Why can't I seem to wake up in the mornings no matter how much sleep I get?

[CoramA]

This has really been an ongoing issue for most of my life and it has just been getting worse. It is starting to affect my job as well as personal relationships. To briefly explain, I am a 28 year old male and a bit of a night owl (not drinking and partying mind you, just normally can't bring myself to go to bed early). However, once I'm asleep, there's no waking me up. Whether I get 4, 6, 9, or 12 hours of sleep, When I attempt to wake up I am so extremely groggy that I can't function and typically fall asleep again. I will even fall asleep in the shower most mornings once I am able to drag myself in there. There was a point in my early adult life (18-21 or so) that I was able to wake up more refreshed and alert in the morning if I only got 3 or 4 hours of sleep at night instead of 7+. However, this is no longer the case.

I have asked my doctor about it and the response I normally get is that I should exercise more. I am a little bit overweight but have not always been and used to exercise nearly every day and still experienced the same problem. I feel there is something more wrong and can't find any answers so I was hoping somebody else might have experienced something similar and has some suggestions. I have been attempting to alter my sleeping habits to better match the so-called 90 minute sleeping cycles, but no luck. Have never had to take any medications until recently (2 months ago) for depression and anxiety (Wellbutrin). Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

[skydnsr]

Okay.  Let us know what you find out.

[CoramA]

Thank you very much for the recommendation.  I will look into that.

[skydnsr]

I think it's time to see a sleep medicine specialist and get a sleep study done.  You may be having partial awakenings at night that you don't even remember.  That would cause you to be exhausted and groggy in the morning, because you haven't truly gotten enough sleep.  In the sleep lab, you will be monitored for a night of sleep, to see what is going on.  You will spend the night in a room that is similar to a motel room, except that you will have a lot of electronic leads taped to different parts of your body to monitor your breathing, heart rate, muscle movements, and brain waves.  I think you will get some answers from this.  Good luck.