Night Shift Worker -Sleeping Disorder? - Sleep Disorders Message Board

pacemaker · 07-04-2002, 11:58 PM

Does anbody work nights and have sleeping problems ?
I would appreciate any input or advice.
Peace
Pacemaker

Mojo_jojo · 07-17-2002, 07:55 PM

I worked nights and rotating shifts for 5 years. I 've been away from them for two years now, and still have the problems Denise mentions. I'm hoping To relearn a sleep pattern again.

Beth Ann · 07-19-2002, 11:14 AM

I'm curious. How long have you been on nights? I've been working from 10 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. for over 7 years now. To me, night shift sucks. Some days I sleep good, and some days I'll sleep for 2 hours and then be wide awake. I keep my room blacked out, the phone turned off, and I have a fan going. It's still not the same. I truly believe our bodies are designed to sleep at night. We are forcing our bodies to work against nature. Most everyone that I work with feels the same as I do, but there are a few oddballs who really like the graveyard shift. Those that like it, usually keep the same schedule on the weekends. I do sometimes, but can't every weekend. I hate night shift enough to make me want to quit, but I make really good money and great benefits, especially since I don't have a college degree. I keep trying to look at the positive side of it. I don't have to miss work if I have a doctor's appt. or any other business to take care of. I work Sunday night thru Thursday night, so I have all day Friday (that is, if I can manage to stay up-it's easy in the summer time, but not in the winter). But even so, I still hate it. Usually, if I do have any business that needs taken care of, I feel totally zombified. Almost like I'm drugged or something. Know what I mean? I'm sorry for the long post. It's after 12 noon on Friday here, and I've been up since 7 pm last night. Plus I only slept 5 hours yesterday. And not all at one time! Oh, I've got to say one more thing. This is sad, but a lot of people I work with take stuff to stay awake (such as Stacker2, NoDoze, maxalert, etc.) and stuff to sleep (such as Tylenol PM, Bayer PM, Benedryl, etc.). We're all afraid that we'll have heart attacks some day because of all the stuff we take just to deal with night shift. It really SUCKS!!!!

tchair · 07-19-2002, 11:29 PM

Better restated - Does anybody work nights and not have sleeping problems ?
I worked a few different stints of overnights for a few years each. The consensus was that a newbie took three months to be of any use and someone returning still took three weeks. Most survived best by keeping the same sleep schedule on days off. I found that after a year I could switch back, but only by adding an extra 4 to 8 hours sleep on Sunday (your Wednesday). I was one who could only get to sleep immediately after the shift. Others needed that 'wind down' period.
Stimulants don't help your body stay awake, they force it to - a loosing proposition. The biggest concern - safety, especially driving to and from work. The biggest help - ear plugs, The best found over all those years was a home made recipe: Cut a box of plastic wrap into 2 inch wide rolls, then tear off in 2 inch long strip. Insert 1/2 cotton ball, twist, insert and will expand gently inside. Note: Don't push up against ear drum, just in outer ear. 2 inch square seems large but you don't want to make little bits that get can get left in there. Also real cotton balls work while synthetic don't.

bird123 · 07-20-2002, 09:20 AM

I had worked nights for almost three years. I was OK until I had the day off. Keeping the same schedule while you are off work might help. However, it is so difficult to go sleep at day time and stay awake all night while you are at home. It has been over two years after I quit working nights. I don't have any sleeping problems now.