“To Nap or Not to Nap – that is
the Question...”
By
Dr. Richard Bruno
Q:
I get more fatigued as the week goes on and my ability to concentrate gets
worse and worse. When the weekend comes I just have to nap. I sleep for three hours on Saturday and feel
better. I nap for two hours on Sunday
but afterwards my brain feels sluggish and I often have a headache. I then have trouble falling asleep Sunday
night and feel even sleepier on Monday in spite of the naps. What am I doing wrong?
A:
You have discovered the pleasures and problems of napping. Rest periods and naps can be very helpful,
even lifesaving. The National
Aeronautics and Space Administration studied daytime rest periods in those for
whom fatigue, trouble concentrating and falling asleep can be deadly: pilots.
Fatigued flight crews who
took brief hourly breaks had improved alertness. These breaks were similar to the two
15-minute breaks that work so well in reducing fatigue in Post-Polio Institute
patients.
NASA also studied the
effect of what they dubbed “power naps.” Pilots took a planned 40-minute rest period
during which they slept for about 30 minutes. After the nap, pilots had
increased alertness and performance and relief from what was described as “significant
sleepiness.”
The same benefit was
found in a study of healthy elderly folk:
A 30-minute nap at 1pm significantly reduced afternoon sleepiness and
fatigue. But with napping, as with so many much of a good thing.
Long naps can actually be
detrimental, causing the problems that you have described: grogginess,
headaches and a ‘sluggish’ brain after awakening.
These symptoms have been
given the wonderful name ‘sleep inertia’ as in
physical inertia: (A body at rest tends to stay at rest”). NASA scientists found that deep sleep begins
about 30 minutes into a nap. When deep
sleep begins, your brain shuts down and is more likely to feel ‘inert’
when you wake up.
That’s why
researchers recommend 30 minutes as the ideal nap length: If you prevent yourself from going into deep
sleep, there’s no groggy brain and no sleep inertia.
But sleep inertia isn’t
nappings only detrimental effect. If you
get too much sleep during the day, you can have trouble falling asleep or
staying asleep at night. Lack of night
time sleep makes you more fatigued during the day, can make you want to nap
longer and gives you even more trouble sleeping at night. So, before you start napping, you have to
make sure you’re sleeping well at night and don’t have the
breathing problems or muscle twitching that disturb sleep in half of Polio
Survivors.
You also need to give
your body the amount of night time sleep it needs. Don’t expect to feel rested if your
body needs nine hours of sleep and you only give it six.
If your sleep is good
enough and long enough and you still have daytime fatigue, napping is an
option. Before you lie down to nap, set an alarm for 40 minutes so you’ll
sleep for only 30 minutes.
Although research has
shown that a 30-minutes nap is good for pilots and older folk who didn’t
have polio, 30 minutes may be too short a nap for Polio Survivors who have
brain fog. You may need to increase your
sleep time by up to 165 minutes a day in split doses. But don’t nap longer than 90 minutes at
a time, as this is when dream sleep starts.
Also, never nap after 5pm (that includes dozing in front of the television
after dinner) or it’ll make falling asleep at bedtime and staying asleep,
more difficult.
Remember that naps are
only one part of your fatigue management programme. You also need to pace activities, take a
15-minute rest break in the morning, in the afternoon and after lunch. One or two of these breaks could be
substituted with a nap.
Remember that the
Americans with Disabilities Act permits rest breaks - and even naps - as
reasonable in the workplace. Some days you may not need a nap and can just
rest. Or you may plan naps for every
Saturday and Sunday. However, long
week-end naps aren’t substitutes for too little sleep during the week.
Whether you rest or nap
during the day, it is important that you keep a consistent daily schedule, including
on weekends, with specific times to go to sleep, to wake up, and to take your
rest breaks or nap.
This schedule will train
your brain when it should be sleeping and when it should be awake so that you
can manage your fatigue in the cockpit … or wherever you work.
(Dr. Bruno
is Chairperson of the International Post-Polio Task Force and Director of the
Post-Polio Institute and International Centre for Post-Polio Education and
Research at Englewood (NJ) Hospital and Medical Centre )
