Is it wrong to take a nap in the afternoon even if your feeling tired. My mum says I should keep going without otherwise my body clock will never get back to normal. I find this difficult as I am ususally up quite early and am fading by about 2pm

Not at all... for the time being, our body clocks cant become 'normal' anyway so go with what ur body needs, is my view.
I usually have/NEED a couple of naps to get thru a day. Oddly, these naps seem to go a lot deeper than trying to sleep 'officially' at night.
Its like going into a void, i wake up and cant remember how i got there...90 minutes can just 'disappear'. But I dont think these recharging 'time-outs' are optional to be honest.
Any crap about feeling guilty / lazy isnt going to help so let it go, i have <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

V

thats how i feel if i dont i start to get down and irritable but feel giulty for doing it especiallly at the weekends when my daughters at home and Keith wants to be doing things sometimes I think it would be easier if you lived alone and had no pressure to feel you have to be anything than what you are at the moment families say they understand but you can see in their faces that they dont really then i get frustrated wish my self and try and endure it but i know i end up feeling worse and get angry i hate not being able to sustain a whole day but dont sleep well at night anyway and ive always thought you should listen to your body but i was once told by an occupational therapist that i didnt sleep at night because i give in in the day i wish my body would understand that but it just dosent

Hi Tracy, i think you should listen to your body and have a nap when you need to.
I often have a catnap in the afternoon but only sleep really deeply for about 10 mins, then im fine. I try to have it quite early in the afternoon so i can sleep at night.
if you keep going you become irritable which is not good for us and we can get over tired at night and cant sleep.

Hi Tracy, a lot of people get hit in the afternoon and need a nap, it's quite normal and it doesn't stuff up your body clock at all. You know the term Siesta in spanish is little sleep because everybody would nap in the afternoon.

I know people that have to have a lie down in the afternoon to help recharge their batteries for later. They're find morning, but flat in the afternoon.

You shouldn't feel guilty about that at all. It's just the way some people are, they need it.

I love nap naps. I used to feel guilty about taking my nana nap but now my boyfriend is quite used to the idea. He personally doesn't need a nap but he knows how much I love it. Sometimes he will say to me 'Isn't it your nap nap time?' Gotta love that!!

Getting benefit from an afternoon nap is a fine line though. If I have a nap for about 1 hour that is perfect for me. If I accidentally sleep for about 2 hours I actually wake up feeling groggier than before and then can't sleep later that night.

I really think all work places should have special sleep rooms for power napping! A few years ago when I was doing remedial massage therapy if I had a break between clients or if a client cancelled I used to set my alarm for an hour, put on some really quiet relaxation music, put some lavender oil in the burner and jump up on the massage table with a towel over me. Ooooh bliss !!!

I agree, even if we don't sleep, it is a good idea for everyone to put our feet up midafternoon and take the load off.

My father in law lives in portugal and everything closes down for 2 hrs in the afternoon for a siesta. They should have that here, LOL.

Tracy,

I agree - let yourself nap! As someone pointed out above, our bodies are not in a normal rhythm, and it's going to take a hell of a lot more than forcing regular sleep patterns on ourselves to make it truly happen. My mom has all the mercury symptoms, diagnosed with fibromyalgia, and is chronically fatigued at least as bad as I am....and she never let's herself take naps because she feels guilty. But honestly, going without naps has not straightened out her sleeping patterns.....she still barely sleeps at night.

I know where you're at though, because I just had a conversation earlier today about ME feeling guilty about taking a nap....because I have so much to do for school. But I can't always function otherwise, and if naps help you, then listen to your body.

Take care and I hope you sleep well <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

~Tia

My brother is a triathlete in Florida (#4 in biking in his age group in the entire state a few years ago). He used to nap in the afternoons after every major ride.

After having his amalgams out a few years ago, many things changed including this: He no longer needs to nap after his rides. Interesting.