Ireland isn’t frequented by heatwaves seen over the past few days, and with sweltering nights with no air con, thousands of people are more tired than usual.
As the weather took a turn to normal conditions this week, some were left wondering why the exhaustion remains.
The sweltering peak of the heatwave saw highs of 30C in some parts of Ireland, and in the aftermath, many of us are still feeling sluggish and exhausted.
READ MORE: Leo Varadkar enjoys heatwave as he relaxes with BBQ alongside partner Matthew Barrett
So if you’re wondering why you still feel shattered, an expert has said it may all be to do with you having a ‘sleep debt.’
"People will have incurred a sleep debt – perhaps above and beyond their normal sleep debt," according to Dr. Guy Meadows from Sleep School
"Nearly three-quarters of the population walks around with a sleep debt anyway – as in they’re not achieving their biological sleep need, which is roughly seven to eight hours a night for most of us. So we can all already do with sleeping a bit more, but during the heatwave, we were struggling to sleep even more."
Meadows says that while we’re awake, a brain chemical called adenosine builds up in our systems, helping create ‘sleep drive’ – so we’re ready to sleep when we get into bed.
"The more adenosine you have in your system, the more sleepy you feel. If you then get your eight hours of sleep, your adenosine is metabolised from the brain, and you wake up feeling refreshed," he explained.
If we don’t get enough sleep to metabolise these chemicals, we wake up feeling groggy which is sleep debt in effect.
"The great thing is you can repay a sleep debt," says Meadows. “But what I would definitely not recommend is people go and have a big, long lie-in because what that does is cause ‘social jetlag’.
"Put simply, big lie-ins ‘upset’ our circadian rhythm or natural ‘body clock’, which also leads to ongoing grogginess."
So, if you’re wondering what to do Dr Guy Meadows explains that you should: "Repay your debt in small chunks over a period of time,” Meadows advises. If you really want a lie-in, keep it to “no more than one-hour maximum."
And "maybe have a little power nap after lunch, 15 or 20 minutes, that can help. And going to bed 30 minutes earlier. Little catch-up opportunities over the next week will help restore the debt."
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