There’s nothing worse than feeling tired to your bones. Oh wait, there is: feeling sick and tired. I know I don’t speak for myself when I say I often get a shaky, nauseated and just generally ‘meh’ feeling after not getting enough shut-eye.
In fact, the feeling can often lead to being physically sick. Especially if you’ve gone through something particularly exhausting like a long flight.
“A combination of exhaustion and experiencing a big time difference could certainly lead someone to vomit. This may be even more true if they are very warm or under a great deal of stress,”, Dr Rachel Vreeman, co-author of the book Don’t Swallow Your Gum! Myths, Half-Truths, And Outright Lies About Your Body And Health, told NBC News.
So, what causes it?
According to the Sleep Foundation, sleep deprivation can in fact be a cause of that sicky feeling.
This is because sleep is our body’s way of naturally resetting and giving our systems a chance to function properly and rest.
It’s thought inflammation of the intestines may be caused by poor or insufficient sleep, and could be responsible for symptoms like nausea.
There is a multitude of reasons why you might feel sick though, including pregnancy, gastrointestinal problems, stress and dehydration – to name a few.
In fact, stress could be a big factor in that sleepy-sick feeling. We get a surge of cortisol when we perceive danger, and it causes all the symptoms we associate with “fight or flight” to flare up — with nausea being one of the major ones.
It’s been shown that stress can cause fatigue, which in turn could be causing the nauseated feelings you’re having.
Research has also found that a lack of sleep may increase your wanting to eat unhealthy foods, which in turn could give you a funny tummy.
Remedies for feeling sick
So, there are a few big reasons for feeling sick when you’re tired, with stress and natural hormones being major players.
But what can you do if you want to get rid of the feeling? Try the below tips…
- Make sure you get good quality sleep. Do a health check on your sleep hygiene, making sure you get a full seven to eight hours and keeping electronics out of the bedroom.
- The NHS also recommends getting plenty of fresh air, drinking ginger or peppermint tea, and eating foods with fresh ginger in it to keep those feelings of nausea at bay.