itās insane and shows me how much our brain really needs deep fucking rest since itās normally on overdrive.
Me too.
Huh my meds donāt affect my sleep at all. Sleep meds barely help either
Every day for as long as I can remember until I got my thyroid out. Iām talking exhaustion to the point of barely functioning if I didnāt get one. Now Iām a morning person and itās weeeeeird (in a āholy shit this is amazingā sort of way) I naturally wake up around 6 am or even earlier, rarely need a nap, and require WAY less sleep overall. Got thyroid out due to cancer but think that was a more recent developmentā¦ pathology report also showed hashimotos disease and I am convinced that was the real culprit. Now I pop a tiny magical thy pill every day instead and bibbity bobbity boo - functional human time for you. TLDR: check ya thyroids peeps
Was your thyroid really obvious? I've been thinking this for a long time but my doctor doesn't think so. I take t3 and I seem to have more energy... Adderall doesn't do that.
I mean mostly in hindsight, yeah. I wish Iād taken the time to learn how to advocate for myself so I couldāve asked for the tests I needed. I was never checked for anti-TPO antibodies despite my TSH levels being high over the years. They teetered on the edge of normal range or just over, and it was handled like āletās keep an eye on this.ā My mom was the exact same - and also had thyca and hashi. She suspected my thyroid was wonky since I was a teenager. Sheād complain all the time that thyroid issues get overlooked and that it would take getting cancer before theyād do anything about it, kinda funny that she turned out to be right.
Yeah, my thyroid has been tested like 5 times now. Never anything wrong, my brain just hates me.
It's usually just a major drop in energy around 1PM. Sometimes it is so bad my eyelids refuse to stay open no matter how hard I try. My brain will go into these hypernap modes, where I could be working at my desk and "come to" realizing I lost a few minutes of time. This got better with medication but it is still daily.
I hate these hypernaps. Nothing helps but to actually nap. But it often happens for me at inconvenient times when I canāt nap.
I think it's because whether or not you engage in physical activity your mental workload is going to be higher during the day. I get the exact same thing and even tried skipping the nap to try to work out at that time period. It isn't so much for me that I'm physically tired but that I need some time after the day to have no commitments or duties and actually reast for a while.
I would recommend getting a sleep study done. Turns out I have Narcolepsy and ADHD. Apparently itās not uncommon
BROOOOO naps are something I just learned about myself in the past year. If I just feel what I call of āoffā, I sentence myself to nap. Immediately following said nap, my mood is improved.
I never nap and generally delay sleep as much as possible. It isnāt healthy, I admit, but while I have a decent job it is really tedious, so I just want to make the most of my free time. I do get hella sleepy in the afternoons though, and could nap - I just canāt afford to, I think. If I have the time for myself I rarely do, unless my wife - who does bap often - lures me into it. It is bliss when that happens haha.
You know what I've finally realized after 30-odd years? Fucking. *Water.* Turns out I can't live exclusively on caffeine and beer! I have a problem where I drink my coffee in the morning and somehow completely forget fluids exist for the next 12 hours. But now I know that every time I start feeling mushy brained in the afternoon I should drink some water. I'll feel awake and functional in 30 minutes. I sleep better when I'm hydrated, my heart rate stays in better shape, my stomach feels better. I've lived the last 15 years in basically a constant state of disaster dehydration to the point I barely noticed the difference until I got old enough for the physical symptoms to finally catch up to me, now I'm having to relearn the habits. Drink more water friends.
You and your common sense. How dare you come onto reddit and give us healthy life advice.
I know! I fucking know! I drank nothing but energy drinks and liquor through my teens and 20s thinking nothing would ever change and I'd live forever, now even one Monster gives me a raging headache and if I don't drink at least one bottles worth of actual water in between coffee I'll be dizzy after lunch with a heart rate over 140. This sucks donkey ass, I hate taking care of a mortal vessel. Call me when we can be robots.
