Expert answer:
Excessive sleep during the day can be caused by sleep deprivation or sleep apnea in most cases. However, too much sleep can have several causes. Some of them:
- Chronic sleep deprivation: It consists of sleeping less hours than it takes to feel restored the next day. It can be voluntary (night work, studies) or involuntary (small children, noise, inadequate mattress);
- Sleep apnea: It is characterized by partial or total obstruction of the passage of air through the throat during sleep, leading to a respiratory effort that leaves the sleep fragmented and with poor quality;
- Anemia: With the reduction of hemoglobin in the blood, responsible for transporting oxygen, the body becomes more sleepy;
- Medications or drugs: Marijuana, alcohol, tranquilizers, antiallergics, anticonvulsants, antidepressants, can cause excessive sleep;
- Narcolepsy: It is characterized by sleep attacks during the day, loss of muscle control in the face of strong emotions, wake up at night and unable to move and hallucinations at the beginning or end of sleep (learn more: What is narcolepsy and what are the symptoms ?);
- Circadian rhythm disorders: Changes in normal sleep times that disturb the biological clock, causing insomnia, tiredness and excessive sleep during the day;
- Idiopathic hypersomnia: The person has excessive sleep for at least a month, accompanied by prolonged episodes of nocturnal or daytime sleep almost every day.
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Excessive sleep should be treated by a physician who specializes in sleep medicine for a correct diagnosis and treatment of the cause.
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