How did you transition to working nights??

SNAFU said:
Very dark room, quiet, and taking a daily dose of melatonin. The melatonin helps with sleep cycles and getting a deeper more rested sleep. I've noticed that when I take it, even if I only get a few hours of sleep I feel much more rested. No need to really worry about side effects, melatonin is naturally produced by the body and there are no addictive symptoms if you don't take it. I usually get my at my local GNC maybe about $5 for a 2-3 month supply.

** Disclaimer: This works for me. I am not a medical doctor just some guy that's had trouble sleeping for many years and has had to transition from working days to nights often.
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Thanks for the headsup on this stuff , I'm going to give it a try me thinks.

I've worked nights for a few years , to be honest once I got used to it I liked it a lot more than dealing with the daytime hassle , it was the weekends that were not fun , but I was younger then and was still in party mode.

My current job , sometimes we work 24+ hours in a row , I really hate those days , nothing you can do can prepare you for staying up that long and being expected to be coherent enough to work.
Last time I did that I started at 8am , drove almost to LA from Fresno , drove back to the office to load up for an install , went home and showered then drove to upper San Jose , did the install , finished about 7am then drove home to sleep , the other guys will always get a hotel room and crash but I cant sleep good at home , much less in a strange room , so I grab a fairly useless coffee and go for it.

The guys are right , coffee only works to an extent and the nauseous feeling from caffiene is horrid, I've switched off maybe a good fruit juice , lots of water.

I think the hardest part is getting used to sleeping in the day , the guys are right , darkened room , foggy noise like a fan, etc helps a ton.
 
the times that i worked nights i think i lived on Mountain Dew.

the worst part was that my hours would change day to day.

and sleeping in the day was hopeless in that in lived in town on a main road at that time, also they were remodeling an old house into a restaurant that summer just three houses down from me.
had no AC too.
 
Its been a very long time since I had to work nights and I do not miss it at all. I never could get used to working nights, it was just like turning my life inside out, and left me exhausted. I would often tap into 'sick days' to catch up on rest, my body wasn't up to this.

On the upside, nightshift was quiet and there were no bosses around.

My favorite shift was the afternoon and evenings, because I could sleep in to a decent hour, and my mind and body are at their best in the afternoon and evening.
 
i don't miss night shift ether.

you're right, the no boss thing was cool.
 
SNAFU said:
Very dark room, quiet, and taking a daily dose of melatonin. The melatonin helps with sleep cycles and getting a deeper more rested sleep. I've noticed that when I take it, even if I only get a few hours of sleep I feel much more rested. No need to really worry about side effects, melatonin is naturally produced by the body and there are no addictive symptoms if you don't take it. I usually get my at my local GNC maybe about $5 for a 2-3 month supply.

** Disclaimer: This works for me. I am not a medical doctor just some guy that's had trouble sleeping for many years and has had to transition from working days to nights often.
Click to expand...
Melatonin works wonders. Your body naturally produces it and it produces more at night. I would take it when I didn't feel tired but knew I had to sleep. Some days it felt like I never went to sleep. The next day I would find out that the kids were fighting. Even though I never woke up, the hubbub probably pulled me out of the deep sleep that you need. A couple of 3mg melatonin and handful of Chamomile buds steeped in 10 oz of water and I would start nodding like an opiate addict. A few days of this regime and all was good again.
 
I work 8pm to 6am, I usually get to sleep around 12:00 to 1:00 in the afternoon. Which gives me 6 or 7 hours of sleep. Though lately Ive only been getting 3-4 hours; just having a real hard time getting to sleep. Probably the soda/tea I drink constantly at work. I need to lay off that stuff.

Im usually fairly useless the first couple of hours Im at work. Then I go on break and get breakfast and an energy drink.

I guess some changes in diet would help with that sleep thing.

I do like working nights except for having to lose sleep to have a social life. Thats basically the only downside.

I think someone is developing a drug which will allow you to only need 2 hours of sleep every 48 hours and be completely refreshed. It might be on the market already. I know the military is working on a drug that will do the same thing only it will let you stay up for 4 days like that.
 
Tiewas said:
I think someone is developing a drug which will allow you to only need 2 hours of sleep every 48 hours and be completely refreshed. It might be on the market already. I know the military is working on a drug that will do the same thing only it will let you stay up for 4 days like that.
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Sure . . . amphetamines work great in the short run . . . for emergency situations. Pop those pills for a few weeks and you'll start to go insane. REM sleep has a number of purposes that science doesn't quite understand. If you're deprived of REM, you'll get twitchy, exhibit poor judgement, become accident prone, and will begin to hallucinate. Sleep is not a "luxury" (regardless of what yer Korporate masters would like you to think), but a necessity.
 
Did a 7 pm-7 am gig for a while- 4 days on- 4 days off- the worst is having to keep the night schedule going on the off days so you don't throw your system out of kilter. Ate a lot of pie & drank a lot of coffee in a 24-hour diner shooting the bull w/ the taxi drivers & the drunks. The worst was that my roomates & my girlfriend were on a "normal" schedule.
Also did a bar gig in Berlin where there was no way of knowing when you'd be off- shift ran from 7 or 8 pm "until". Most nights I was out by 3 or 4 am, but I've also been there a few times until noon the next day. Those you just gut out & sleep when you can. NOT a sustainable lifestyle btw...
 