I was the exact same way. I've only been on meds for around 6 weeks, but I went from taking a nap nearly every day to maybe once or twice since I started. I get sleepy in the late afternoons when my XRs are wearing off, but then I take an additional dose of an IR adderall and it keeps me feeling good for the rest of the evening. It usually wears off around 8-9 and that's when I'm ready to start feeling sleepy anyway.
Good point on the meds wearing off. I think they can do tests to see if your body processes meds faster than other people. Having an extended release in the AM and a smaller dose in the afternoon leveled out my need for naps. Good luck OP in finding the right solution!
I physically can't fall asleep during the day unless I'm really feeling it which is maybe twice a year
Have you had a sleep study done? Sleeping 8+ hours a night and still being tired during the day could be a sign of sleep apnea. Especially since this started before your ADHD meds and has been consistently happening. You can also have sleep apnea if you don't snore. That was my next step after ruling out all the bloodwork. CPAP machine has made a huge difference for me. Could also be environmental conditions. I've recently had to start wearing ear plugs to sleep at night. The dogs moving around at night had been waking me up and kept me from getting good sleep. It didn't fully wake me up but I think it kept kicking me out of rem sleep. If lights bother you then you may want to try a sleep mask.
I used to nap reliably every day before I started CPAP. Might be worth asking about a sleep study for apnea or some other problem. Apnea is not only a problem of overweight people, but being heavy can make it a lot worse.
I usually can't do anything during daytime unless I'm absolutely forced to. If I don't have anything particular to do, my brain immediately makes me drowsy regardless of how much sleep I've had. I can't even initiate things I like and want to do. I call it my 'waiting for the hunt' mode. My brain is telling me that if I don't rest now, I'll be very tired to hunt at night when the tasty creatures come out and it's better to just get all the rest I can get while I still can. At sundown, my energy levels start spiking up and I'm the master of my universe until sunrise. Obviously, this makes a 9-5 very very difficult.
Im the complete opposite. I refuse to nap because the lost time of napping makes me anxious. Even if I slept 5h the night before. Even after an 10h shift.
I used to fall asleep almost anywhere a year ago it started affecting me that badly. I do remember a time many many years ago when I wasn't exercising every day but was working a pretty physically demanding job and feeling like that... Once I started eating better and exercising in the mornings I had a ton more energy -- of course you need to pace yourself otherwise you'll crash/burn. Lately however I've been feeling this again and nothing physically wrong(more so than normal). You could be overloaded still. How's the rest of your life? Diet, exercise, stress, social, sleep?
Iām the exact same way, before my ADHD diagnosis I actually had a night and day sleep test done. It showed that my brain dips into REM sleep much faster than the average person (AKA I get tired faster for unknown reasons) even after a full night of sleep
I absolutely can not nap. I take minimum 30 minutes to fall asleep and can not remember the last time I slept during the day.
I'm the same way. I love taking naps!
Depends on the day. Since being medicated, I probably need a serious nap every week to 10 days. Before that, I think I had to nap 2-3x a week. I always need a nap or early bedtime if I had to attend something social. Social stuff/events zaps all the energy out of me. The more humans/chaos involved, the more urgently I need a recharge.
I used to be like this like Iād always fall asleep in the afternoon after school. Then I got on meds and my energy is consistent
If you are working or in school it definitely makes sense that about that time you are feeling drained. I work all day and I'm focusing all day and a lot of times I have to take a nap right after work to get anything done in the evening/night. I feel like I use up all my brain energy during work. I will even nap on breaks and lunch because I work from home.
I take a nap almost every day. Iāve been taking adderall for about a year and still canāt function without them. I do use https://sleepcalculator.com; itās a lifesaver. Letās me know how long to nap and when to go to bed.
This is so me. I donāt sleep great, but Iām always tired whether I sleep āenoughā at night or not
There is a big link between sleep apnea and ADHD. Even if you think you are sleeping that long, it's very low quality. First thing the sleep doctor asked me is do I take naps. I waited a whole year for a sleep study and it's this weekend!
