Just started working over-nights... and I'm a wreck

steve-in-kville

steve-in-kville

Joined
Dec 25, 2001
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1,139
I mentioned in a thread a few months ago that I would be eventually be moving to third shift. This is my first week. I like the hours but my sleep schedule is a total mess, or should I say none existant.

I started Sunday night at 2300. I was able to sleep a few hours Sunday afternoon. I got off Monday at 0930, came home and did odds-n-ends in the my shop until 1300, went to bed. Couldn't/didn't sleep. Tried again around 2000, got *maybe* one hour of honest sleep before heading off to work.

Now I'm home again... blitzed out of my mind. I'm wide awake and yet I'm not. I have a day off (we don't work Wednesdays) so I'm tempted to start on a case of beer just to knock myself down. Someone recommended Tylenol PM, but not sure if that will offer a cure for the situation. I feel like I could sleep for several hours, but trying to sleep during the day is going tough.

Any suggestions??

steve
 
Black out your bedroom, tape aluminum foil to your windows if necessary. Get one of those gadgets that plays falling rain or ocean wave sounds. http://www.naturestapestry.com/wave.html If you are a regular drinker it may not work to use alcohol as a sleep aid, it can have too many stimulating associations in your subconscious. Melatonin in small doses (.3 mg) can help to adjust your biological clock. I use it when I go to Ireland. It does not leave me drowsy. The idea is to only use it until your internal melatonin cycle kicks in and you adjust to your new hours. As the following article indicates, it will not work right if you take too much. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050308134331.htm

If you do not generally drink you might find a single drink useful as a sleep aid. I pick wine or sherry personally.

Pick your sleep and activity schedule and stick to it. You need your body to establish a rhythm. You may want to get a daylight system to turn on when you get up for your active periods. The light can also help to sync your biological clock. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/seasonal-affective-disorder/MH00023
 
I've tried melatonin before, as well as some other OTC sleep aids. I get drousy, but don't fall asleep. I guess my mind stays too active or something.

I don't consume significant amounts of alcohol on a regular basis. So I'm not a "seasoned" drinker.

Thanks for the reply.

steve
 
It takes a while to change your body's cicadian rhythm.

Blacking out the room helps, maybe even ear plugs or eye covers (depending on your security beliefs..)

I've been on thirds almost 2 years. Sometimes I flip flop to days, but thirds most of the time.

A glass of wine, melatonin, or liquid Benedryl (or generic), or even the capsules, help too.

Go to bed at the same time every day.

Get into a rhythm.

Your body will crash when it's ready.

If you can, keep the same schedule for at least a month, even on your days off.

That should make the transition easier.
 
Turn off the phone or put it where you can't hear it. Sometimes you just have to play around a little to see what works best for you as far as going to sleep when you first get home or wait around awhile. It seems like just about the time you get in a pattern, you get a day off & it throws you completely off.
I have been working in a refinery for 31+ years and at least 20 of that was shift work.
:) Oh yeah, Tylenol PM has the generic version of Benedryl in it. It should help some.
Les
 
I worked a rotating shift for 4 months. Days, evenings, mids with no set pattern. Some days off at 8 am to be back at 4 pm. Toss in 6 semester hours in the mix and let the sleep deprivation begin! I was averaging 3 hours sleep per 24 hours.

Everyone has given good advice. I foiled my windows and went with black curtains. I always had a fan on to provide background noise as well as cooling the room. Only took sleep aids a few times.

Eventually you'll get used to it. When you do you'll find it's very easy to do things during daylight hours. Just know when you need sleep.
 
Guys at the coal mine told me it takes about two years to get used to night shift.

I work completely random hours now, anywhere from 4-40 hour shifts. That still beats the heck out of 3rd shift.
 
Jeff Clark said:
If you are a regular drinker it may not work to use alcohol as a sleep aid,
Click to expand...

On the other hand, if you routinely do have a nip before bed, then doing so -- even if it seems unseemly to be drinking early in the afternoon -- may be quite good.

Basically, do whatever you usually do before going to bed, but do it at 1:30 in the afternoon. If you usually read a book for an hour before retiring, then read a book from 12:30 to 1:30pm.
 
Thanks for the great replies. I thought I was the type that could sleep anytime, anywhere. I managed a nap yesterday afternoon. which helped a lot. I'm gonna play with some tactics and get myself into a rythem.

steve
 
It will take a week to change your clock !! I found that out when I was curious about companies that changed peoples shifts every week !! An industrial engineering study showed just that .I also know people who've been helped by melatonin.
 