There is a link between cancer and lack of melatonin; we have noticed this especially in the north with its long nights. Working nights sucks; I used to work a swing shift where we rotated every week.. you never got used to a shift.
 
SNAFU said:
Very dark room, quiet, and taking a daily dose of melatonin. The melatonin helps with sleep cycles and getting a deeper more rested sleep. I've noticed that when I take it, even if I only get a few hours of sleep I feel much more rested. No need to really worry about side effects, melatonin is naturally produced by the body and there are no addictive symptoms if you don't take it. I usually get my at my local GNC maybe about $5 for a 2-3 month supply.

** Disclaimer: This works for me. I am not a medical doctor just some guy that's had trouble sleeping for many years and has had to transition from working days to nights often.
Click to expand...

Luckily melatonin is fairly harmless to most people, but some suffer ill effects. Standard, but I would rate minor (minor meaning low chance of problems), melatonin precautions:

A) Liver disease (Arendt, 1997)
B) History of other neurological disorders (Arendt, 1997)
C) Depression (Carman et al, 1976)
D) Seizures (Sheldon et al, 1998)

Melatonin can affect warfarin/coumadin levels in some people who have to take that drug.

Rapid heart beat, lowered body temperature, and Gynecomastia can develop. If you don't know what Gynecomastia is, then "His name was Robert Paulson" might ring a bell. If it doesn't you need to see Fight Club. :D


Diphenhydramine (generic Benedryl and the ingredient in almost all OTC sleep aids) does cause drowsyness in most folks. Downsides: Many experience a hangover for a few hours after getting up. Also if used more than 2-3 days straight without a break from the drug, the body adjusts to the sleepyness and the effect is no longer effective. :(
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I agree with most of the tricks listed as working for me...

I get off at 5am. If you can get to bed before your eyes see the sun you can usually sleep better...assuming you got the dark room and/or a comfy blindfold. Most folks' brains take visual sunlight as a cue that it is time to be awake.

White noise is also great to drown out the day noises. I use an electric room fan.

Trying to stick to roughly the same sleep schedule is a big key to long term night work survival. Flip flopping to match the daywalkers on weekends will be murder. For me, if I go to bed at the normal time after work on my "Friday" but get up a few hours earlier (i.e. if I normally get up at 2pm, get up at 10 or 11), I'll tired that day but will be more inclined to go to bed more during the night hours. The key to night prior to work, i.e. "Sunday" I do have to stay up later and try to go to bed closer to normal sleep time (if normally go to bed at 6am, try to stay up to roughly 4am on Sunday in order to rehab the body back to night owl mode).

Night work as a single person is much easier than if you have a family. A supportive family is a godsend...just like for everything however. :)

Avoiding caffeine the last half of the night is also usually a good idea (us only in emergencies head hitting the desk in exhaustion moments in that time frame).
 
Routine is very important.
As is getting the rest of the world (friends, family) to leave you alone during your sleep cycle.
 
steve-in-kville said:
I am considering a position with another company working nights. There is a pay "differential" for night shifts (i.e. more $$$$). This will be a permanant shift, nothing rotating.

How did you you get used to working nights?? When I worked in EMS, we basically slept when we could. But then we were doing 16's and 24's on, with 8 off in between.

Thoughts on this??

steve
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If you like to sleep, you will be in hell. I was a manager at a Walmart, about 10 minutes from home, and I would work 8 hours during the day, go home, get a shower and some sleep, and work about 6 tops that night. Sometimes it was pretty bad. 14 might not seem like a lot to some, but I love my dream time. If you are a night owl, great. If you need your sunshine, you will be dying on your off days, because your body will be primed to sleep during the day after a while.
 
I started shift work when I was 20, and ended it when I was 36. The key is total darkness in your sleeping room and as much light during your night job. I used hotel curtains back in the day, but now I have seen at Bed Bath & Beyond the same light impenetrable multi fabric curtains which work just as well. Adding additional blankets to any additional exposed light is good too. Just keep the room as dark as night to the best of your ability. This will alleviate the thousands of years of evolutionary circadian rhythm built into our systems. Stay away from any high powered “energy” drinks or pills. They will eat you up and possibly addict you to the point you need them no matter what to work. Not good. I have seen guys really get sick off the stuff. Almost like crack heads; never eating. This brings the next point; diet and exercise. I used to work out religiously at the gym at 3 or 4am for only one hour. That’s it. Then a large protein shake to finish. This kept me going through the night fine. It took years to figure out what worked best for me. But I was able to live a reasonably very social life on the weekends, awaking early afternoons; keeping a similar sleep schedule as the week. I could get out and date frequently at bars and shut them down with ease. A big drawback is if your single, in any long term relationship you might have if your significant other is on a day’s schedule, will be under stress. It is inevitable. You will have to work that out the best you can. I married after I returned to days shift. That was a tough transition. Years later I am still apt to pulling long nights. Overall, if the money isn’t good, and I mean 15%-20%, don’t do it. And if you’re in poor health or sickly, do not attempt it. You will lose your job so fast because the shift will take its toll.
 
I HATE shift work!!!!!!!!!

Too bad that's my job. It would be easier on a 12hr. shift instead of the crappy 8hr shift that we work.
 
I have worked swing shift, 12's, for over 10 years. The way I deal with it is to nap (at home) when I am tired, and to eat when I am hungry. I might go a 12 hour shift and eat only once, or I might eat 4 or 5 times. Swing shift does wear a person out quickly, but as was mentioned in an earlier post, it can be very good money.
 
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