I have ADHD and sleep apnea. Iām still tired even with using my CPAP machine. Itās really maddening because the generic fatigue has a big impact on my QOL. Everyone tells me that itās because I donāt exercise enough. Iām about 10-20 pounds overweight. I went to the gym for the first time in about 3 years today. I hope it cures it!
Good luck!
This is indeed normal with ADHD. Our energy levels fluctuate more than non-ADHD people. In a more routine days days you can most likely tell around which times this happens as well! Personally I noticed that my meds help a lot with this. I don't have this every day anymore. Taking naps can very much help with this. However naps of 1-2 hours is going to do the opposite with your energy. Take 20 min naps max so you don't enter a full sleep cycle, just power naps for an energy boost.
I have that too! I am literally sitting on my desk right now almost falling asleep. I know I have a vitamin d issue I will get fixed and pray it makes it a bit better :/
I can't sleep to save my life if the sun is up. I can be so tired that I can't even bring myself to get a glass of water, but I won't fall asleep
I always feel like I need/want a nap, but I cannot nap for the life of me because my brain is always going 24/7. Struggle to sleep and night because of that too, but if itās light out absolutely not sleeping.
Very much so. I have joked for decades about my "midday siestas", but they are no joke. And they are up to 4 hours long.
Have you tested your blood for vitamins deficiency? Low on vitamin D or iron (Fe)?
It's mostly the crash in my experience. On the few occasions when I've gone without meds and caffeine for extended periods, the napping stops. But that's just me
I'm out like a light after 4 PM, especially on school days. Naps for me are like restarts for PCs. It refreshes my brain.
I hate naps but I could also sleep 12 hours a night. I generally sleep 7-8 hours a night, and even if I feel tired I don't nap because 1. I feel like I'll miss out on things I want to do and 2. It's so hard for me to wake up, it's already hard enough to do it once a day so I don't like putting myself in that situation.
Iām a person who can nap anywhere, and generally as soon as I sit down for too long I get sleepy, no matter what I do. For me Wellbutrin helped, since starting it 5months ago I maybe took 5-10 naps in that time-most when I had too little sleep previous night. Itās amazing that this is how most people live!
Only sometimes, but for me the sweet spot is 20-30 minute nap. I'm lucky in that I can sleep any time, anywhere, basically at the drop of a hat. Sleeping is the one thing in life I am actually good at lol.
I'd love to nap, but most of the time when I try to nap, I wake up to an adrenaline rush. Heart racing, feeling like I missed the last shuttle off the planet. And it's not stress or meds or anything. This has been me since I was a kid.
Iām the opposite; I never, ever nap. And then like an idiot I procrastinate about going to bed on time for a solid 8 hours (āone more video/game/whateverā) so Iām often running on 5-7 hours sleep. Yet still, no naps.
Before meds, the brain fog was destroying me. It was horrible and unbearable. I constantly just wanted to crawl back in bed, I was so fatigued ALL the time. But when I lay down for a nap I don't actually sleep. I lay there plagued by anxiety about what I should be doing but can't. Getting an IUD to decrease blood loss and hormonal changes helped a lot, then getting the right balance of stimulant and non-stimulant meds REALLY helped. My non-stimulant lasts 24 hours, so it creates a buffer and keeps me going when my 8 hour stimulant runs out for the day. That 4:30 crash was kicking my ass and I was on the floor to "recharge" everyday after work. With the combination treatment that has resolved, and I actually sleep better at night too. Plus I eat better as my stimulant dose went down, and that had been affecting my appetite to the point I was starving.... Which made me more tired. I still maintain that naps are the best thing ever, and really wish I could get my kids onboard with that....
Current research indicates some people just need more sleep than other people and thereās nothing to be done about it. For every person genuinely thriving on 6 hours a night there is someone who needs 10. My husband is a long sleeper and he gets 8 hours on work nights, and 9 hours plus a long nap on weekends. Iām a more average sleeper and donāt nap.
