Swing Shift, need to learn how to wind down faster - Sleep Disorders Message Board

ironhead007 · 05-11-2006, 04:33 PM

I'm currently having problems finding a way to balance work, sleep, family time, and avoiding seizure disorders. I currently work 5 pm to 1 AM Monday to Friday. My wife works Monday to Thursday 8:30 am to 3:00 pm. We live about 25 miles from work, so my wife leaves home about 7:30 am, and gets home for about 4:00. I probably see her for about 15 minutes, then head to work myself. I get home about 1:30 am, and admittedly, go on my computer for about an hour, trying to wind down, then get to bed a little before 2:30 am. I get about 5.5 hours of sleep a night, sometimes a little less, because my 2 year old and 4 year old get up about as early as they can, and I need to take my 4 year old to school. I try to sleep as much as I can on the mornings of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, but my wife's idea of sleeping in is about 8.5 hours. My wife is a non-believer in winding down, she thinks I should be ready to go right to bed as soon as I walk in the door. To top it off, I have a seizure disorder, for which I take 400 mg of Dilantin daily. I realize that going on my computer is detrimental, but to be honest, My adrenalin kicks in nightly at about 8:30 - 9:00 every night, that's pretty much when the work really starts at work. I work my butt off to the end of my shift, and drive home on a highway that for the most part, has very little lighting, so I make sure I'm really alert on the way home. So, in the end, every week, I end up with a rather large sleep deficit, and it's starting to affect me after a year. Other than switching my shifts, does anyone have any advice as to how I can speed up winding down?

jaboop35 · 05-11-2006, 09:40 PM

i would try reading a little bit instead of going on the computer. i read usually at least 15 minutes a night before bed, and it usually gets me quite tired quickly. try it and see if it works at all for you.

Lance0204 · 05-14-2006, 07:25 PM

well, at least you work one shift. i work all 3 shifts and its difficult to regulate anything. i pretty much go 2 nights out of every week without sleep. when i get home at 8am i'll probably sleep for about 2 hours or so; more if i'm lucky.

i think the best thing to do since you work a consistent shift, is to keep a regular sleep pattern. if you get home at 130am, you could read (not on the computer!!) as part of your winding down. if you get to be by 3am then you can sleep until 9 or 10am or so. whether that's enough sleep for you depends on YOU. no one can tell you how much you need. we all can't get 8 hours of sleep. i also get somewhere between 4-6 hours although i suspect its closer to 4 hours,

. for now its enough for me.

ironhead007 · 05-15-2006, 06:41 PM

The reading I did try this weekend, and it helped a little bit, but as I said in the first post, I can't sleep late, my kids wake me up about 7:30 am, and I have a seizure disorder, which has caused me to have a seizure behind the wheel before, partly because my body hasn't gotten enough sleep. I wouln't recommend having a seizure while driving at 70 mph, then hitting 3 trees, it wasn't fun. What I need to know is if there are any fast relaxing techniques, anything anybody eats, drinks, any medication that helps speed up his process, because my doctor has flat out told me that I need this sleep. I try to catch up on the weekends, but it's not always possible. Working the swing shift wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to worry about my kids on my own for the first 9 hours of the day before I went off to work.