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What Causes Excessive Daytime Sleepiness?
Question: What would cause a 25 year old male to sleep all of the time? Around the clock, falls asleep in the chair, seems droopy and moody. Thank you
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Brief Answer:
Most likely obstructive sleep apnea
Detailed Answer:
Hi there,
The most common causes of fatigue are:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Substance abuse/medication induced
- Viral illness
- Anemia
- Thyroid dysfunction
- Cancer, tumors, carcinoma
- Infections
- Obstructive sleep apnea
However, daytime sleepiness is mostly associated with obstructive sleep apnea. The other causes of fatigue almost always improve with rest. If I were you, I would recommend getting seen by your primary care doctor or anyone (such as a health fair) that can do routine blood work to rule out infectious and thyroid causes of fatigue. Also blood work can rule out electrolyte, metabolic, and endocrine causes. At the same time, you should also be worked up for Mono, which is a viral infection take causes significant amount of fatigue. It can last up to a year. If the blood work does not yield any significant finds, I would recommend a sleep study to see if your sleep is adequate.
In the meantime, I would avoid alcohol, tobacco, and any sedative medication. I would also recommend trying to lose weight and eating more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fiber. I would also recommend googling Epworth sleepiness scale and filling out the PDF. A score of greater then 10 is always concerning for sleep apnea.
Most likely obstructive sleep apnea
Detailed Answer:
Hi there,
The most common causes of fatigue are:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Substance abuse/medication induced
- Viral illness
- Anemia
- Thyroid dysfunction
- Cancer, tumors, carcinoma
- Infections
- Obstructive sleep apnea
However, daytime sleepiness is mostly associated with obstructive sleep apnea. The other causes of fatigue almost always improve with rest. If I were you, I would recommend getting seen by your primary care doctor or anyone (such as a health fair) that can do routine blood work to rule out infectious and thyroid causes of fatigue. Also blood work can rule out electrolyte, metabolic, and endocrine causes. At the same time, you should also be worked up for Mono, which is a viral infection take causes significant amount of fatigue. It can last up to a year. If the blood work does not yield any significant finds, I would recommend a sleep study to see if your sleep is adequate.
In the meantime, I would avoid alcohol, tobacco, and any sedative medication. I would also recommend trying to lose weight and eating more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fiber. I would also recommend googling Epworth sleepiness scale and filling out the PDF. A score of greater then 10 is always concerning for sleep apnea.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Raju A.T
Answered by
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