Question to those with same sleep schedule.

[callbay]

I have had trouble getting to sleep and keeping asleep. I now take 5mg of melatonin about a half an hour before I want to fall asleep and another 5mg.in the middle of the night say around 2am. when I get up to use the bathroom. I now fall asleep easily and sleep much deeper. I feel much more rested during the day and don't need to nap very often.

A perscription is not needed for melatonin and you can buy it in the vitamin dept. of stores like Wal-Mart for about $5 for 120 tablets.

I have read that melatonin helps with jet lag when a persons time schedule gets mixed up so it seems like the meatonin would help a person that has a lot of schedule changes.

One can read about melatonin on line. Might be good to check this out with ones doctor.

 

[scurvy]

Originally Posted By: JTK
YI prefer the 5p-5a. I get home about 0545 and go right to bed. Usually get up around 1pm and have about 3hrs before I have to head back in. The plant runs 24/7/365 if we can help it.

I like having days off during the week as opposed to having to cram everything into a Sat or Sun.


My experience with shift work mirrors yours - I loved 3rd shift (20:00 - 06:00). Back home by 07:00. Showered, uniform washed & in the dryer by 08:00 and straight to bed. I'd wake up on my own about 15:30 - 17:00 (no alarm clock, big bonus!) and have a couple hours to putter around or get shopping/errands done before going back in for another night.

Days off in the middle of the week were always far more productive than on weekends, too. Much nicer being out and running errands when most folks were at work. If I only had one day off, I'd stay nocturnal (up all night on the computer, watching TV or out for a drive once everyone else went to bed) but if I got two or more days in a row off, I'd stay up the first day as long as I could, try to sleep that night. Up the next morning at a reasonable time, sleep that night. Up very early the next day, nap in the afternoon and back to work.

But if you're having to work swing shift, you need a rigid daily routine that shifts along with the work. Even on the weekends! Keep your bedroom dark & quiet, but with ample white noise - blackout curtains and a box fan work wonders - and ONLY use it for sleeping or adult pleasures. Don't hang out in there watching TV or reading, do that in the living room.

If your neighbor's car alarms going off bothers you, get earplugs and/or a true white noise generator (the wooshing air ones). Pink noise or the other 'sonic pleasures' from Simply Noise are excellent as well (especially the thunderstorm) - we've used their pink noise burned to a CD and played in a jambox to help mask thunderstorm noises with a sleeping infant. And what you get for the price is well worth it IMO - I even got the android application so I can plug my phone into a set of speakers and have nice noise wherever I go.

Figure out what kind of transition works best for you - sleeping late and going to bed late, or getting up very early and going to bed early - for the days between shift changes. I had to cut out many social activities while working 3rd shift unless I had several days off in a row. Being rested takes precedence!

 

[JustinH]

I've been working third shift for two years now, and am trying to get off it right now.

I work 4 ten hour shifts in a row, which is the only way I would do it. Staying up on my days off is very tough, so I usually waste a whole day sleeping, then stay up watching infomercials by myself until 6 in the morning.

Its a grind, I was off a couple weeks in a row, it was great going to bed at 11pm and up by 7am.

 

[01rangerxl]

I would definitely try to get off the rotating shift schedule. Your body can adapt to any consistent schedule if you get enough sleep, but if the hours are constantly changing it will never adapt.

I am not a morning person by nature, but I had to adapt to it for work. Circumstances at work (people above me getting fired all the time) ended up with me opening the building almost daily for about a year now. That means getting up at 5:00 AM so I can leave the house by 5:30 and have the building opened before 6:00. I usually leave work anywhere between 3:00 PM and 4:30 depending on how much I have to do. I try to get to bed by 10:00. 9:00 is ideal, 10:30 is pushing it. My body is used to it now and while I am groggy in the morning, it's very doable. I usually sleep very well because I am always tired enough to easily fall asleep early so I can get enough rest for the next day. I sleep much better than I did in college when I thought 8:00 AM was really early.

 

[andyd]

for about 6 months I commuted 70 miles each way to a 7 PM to 7 AM shift. It was brutal. I would start off slow and get slower until midnight, when my circadian rhythm picked up steam and I was almost normal. Sleeping in the morning was difficult. I would get about 4 hours sleep then I would putter around the house. Before that, I worked the second shift, 3:30 PM to midnight. I would be in bed by 1 AM. My kids were pre-schoolers , so it was fine. On the whole, I prefer working normal day time hours.