Winter Fatigue: Is It Normal to Need Multiple Alarms and Constant Coffee?

Is it normal to wake up after the third alarm and drink coffee cup after cup during the day?

Does this sound like you – waking up after the third alarm and drinking coffee cup after cup during the day? In autumn and winter, this is normal. We’re drawn to lying on the couch wrapped in a blanket. Maybe even taking a nap. Sometimes this expresses a need for comfort, apathy, or boredom, but sometimes a person actually feels sleepy, even if they’ve had enough sleep before.

On average, to feel energetic throughout the day, a person needs seven to eight hours of sleep, but some people need only six hours, while others need ten. It’s all individual. Although people who say they can get by on four to five hours of sleep are most often chronically sleep-deprived.

Light is the most important stimulator of daytime activity, and in winter, the daylight hours become shorter. Therefore, in the morning we lack the signal to wake up, and in the evening, the early onset of twilight serves as a signal for sleep.

Our desire to sleep is influenced by the twilight sky, short winter days, and internal circadian rhythms. The hormone melatonin, which helps us fall asleep, usually starts being produced when darkness falls. At the same time, its concentration in the blood increases approximately two hours before our usual bedtime. And in winter, it shifts slightly due to lack of light.

To overcome sleepiness, it’s important to establish a daily routine, and start the morning with exercise and… light. Light alarm clocks that simulate sunrise by gradually increasing brightness are an excellent solution. The device’s operating principle is simple: shortly before wake-up time, it gradually fills the room with light, creating the illusion of sunbeams. And at the set time, nature sounds, radio, or calm melodies begin to play, awakening you.

Special lamps that simulate sunlight can also help you wake up faster and stay awake during the workday. The main thing is that they should have a brightness of at least 3000 lux, or better yet 10,000 lux (lux, from Latin lux, is the unit of illuminance measurement in the International System of Units. – Ed. note). For comparison, the brightness of sunlight in an open area on a cloudy day fluctuates around 1000-2000 lux, in middle latitudes in winter – 5000 lux, and at noon in summer – 17,000 lux.

But if you get regular adequate sleep, daytime sleepiness will decrease. The main thing is not to try to catch up on sleep for the entire week on weekends. This will only disrupt your circadian rhythms, and you’ll wake up feeling broken on Monday. Regularly disrupting sleep and wake patterns is harmful as it disturbs metabolism and threatens the development of diseases.

Consultant: Iryna Zavalko, Ph.D., Neurologist-Somnologist.