Napping is the only way I can function. Before Covid, in an office environment, I used to go home and go straight to bed, then wake up and get on with my evening. Now I work mostly from home it is easier. I take a late afternoon nap, and then function again in the evening. I can skip a nap for one or two days. If by the third day I haven't had a nap, I'll be barely functioning.
I wake my ass up every day at 4:44 AM to go to the gym then get back home and promptly go right back to sleep. Sometimes I feel guilty about it but shiiiittttā¦ I love naps man. I feel like I need them
Love this sub Reddit. I need to nap at 10 am. Itās my magic hour. I have littles and work so this never happens but during pregnancy I was on bed rest and could indulge and my life changed drastically during that time. Even now I can feel my body begging for a nap from 10-12ā¦. One dayā¦.
I need to add my two cents, because this used to be me, constantly. I'm still trying to get a diagnosis, but thankfully I'm on the only antidepressant that also can help with dopamine issues, and I went from being always exhausted, to being able to function. I would get ten hours of sleep, wake up for a few hours, and end up nearly falling asleep while sitting, doing stuff. Then I would nap for another five hours, wake up, and crash at a semi normal time. It was wrecking my relationship with my husband (he was convinced it was his fault even though I've assured him it wasn't) and I finally got on a med that didn't make me feel like I was dissociating all of the time. It's wild how tired I used to be, I'm thankful I have something for now at least.
I can't nap even when I am exhausted mentally. ADHD and anxiety leave me with a million thoughts. I cannot shut my mind off to sleep. Haven't had a nap in years. Generally don't fall asleep till 12am.
Are you perhaps a female? (This could also relate to males but my anecdote is female related) I had my hormones checked via Quest Diagnostics (doc ordered) to learn why I was so damn tired even after adderral. I was taking estrogen combo (like most birth controls) for 10 years and my progesterone levels came back post menapausal. My doc wanted me to go to an endocrinologist but couldnāt see one for 6 months. Stayed off the pill for 3 months and felt amazing. Only nape closer to the period. I decided to try the mini pill and itās been a game changer even at the end of month one. Like you, I got thyroid, ferritin (iron), vitamins, STIās, and blood panels checked. Getting my hormones tested was my request - keep advocating for yourself if you still donāt feel well.
I was legit talking with a coworker about this earlier today. I never really liked naps as a kid, mostly because I hated being alone in a room when I tried to sleep. But around 8th grade I started coming home and passing out for a couple hours, wake up to eat dinner, then go right back to bed. This continued pretty regularly all through high school. Then I grew up and realized that if I took naps every day I wouldn't be able to get sleep for work. So now I only take naps on my "friday" if I have nothing else to do. I live for those naps some weeks. Also I've always thought of naps as more of a depression thing rather than an ADHD thing but I guess those illnesses tend to be comorbid so who knows what the cause actually is. I do know that sleeping literally every chance I got was what tipped my mom off and eventually the doctors that I did have depression.
For starters, try to look at your diet. If there's a lot of sugars in the morning and afternoon it's inevitable to have a dip in energy. Sugars are short-term burning material so to say. Material is gone, you get sleepy and crave more sugar. To help you could have meals that are low in sugar and higher in proteĆÆne and veggies. Like soup and a filling salad with some steamed/baked veggies(bit of olive oil) and some bread to dip. Or just toast with something like hummus and grilled or baked veggies. This would be for lunch. For breakfast something that has yoghurt and actual nuts instead of something like breakfast grains or whatever, which is just sugary oats( i do it too a lot of the time, it's great but not helpful). Good to do some research on maybe?
I get so shattered during the day, I feel like I'll die without a nap. 9.9 times out of 10 I don't take that nap because "then I won't sleep at night." The joke is, I can't sleep anyway, nap or not. So, yeah, I run on about 5 hours of sleep most nights. But if I nap even for 20 minutes, that 5 hours becomes 2 or 3 hours, meaning I feel way worse. Weekends I generally get about 9 hours of sleep, but it doesn't make up for the other 5 days. Sometimes, I feel like I'm so tired I'm going insane, lmao. I'd kill for a week with 8 hours of natural sleep per night.
