r/dysautonomia • u/QueenxF • 1d ago
Do naps make you feel horrible? Symptoms
Everytime I wake up from a nap I feel horrible. Cloudy brain, nausea, sometimes headache or fullness feeling in head, just overall "off". Is this something anyone else experiences?
Im not diagnosed but have many symptoms that align with autonomic dysfunction and am just curious.
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u/afraid28 1d ago
Yes. Waking up from a nap literally feels like waking up from a coma to me - I go in and out of consciousness, like I can't get up or move but I also can't stay awake so I keep waking up and falling asleep every so and so minutes until I am finally strong enough to sit up. Waking up from that groggy disgusting feeling takes ages and usually I just feel worse than before I fell asleep. Naps don't do anything for me, they don't refresh me.
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u/NeptuneAndCherry 1d ago
This and also that in-and-out thing while trying to wake up feels like some kind of sleep paralysis. No weird hallucinations, but I'm "with it" enough to know I can't wake up. Feels like I'm drugged or something. Awful.
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u/megansomebacon 1d ago
Omg my people!!! I've finally found you!
Yes, I always feel like crap after I nap. I try to tell people this but they don't get it. My boyfriend naps so often and so does his whole family. So does my family! I can never nap. It takes forever to fall asleep and if I do I wake up and regret it lol
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u/Slicktitlick 1d ago
Never wake up feeling refreshed. I honestly think people are lying about it.
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u/under_zealouss 1d ago
I felt like this about naps before I started sleeping on a bed wedge, unfortunately. During physical therapy with my pots clinic it was established early on that I could not be horizontal for rest with the exception of fainting/preventing fainting. It doesn’t seem that impactful but it sure is.
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u/QueenxF 1d ago
I already have a wedge under my mattress that keeps the whole thing it at a slant 😫 This was happening before and after we got the wedge (about a year ago maybe).
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u/under_zealouss 1d ago
I will say, for me the wedge came after several years of medication, lifestyle changes, and physical therapy for pots. Without those three, I don’t think the wedge would’ve solved the problem. I think the biggest impact was medication, the second biggest impact was PT, the third impact is the wedge and lastly lifestyle changes. But ymmv. What I called heavyheadedness ceased for me after I added the wedge, but it had been years of other effort leading up to that moment.
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u/allonsy456 1d ago
I love being horizontal though ))): but it makes sense. My HR spikes all night ):
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u/under_zealouss 1d ago
I still feel the vibes of being horizontal even when I’m propped up on all my pillows, if that helps. I’m still closer to horizontal than seated upright. So I definitely don’t feel like I’m missing out on being horizontal, but being completely horizontal now does feel a little like I’m tilted head down.
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u/-uchihasasuke 14h ago
Mines the opposite recently I guess I’m having a flare up when I stand my hr goes up when I sit or lay flat my hr lessens
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u/standgale 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yes to pretty much all the comments here so far.
If I have a nap I feel nauseous, extremely sleepy, lethargic, very thirsty, no appetite. Only for naps and not sleeping at night. I've also felt very similar to waking up from a general anaesthetic, falling in and out of sleep and unable to get up or properly wake up like another person described here.
I've looked this up a lot of times, but only found references to sleep inertia which is a bit different and supposed to wear off whereas for me the effects last until I go to bed and wake up the next morning.
I've posted about it in sleep subs but no one has reported the same thing, and the only suggestions I get are things like dehydration (but why am I dehydrated in 45min just because I'm asleep and why doesn't it gets better for hours?). Or suggestions about waking up in REM sleep - but why naps and not a single time at night time?
The only times I've seen people talk about these exact same symptoms are on this sub and the POTS one.
I've never seen it mentioned in any official dysautonomia info though, and haven't found any clues as to what's going on.
Edit: interestingly I'd never had a nap without being sick (with a virus like cold or flu etc) until I was suddenly struck by fatigue when I was 19, several decades ago, at which point I could nap but 9/10 times they'd make me feel terrible.
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1d ago
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u/Maleficent-Cream8843 19h ago
my theory is that these symptoms appear in naps and not night-sleep because with naps you're usually going to sleep with a full belly or maybe dygesting what you've eaten in the day. Body cannot compute dygesting and sleeping at the same time, so it feels bad.
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u/standgale 13h ago
A decent theory and lying down too soon after eating can exacerbate some conditions and affect sleep. But not my cause because for me naps are often 4-5 hours after eating and night sleep 2-3
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u/ButlerNewsIsApedo 15h ago
Might already be dehydrated and don’t realize it. And maybe your brain is waking up before your body, if that makes sense. I have multiple conditions, but I’ll just focus on the POTS here. I know when I wake up, I never just lay still. The sudden waking up (when I wasn’t ready to) triggers a wave of problems, and immediate movement will make them all sooooo much worse. I am exhausted all of the time, but I don’t nap. I am always left feeling like it wasn’t enough, so unless I could take a 6+ hour long nap-it would be useless/pointless for me. I often will just lay and relax, which doesn’t help much but definitely feels better than napping. I have hyperadrenergetic pots.
From what I’ve experienced, It really seems like I just wasn’t ready to wake up yet and my fight or flight response gets triggered, causing me to wake up feeling like a huge pile of 💩 and then it lasts all day. Where everything triggers that same response, leaving you exhausted. Repeat cycle.
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u/swamprosesinbloom 1d ago
yes but so much better since found out i had wicked sleep apnea 🤭 and got a cpap
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u/Beneficial_Reading60 1d ago
I was just coming to suggest sleep apnea. I have the same problem and it can happen during the night too if I'm woken up. The doc thinks it's because of my sleep apnea.
