What I know and What I Want to Find Out Essay Example

short term, it may be negatively affecting me overall. I do believe that I am now very reliant on coffee and caffeine in general, so trying to take a break can help me.

I know sleep disorders can cause tiredness and lack of sleep so it is possible that I could have insomnia, but my symptoms make that very unlikely. I do not usually have trouble falling asleep, but instead I cannot stay asleep all throughout the night. And even this is not a huge problem because it does not happen every night, and I am still getting a normal amount of sleep. I also cannot give myself a more regular sleep schedule because of my school schedule. This could mean that stress could also be affecting my sleep. Being a first generation college student, and first person in my family to leave the state makes it harder to adjust. This makes me believe that I am not get my full amount of the sleep cycle. I know that REM sleep is the most important part of sleep because it is your deep sleep, however I have no way of knowing right now if I am getting REM sleep.

I am not sure if I am able to fix my sleep and tiredness, at least not yet, but I want to find out why and how. I want to find a way that I can not be fatigued so easily because I believe that could help me become less stressed as well. If I do find a way to fix it, and it is not just genetic, I will try my best because I think it can

make many perspectives in my life easier.

My Search Process

I started my search by simply searching up why I am tired. From this I got many answers that seemed to have little to no research behind it with answers that were either not possible to change, or definitely not the problem. For example, your pillow is old, or your room it too warm. I then decided to dig a little deeper and look into fatigue, sleep, and the effects of it. After searching, I found out that there is a high chance I could be iron deficient anemic. In a study done at the University of Benin they say the symptoms include, “dizziness, fatigue, shortness of breath, headache, flattened brittle nails, and frequent minor infections”(Shoaib) which I have many of those symptoms. After finding this information, I decided to contact my cousin because she works as a pediatric nurse, and I think she would know more about this. I told her about how tired I usually feel,my stress, and some symptoms I had as well. She told me that my diet, my age, and my symptoms made it seem highly possible that it was the case, but since I also had sleep problems that there may also be something else. She explained to me that I could get a blood test because it is the only way to find out my iron levels and it is very quick and simple. She also told me ways to also raise my iron levels by eating iron rich foods like spinach, eggs, and lentils. Eating iron rich foods is something that I can try to do even though it

is difficult living in a college dorm given a limited amount of food options.

I decided to find out more about why I feel like my sleep is always restless.I have tried melatonin in the past because I know it is a natural sleep hormone, but in my case, it has only caused me to feel tired faster which does not solve the problem.I have also come to realize that melatonin acts somewhat as a placebo effect because it does not directly cause drowsiness: it causes the body to believe it is nighttime. After hours of searching through articles, there are many with no actual problems or even solutions. Almost all of the sources say to fix your sleep environment. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine did bring up technology use and its effects on sleep. They suggested, “Teenagers who excessively use their cell phone are more prone to disrupted sleep, restlessness, stress and fatigue” (American Academy of Sleep Medicine). It is a habit for me to go on my phone before going to sleep, which I am sure is not the best idea. I will now try to stay off of technology to the best of my ability for at least one hour before I go to sleep.

One of my main concerns is how inconsistent my sleep feels. I am usually getting a normal amount of sleep, but I will not stay asleep. Sometimes I will just wake up in the middle of the night and not feel tired anymore after two hours of sleep, and other times I will sleep a full eight hours and not wake up feeling actually awake. I am aware

that humans dreams occur during REM sleep, and I know that people can have many dreams each night, however for the past year or so I do not remember having a single dream. Since I am also waking up exhausted in the mornings this makes me believe that I am not getting REM sleep: or at least not enough. Neurologist Brandon Peters claims, “It is common to interrupt the last period of REM sleep upon awakening. Frequent disturbance of REM sleep may be experienced as false awakenings” (Peters). He also explains how substances like caffeine can affect your sleep cycle. Now that I am aware that it is normal for REM sleep to be interrupted I need to find a solution. I will cut down my caffeine intake because I know it is unhealthy. If I only have one cup of coffee in the mornings, it will not have any negative effects on my sleep at night.

Stress is a major cause of fatigue, so I believe if I can learn to lower my stress levels, then I could also become less fatigued. Ari Whetten from The Energy Blueprint informs, “Stress Causes Fatigue By Depleting The Endocannabinoid System” (Whetten). The Endocannabinoid System affects your energy levels, fear, and anxiety, so if ones endocannabinoid system is not working correctly it will cause fatigue. Since I know that stress will cause my tiredness, I now need to see how I can try to avoid the stress. I believe one of my biggest problems is procrastination. I more often than not wait until the last day to work on assignments, and will have multiple assignments due making my work

not as good as it could be. Managing my stress by making schedules for my work will help out to a great extent.

What I Concluded

I know that I should be concerned about my sleep,as I am, but I am glad to have found out that it is normal to feel fatigued or restless. Although I cannot be completely sure how to fix my problem yet, I have found many things I can try to feel better. I have realized that some of my habits are not healthy and are affecting me very negatively in the long run, and I will try my best to cut them out now. I am also going to make an effort to limit my time on technology overall because I know it is bad to use before going to bed, but it also is not good to be looking at screens all day because of the bluelight. I will limit myself to using technology for thirty minutes at a time before taking a break. Although I have not found any quick fixes, I found many different ways to improve my sleep and fatigue; and I have already been noticing small changes. Even slightly changing my diet and spending less time on a phone or laptop. Starting out by just simply making a schedule for my week will make a change. I have discovered so many possible solutions that I am more than willing to work out.