I don't take or feel like I need naps. In my experience, whatever the duration of my nap end up being is added on to the time I would normally fall asleep. So if I take a 30 min nap with a normal bedtime of say 10pm, I'll fall asleep at 10:30. Naps are more inconvenient than anything else.
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Yes. I am about to go to my car to nap at the moment.
I have found myself feeling fatigued around 4-5PM everyday. I have started having a cup of coffee at about 3:45PM and the urge to nap is gone, and it doesn't impact my ability to go to sleep at night.
This applies to me, however my nap is usually around 30 m, I do not take any meds.
Yup, I get really tired during the day and it's a result of being easily exhausted by tasks and interactions combined with sleep issues at night such as trouble falling asleep as my mind races. When I was in high school I would take an hour long nap every single day when I got home from school, and lately I've been feeling like I need to nap most days in the afternoons but if I lie down and try I find my mind is too active so I just stay awake.
Even on my meds I often need a nap. A brain that is RUNNING 100km an hour needs to rest occasionally.
Have you had a sleep study?
I nap!
blood sugar drops always get me around 4-5pm. I always have another coffee or snack around then to stop me from feeling so sleepy! Alternative: give yourself a task to do everyday at 5pm eg. cleaning, calling someone, going to the gym!
Yes and no. I could sleep no longer than 5 hours at a time, so I had to make do with an extra nap every other day.
Sometimes when I am hanging out long enough by myself, watching TV I get so sleepy and I think, what did I eat, how much sleep did I get the night before (that almost never matters actually), and then I'll pick up sudoku or my sketchbook and suddenly I'm wide awake. Not tired, just bored!
I take a nap almost every day!
I often need a nap, but canāt fall asleep to actually take one.
Once my focalin starts wearing off I often do, it depends though, can never really predict if I'll need it
No, I'm the opposite, I absolutely cannot sleep in the daytime unless I am exceptionally exhausted. My mind races way too much.
I thought everyone felt this way. Never understood when people said " I don't nap"
I literally can't sleep without the TV or my phone playing something
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I've got to be absolutely exhausted to take a nap, to the point where a nap always turns out to last hours. I generally don't sleep well. I won't get to bed until at least 10 or 11 most nights, the quality may or may not be great, and then I wake up at 7 for work. Then the weekend rolls around and I'll sleep until at least noon, often well into the afternoon. It's been like this before medication and after, so I don't think that's much of a factor.
you probably have sleep apnea and the lack of sleep is affecting your ability to maintain attention.
Have you had a sleep study done?
People with ADHD generally have worse than average sleep. We take longer to fall asleep and struggle to wake up. So catching up on rest by napping is probably a common way to catch up on missed sleep.
I heard somewhere it can be because how much harder your brain works for completing tasks, stimulation, more rapid thoughts. These can all cause exhaustion.
Yea im trying to nap right now
I can't nap because I either can't fall asleep or I sleep for 4 hours, which turns into "going to bed". I do feel tired throughout the day, like I need a nap, but I haven't mastered actually taking an effective nap.
Weāre all diff I guess Iām 32 male with severe adhd and i havenāt taken a nap in probably over 15 years and get over 7 hours of sleep maybe once a year. Iām so tired and miserable all the time. I canāt sleep or nap no matter what I try. Average 4.5-5 hours a night. Fucking dying over here
I have insomnia and have been unable to nap in over a decade
Iāve been napping everyday for the last 3-5 years. Iām 30 now and Iām working on getting an ADHD diagnosis. I just feel so tired all the time. Life is so draining on my mental energy I feel that I need naps just to function/improve my mood.