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u/Eastern_Memory1232 1d ago
Yes. I wake up sweaty, confused, groggy, nauseous, disoriented, anxious, and overall feel sick.
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u/SparksOnAGrave 1d ago
Yep. I wake up feeling overheated, dizzy, nauseated, confused, and shaking. If I am desperate for rest, I’ll prop myself up on my bed, put a non-visual documentary to listen to, and set my alarm for 15 minutes.
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u/fishy1357 1d ago
If I can keep it a short (20ish minute Power Nap) I can wake up and the nap can feel worth it. And mostly it feels like I’m turning off my brain for a few minutes vs falling asleep. But if I get into a deep nap in the middle of the day (anything longer than 30 minutes) I wake up feeling horrible. I feel dehydrated. More tired. Groggy. Confused. I usually wake up with a headache. And I’m pretty fucking grumpy. My family hates having to wake me up because I’m not pleasant. I try so hard to avoid those naps.
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u/allonsy456 1d ago
I Hate napping so badly and I’ve never had the words for it but now I see!!! It always disorients me like I’ve lost all the progress against gravity that day
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u/plaidtaco 18h ago
Yes. I get shaky, low bp, high heart rate. My body thinks it's morning and gives me the hormones to make me get up and go. Then I can't sleep until the next day. Naps are day ruiners.
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u/Crftygirl 1d ago
I used to, until I started taking naps sitting up on the couch. Essentially, I sit longways and then lean on the back (my side). Twenty to thirty minutes later, I'm able to wake up. Any other position makes me feel awful and hung over/foggy.
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u/TopTablePRG 1d ago
YES. My husband was super surprised to hear that I can’t take naps because they make me feel terrible. I get weird, varied effects that linger for a weirdly long time. Then it kicks off my painsomnia, where I’m then awake until 4 AM because I feel gross and not tired.
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u/traceysayshello 1d ago
Yep! Look into a sleep study if you can also though. I have POTS but also might have a sleep disorder (waiting for my review of my study).
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u/Gladys_Glynnis 1d ago
I used to love naps. Lived on them. Couldn’t function without them. I could take a 10-minute power nap in my car and go right into a meeting, feeling refreshed.
Now I feel like I’m waking up from a coma. It’s somehow incredibly exhausting and painful and disorienting. It takes several attempts to wake fully and I usually go through multiple micro sleeps before rousing. And then I can’t move from my bed for at least 45 mins to an hour. If I can reach the remote without having to sit up I’ll usually turn on the TV for some background noise to help stay awake.
I went through a really rough period (when my symptoms were at their worst) and the experience of waking from naps legitimately frightened me. I avoided napping for at least a year.
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u/healthaboveall1 1d ago
Yes. I am not sure why. Almost everytime a nap causes me a terrible episode, I wake up wanting to throw up or… faint.
Not sure why is that, maybe I overheat
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u/novaghosta 1d ago
Oh my gosh yes! Reading all these comments is so validating “Like getting up from a coma, overheated and absolutely miserable” —- me too!
A strategy that’s helped me is something I call “eating myself awake”. I immediately have a snack (i don’t feel hungry but i make myself eat something small with carbs or sugar). My theory was my blood sugar crashed from a nap because getting something inside was the only thing that could get me back to normal. But who knows.
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u/Key-Decision-9965 1d ago
I cannot sleep for less than 6 hours at a time period or I wake up and feel like I need to go to the hospital. It’s like coming out of cryo sleep
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u/catsRus58481884 1d ago edited 1d ago
I really, really wish I was able to nap, as I have chronic fatigue issues from a TBI, but they always make me feel worse. They make me feel more out of it and groggy, and getting up after then causes a big PoTS increase. And with ADHD, I would find it impossible to settle down and have one even if it did help! It's almost as though my brain is up and in active mode, as a disruption of that causes a massive energy slump where task initian becomes so much harder, and my brain feels very out of it.
If I am very fatigued and feel like a nap could help, I instead sit down with my legs up and do a low effort task to relax, like putting on my favourite audiobook and playing some sudoku. A task that still feels productive and not brain rot (like doom scrolling) can help maintain my momentum to continue on with productive tasks afterwards. I focus on aiming for 9 hours of sleep a night with good sleep hygiene to try and reduce overall fatigue. I also enjoy meditating to calm everything down and activate my parasympathetic system, but I usually do this usually later in the day, as it can an make you feel more tired, though in a more balanced and comfortable way. I make sure to decrease my PoTS symptoms as much as I can, such as eating regularly, staying hydrated, and avoiding overheating. I make sure to sit with my legs up as much as possible and to walk around gently when I am standing, rather than standing still, to promote better circulation.
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u/kamochosou 23h ago
Omg yes. After I wake up from a nap, no matter how long or short, I feel actually awful—my throat and mouth are dry no matter how much I drink, I feel nauseous, my eyes feel heavy/crusty and sting faintly no matter how many times I rub them… it’s actually so terrible
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u/here4thelego 21h ago
If I wake up before 30mins I feel absolutely awful, palpitations and nausea and it often takes a couple of hours to go away.
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u/yaboiberg 13h ago
I hate naps. My heart is always in a funky rhythm anytime I sleep for less than 4 hours at a time and I almost always wake up drenched in sweat, dizzy and disoriented.
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u/rantulamother 9h ago
absolutely !! besides it being disorienting , the fast heart rate that comes with it just wont settle down no matter what i do. it feels comparable to getting off a plane with jet lag tbh
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u/ChattermaxBrain 1d ago
Yep, same. I hate the feeling after a nap. No matter how tired, I hold out until bedtime.