Sleepiness from...what?

5 hours is probably not enough sleep
and is it quality sleep ?? - worrying about stuff can ruin sleep quality

1000 calories sounds low too for someone your age!

 

5 - 6 hours is not healthy. I personally only eat 600 calories per day, so this might be kind of hippocritical, but depending on your weight, you should probably eat more.

 

5-6hrs a night is probably too little.

Avg healthy human caloric consumption is generally given as 2000 calories a day. If you're trying to lose weight you may want to reduce that, but you may be reducing it too much.

Another factor is just what you are eating. Are you getting the proper mix of protein and carbs or is it mostly junk carbs or the like?

There is also the possibility that you are allergic to gluten or the like. My mom will eat something with gluten in it and it practically knocks her out she becomes so tired.

Ultimately, you should talk to a doctor and maybe get some tests done if they think it is warranted. You should also talk to them about your weight loss goals and what level of caloric intake you should be looking at.

Todd

 

It's best if you can get roughly the same amount of sleep every night of the week, rather than trying to repay a sleep debt on the weekends. How much sleep this is depends on the person, age and many other factors. I need about 8.5 personally.

Also, if you're over relying on caffeine, you eventually build up a tolerance which ultimately makes it less effective and you more sleepy. So if you're using tonnes of coffee, I'd say lay back a little. On the other hand, if you're not using caffeine at all, I find a cup of tea every once in a while to be very helpful (but everyone's different).

 

Ok. Five to six hours is awful. You NEED at least eight. If you exercise then you need to eat about 2000 cals.

If you get like 12 hours of sleep and are still tired, get tested for an iron deficiency. It causes extreme fatigue and weight gain. But you sound like all you need is a good night's rest.

 

To the people that are posting you need 8 hours, please understand that not every person needs 8 hours. Various things can play into how many hours you need per night.

The reason I know this is that I have sleep apnea and went through a battery of tests to find what works for me. Also, the therapy equipment I use tracks each nights sleep. I sleep generally from 6:15-7:00 a night based on tracking each night over the last 3 years.. Oddly before I was on therapy, I was sleeping 8-9 and still feeling like poo when I woke up. The quality of sleep in some cases is more important than the quantity. But this is something you should see a doctor about as each person is very different.

According to a quick WebMD search the average is 7-9 hours for healthy adults and 8.5 to 9.25 hours for teens. (Common Sleep Myths and Facts)

To the OP, To me it sounds like your calorie input is too low. But again, this is something a doctor should look at... There are lots of other things that could cause the symptoms you have. Best to talk to someone knowledgeable and can take a look at each of your problems and knows what to look for..

 

You have a lot of things to focus on right now, you've made that much clear. Right now you should be focusing on schoolwork and graduating (?). Your working out and music and socializing can be put on hold for the summer for when you have the extra time of day to do so.

It is possible that you suffer from insomnia or your circadian rhythm has been off pace due to your previous sleeping habits making you less inclined to sleep at night and more sleepy in the day. If it is your circadian rhythm, then what you should do is simply force yourself to sleep for eight hours, or at least let your brain rest that whole time if you can't sleep. Turn off any distractions and do your best to fall asleep: drink warm milk, but on white noise, whatever.

It is also a possibility depending on when you went through puberty that your body can be undergoing its secondary hormonal stage where your body's chemical balances are way off-balance causing restlessness during the night and tiredness in the day.

Hopefully there was some sort of good advice in there, good luck with your sleeping!

 

I agree with what Hyaline said, some can manage with 6.5-7hrs well I am one of those. And you said your eating less to lose weight, 1000 cal & all but remember it's also very important to eat right, I learned this the hard way!, My first year living alone in college I had a very tight budget, so I'd only eat food I'd make which I purchased from the supermarket. (where I live ready cooked meals are really expensive! even the college cantine has been privatized by some other company a slice of bread costs 54 eurocents!!! could buy a half a loaf for that price at the really cheap store)srry going off-topic anyway I'd skip meals eat little and not get all my nutrients because there was less variety in my diet, suddenly I had to sleep more and more and 6 turned into 7 and then 8 and right up to 9 hrs! and I'd get a cold almost every other month so then I realized only the same beans/only the same veggies/only store bought cheap potato salad is bad no proteins!! no omega 3's and suddenly my brain felt dead no retaining info --> bad school semester, sleepy in chem lab -->bad scores anyway so variety is very important so nourish yourself and never cut too much costs on food (the worst part I had been thought better but still made those rookie mistakes lol)

 

Sleepiness from caloric deficiency most likely. I know when I used to get super sleepy, I would notice that I wouldn't consume the recommended amount, you say you're eating 1000 calories per day to lose weight. Losing weight isn't solely based on the amount of calories you have per day. It's also based on: Your eating habits, eating frequency and what you eat.
As for the people who recommend at least 8 hours of sleep, I say that's pure BS. Lasting on like 6 hours of sleep is possible and can be done by some people. Five hours is pushing it a little though.

 

Yeap, sleep is different for each person. And you can't make up sleep by sleeping in on Saturday. Just doesn't work that way. The 8 hours thing is a pet peeve of mine because I am way under that and I have had to do several sleep studies and have had my sleep patterns looked at very closely. So my personal experience with this is a bit more involved than most people. (Ugh, sorry for the rant)...