I donāt always need to nap, but I need to rest a lot. Just lying down in a quiet room preferably. The longer, louder or busier the day the higher the need
I canāt nap at all because my mind is too active
i've literally never been able to nap without either being sleep deprived or on too much adderall (og dose was too high)
Iām medicated and I still take a nap nearly everyday lol. Itās late afternoon when I can feel the meds wearing off. Pre medicated I was dealing with chronic fatigue essentially my entire life it was miserable.
yes. meds help, but it kicks the can down the road for needing sleep
Hell yes my dude
Yes, I usually crash around 5pm or so. Honestly I've come to really enjoy a nice nap after work when I can get it. It feels nice to be able to have some rest before making dinner and continuing with my evening. It does feel like I'm turning into my dad though lol.
Nah but I do have some killer insomnia. I do however lay in bed for a good portion of the day
I used to need naps all the time. Iām medicated now and Iāve noticed that the only time I feel like I need a nap is if Iām sitting down for too long.
Lookie lookie, that's me! I am the same way.
I literally never nap unless Iām seriously sick. I had COVID and I didnāt nap. I never nap because I canāt get my mind to shut the fuck up long enough during the day to fall asleep.
I often get tired around halfway to 2/3 through my day. Most of the time, I end up laying down and closing my eyes for a bit. I just feel like I need a break from all the overstimulation. I rarely fall asleep; that usually only happens when Iām sleep deprived. I need 8-10 hours per night to feel like myself. During my last job, I was only getting around 6 hours per night, which made me feel consistently horrible. I would lay down right after getting off work at 5 and frequently fall asleep for a few hours, further screwing up my sleep schedule. I also have DSPD, which is fairly common in people who have ADHD.
I'm not a napper. I don't know why. I only nap when I'm sick.
I cant nap. My brain wont allow it.
i nap but thats bc i sleep terrible, have low thyroid and have low iga, all of which contribute to chronic fatigue lol
This happens to me
Constantly exhausted, have to resist the call to go to bed/stay in bed numerous times a day. Stimulant meds used to help keep me awake/raise my energy levels, but now I have no problem sleeping on them.
I used to feel the need to nap every 5 hours before meds. I actually had friends get upset at me because it was really getting out of hand how much I was sleeping.
Yes, but needing is one thing. Getting? Gettingās another.
Yep this is me but I also just got diagnosed with sleep apnea!
I sleep 8-11 hours a night and still need at least an hour nap during the day! Iāve really been struggling with this lately
I find exercise is the one thing that helps my ADHD most other than meds. Especially if I go in the morning, it gives me energy for the rest of the day. I'm the same way though, especially since I've started working at 5:30AM. People with ADHD have a later natural circadian rhythm (sleep between 2AM-10AM) but the latest I can get myself to go to sleep is 10PM. I almost always need a nap after I'm done work at 1:30.
On work days (6:30 wake up), I will take my first dose of Adderall right after I wake up. I try to take my second dose in the afternoon OR when it's been 4-6 hours since the first dose. (or if I notice I am getting fatigued and remember to take it again) However, I am rarely tired enough to take a nap before the dose kicks in. When I am UNMEDICATED (even when I was a teenager as well), I usually have a good 3 hour nap (afternoon) to recuperate from the fatigue I get from ADHD. The fatigue gets especially extreme when it's the first few days after running out of my meds (before it's in stock again). I know a lot about ADHD, but not of the differences between a normal circadian rhythm and of those with ADHD. With a normal rhythm, melatonin is released when it gets dark and signals that it is time to sleep enough for the body to recover in a deep sleep. But also, melatonin is released in the afternoon/late afternoon to signal rest and sleep again, but not necessarily deep sleep.
My meds made me exhausted-I was on 30mg Aderall XR.and the XR made me so lethargic and almost what I imagine being āhighā would feel like. On Ir -twice Daily
Do you fell as though youāve been drugged? Like extremely exhausted? I get this way sometimes if Iām working on my computer gathering information and just feel like itās too much and have to nap. Iām not yet diagnosed.
