# Why does over sleeping make you feel tired? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 11, 2001, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-over-sleeping-make-you-feel-tired/57531 "2001-03-11T09:47:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Universal\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dfb087/32.png) [@Universal\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Universal_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-over-sleeping-make-you-feel-tired/57531/1 "2001-03-11T09:47:39Z")
Why does over sleeping make you feel drousy through the day? Last night I went to bed at 8:30pm, which is early for me. My usual bedtime is 11pm. And I woke up at 11:00am. All day I have felt drousy, almost as if I had a bad head cold. But I dont. I just feel wousy in the head. Answers appreciated, UD ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-over-sleeping-make-you-feel-tired/57531/2 "2001-03-11T09:51:12Z")
Maybe it’s just you. I feel great when I get 12 or 14 hours sleep. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-over-sleeping-make-you-feel-tired/57531/3 "2001-03-11T13:32:53Z")
I always feel weird and dopey when I oversleep. And I sure as hell have some weird-ass dreams just before I wake up. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-over-sleeping-make-you-feel-tired/57531/4 "2001-03-11T13:54:44Z")
I give you [Why do you feel groggy after oversleeping?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/990205.html) ---
**Author:** ![Nimue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Nimue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nimue)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-over-sleeping-make-you-feel-tired/57531/5 "2001-03-11T14:06:00Z")
If I get more than ~10 hours of sleep, I always feel tired and irritable the whole day. I did a quick search and found [this](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/990205.html). ---
**Author:** ![Nimue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Nimue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nimue)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-over-sleeping-make-you-feel-tired/57531/6 "2001-03-11T14:07:20Z")
Doh! JeffB beat me to it. Next time I won’t linger over the column so long. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Universal\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dfb087/32.png) [@Universal\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Universal_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-over-sleeping-make-you-feel-tired/57531/7 "2001-03-11T19:04:39Z")
Cheers for that! I am stupid to post without searchinh cecil’s archives, But we all learn from our mistakes Peace, UD ---
**Author:** ![weapons\_grade\_bullonium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c68b51/32.png) [@weapons\_grade\_bullonium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/weapons_grade_bullonium)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-over-sleeping-make-you-feel-tired/57531/8 "2001-03-11T19:19:14Z")
It’s not a question of how much you sleep, as it is what stage you were at when you wake up. Wake up during REM sleep and you’ll recall the dream or nightmare and be wide awake. If in the deepest stage, you won’t be able to shake it off. I’m sure there are different chemical balances that control that, and some don’t get purged until that sleep step is done. ---
**Author:** ![trose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f9ae1b/32.png) [@trose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trose)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2001, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-over-sleeping-make-you-feel-tired/57531/9 "2001-03-12T01:43:57Z")
Why would a healthy, non-sleep-deprived person suddenly sleep almost twice as long as usual? Especially if you went to bed early. My theory, based only on personal experience, is that you were fighting off an infection. When you woke up, your body still didn’t want you to go out and over-exert, so it gave you the slugabouts. Or despite the length of time, you never really got enough REM to feel refreshed. I believe many sleep apnea sufferers experience this. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2001, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-over-sleeping-make-you-feel-tired/57531/10 "2001-03-12T16:09:15Z")
The only time it ever happens to me was when I ate a lot of chocolate before taking a nap. Thats something Cecil didn’t discuss, e.g. what you eat before you sleep.