For many years every third week in my shift was a week of nights 10pm - 6am. I would come home off shift and go straight to bed, as this arrangement worked best. I would then sleep most of the day 6- 8 hours.

I would get up in the afternoon, and make breakfast, then do tasks around home before heading out to work in the evening. Before work I ate a good supper, and had my lunch at 2 am.

I hated it, but when work prospects are few one has little choice but to make the best of a bad situation. Around the home I would unplug the phone so that my sleep wasn't being interupted. But the fact remains, shift work is tiring, and I had to deal with it until I could apply for work that didn't entail nightshift

Shift work is not easy, the body fights it all the way when time is turned inside out.
 
Another thing to watch out for is your use of caffeine or other stimulant beverages. On my day schedule I have trouble getting to sleep by midnight if I have serious caffeine after 3 pm. So maybe you should cut out coffee, caffeinated soft drinks and energy drinks 8 to 10 hours before you try to go to sleep. This kind of pushes you to a schedule where you stay awake after you get off work and go to bed in the afternoon. I would guess that an hour or two before the end of your shift you should go decaf.
 
Every now and then I have trouble getting to sleep, and have a "relaxing ocean surf" CD that seems to help a lot.

I work evening shift, but frequently over onto nights, sometimes a day shift-about to go in and work evening and night, worked a double night before last, and will probably work day and evening shift on Saturday, maybe evening shift tomorrow on an off day, as well.
Odd hours have never really bothered me, but I could see how it could take some getting used to, so good luck.
 
Don't forget sex... I know I feel like rolling over and going to sleep after the big "O". Just make sure you tell her ya love her before you start snoring though!;):D
 
The spectrum of sunlight, fluorescent lights, and white light bulbs contains more blue color than candle light or fire light. One of the ways our body decides it is time to go to sleep is when there is less blue in the light. If you start wearing blue-blocker sunglasses a couple hours before you need to go to bed it helps to reset your internal melatonin cycle. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071112143308.htm

To force a reset to your cycle you can wear the glasses when you are forced to get up at an odd hour then make sure you get blue light (fluorescent or special daylight fluorescent light) subsequently. This may seem to contradict the above, but it is a temporary step to shift your schedule around. The first article I think is more a maintenance regime.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2006/0201-waking_up_teens.htm
 
Jeff Clark said:
The spectrum of sunlight, fluorescent lights, and white light bulbs contains more blue color than candle light or fire light. One of the ways our body decides it is time to go to sleep is when there is less blue in the light. If you start wearing blue-blocker sunglasses a couple hours before you need to go to bed it helps to reset your internal melatonin cycle.
Click to expand...

Gives a whole new meaning to the song "Sunglasses at Night". :D


If someone finds Tylenol PM useful, look on the active ingredients listed on the box. You will find two ingredients 1: acetaminphen; which is the generic name of tylenol. Are you in pain or have a fever? If not, why subject yourself to extra chemicals. 2: an antihistamine, likely Diphenhydramine, which is the generic name for Benedryl, the allergy medicine. Save yourself several dollars by buying the "store" brand of plain diphenhydramine with no extra ingredients and take that. Also don't use it more than three days in row, without giving your body a "drug holiday". Diphenhydramine has a strong sedative effect in most people but only if their body isn't exposed to it daily over a long run. Long term exposure leads to a loss of the drowsy side effect.

Finally, the reason "Nyquil" puts so many people to sleep is that it mixes an antihistamine like diphenhydramine with alcohol to knock you out. An alcoholic beverage of choice and a dose of generic/store brand diphenhydramine should yield the same result.
 
I've been working 12 hours a day, 16 days a month for the last 2 years, 8 months. Night shift, day shit, mid-shifts.

The big thing for me is that on my days off I do not switch my schedule around. I'm on nights until early next year. My days off I get up at about the same time as I do on a workday and go to bed at the same time. This is not practical for everyone though. I'm young and single with no kids.

I drink coffee (and lots of water-just because its good for you) early in the night and then quit around midnight, one a.m. or so. That keeps me from staying up due to the caffeine. Also, get yourself some blackout curtains for your windows. I have them up at my place and they do wonders for keeping the sun from waking me.

Also if you smoke dont burn that last one for bed. Im a smoker, but after about 0500 I don't usually smoke another. I find it takes me longer to get to sleep if I do. Also keeping the room cool helps me out as well. I cant sleep when it is warm in the room, so I keep the cieling fan running. I keep a couple of blankets on the bed to layer up if I get too cold.

As always, YMMV.

maurice
 
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