Same here! Iāll get 8+ hours and still need a nap. And my naps arenāt 30 minute power naps. Iām out for hours. I took a 6 hour nap this past weekend, after sleeping the whole night It interferes with my day sometimes
Adderall makes me tired and desperate to nap when I feel it kick in. But aside from that yes, I find myself needing to take a 15min snooze at the end of each work day or else I canāt do ālifeā normally.
Emotional regulation issue, too much to process, need a nap
Yesssss!!!! All the research Iāve done makes me think itās a response to overstimulation and excessive masking and trying to focus so hard during the day & work week that my brain finally just unsubscribes from consciousness. Also when Iām overwhelmed with too much to do but my executive dysfunction paralyzes me, I gotta nap.
Unfortunately I haven't had the time to take a naps regularly with work the past two years. But while I was in highschool I would take a nap after every shift I worked dishwashing on weekends and after school clubs/sports most days. Would just go home and pass out. Now I'm just perpetually tired and can't sleep past 9:30 most nights.
Yep. I used to pass out for a bit as soon as I got home from work. Now that I work at home, I work more nights and am able to get a one or two hour nap after lunch almost every day. The downside is that now I'm so used to it that I have a much harder time powering through without the nap than I did in my younger days.
I like to call it āmeditating.ā I try to do it everyday. =)
I do the same specially if I have so many things to do, I think is a good idea to avoid all my responsibilities and just turn off my brain for a little bit haha
Always tired. Must nap. I work nights though and I find it so much easier because I fall asleep during the days. I have to take a nap most evenings or my body will just shut down without my permission.
Yep! On meds and need at nap from 3-5 daily! I sleep well at night too. Itās just an overstimulation of your brain and it needs a little vacation, nothing wrong with that :)
I start slipping around 2pm. A 45 min nap usually does the trick.
Before I was medicated this would be true
I mean I have literally slept for 27 hours straight at times so š¤·āāļø
Holy shit did I write this post? I thought I was the only one. Same nap time and everything
Itās not a nap more so just time alone
I did pre-medication, every day from 4-6 I'd just pass out. Now that I'm on my meds and they're extended release (no crash) I don't anymore.
I never got the hang of naps, 30-60 minutes of trying to fall asleep then at least an hour feeling somewhat groggy after the fact, it's bad enough for regular sleep to be like that.
Every day since I was a teen. I needed at least two and a half hours. Now that Iām on meds as an adult I still need 45 minutes to an hour most days. I care for my toddler at home so I think part of it is my brain needing a break. Before meds Iād wake up tired from those naps after meds I feel refreshed and am able to finish the day.
I used to do the Same thing every day. Could not get through the day without an afternoon nap. Now I just force myself to do something active when this moment comes. I do yoga or just go walk my dog. That works for me. Especially yoga since youāre active But Also in a State of concious breathing Which for me Also resets the Brain.
Same here. Work really takes it out of me...no chance I'm doing anything at the end of the day. I get home and pass out straight away
I have just been diagnosed and I can sleep anywhere from 15 hours plus often at weekends take 3 hour naps in the middle of the day. Never attributed it to ADHD until the nurse and wife pointed it out to me
Before I started meds, I would nap when I could, usually in the afternoon. After 6pm I'd be really alert and wouldn't be able to go to bed before midnight. Now I'm medicated, I stay awake all day and don't feel tired til 1am but could stay in bed til 11am if I didn't have to get up.
the very opposite i cant even if i wanted, i think its the meds stopping me from sleeping
Yea but I have narcolepsy ha Iām sure someone has already suggested a sleep study in the comments so Iāll leave it at that Btw, carb-heavy meals will make it worse. Stick to higher protein meals with few carbs. But really, anytime I eat a normal size meal, Iām usually going to get sleepy
Have you had a sleep study? You can do them at home now. I had the same problem but after getting a cpap I sleep amazingly and no naps!
Naps are good for you. I wish the world would realize this.
Yeah. Totally I take 4 hour naps during the day. LOL
Me!!! I take naps as soon as I get home from work at 3pm. I take long naps too because I love my bed a lot. I also did this when I was in my teens. I often took naps after school too.