Trying to sleep after working nights.

[fjord]

I do varied shifts, which leads to a broken sleep pattern.

It's always worse on nights though. I went to bed last night at about 2am, and woke up today at midday. A solid 10 hours, before I work this evening until 3am.

Nights are the problem. Going to bed at 7-8am should see me wake up at 4-5pm but it never happens. I wake up at about 1, cant get back to sleep, and then am awake for 9 hours before going to work for about 10 hours.

Any tips? I've tried eating and not eating before bed, neither helps. I've tried over the counter 'kalms' sleep tablets with no effect.

Someone suggested magnesium supplements over the counter, maybe this might work. Anyone else got tips? I've got a quiet room, with blackout curtains but I still cant managed to sleep into the evening

[theshrew]

Have a wk

I always find it hard to get to sleep. I have some tablets from myprotien think they are called ZMA they seem to work for me although i dont work nights.

[DMN]

When I used to work nights I stuck to the rule of no sugar or caffine after 1am, and only drank redbull (if I really felt tried) before 9pm. You need the body to be free of all stimulants.

I used sugar free chewing gum to keep me awake, works wonders. I'd just get what sleep I could and not worry about it.

[BenM77]

How many nights do you do in a row?

I do 7 nights in a row which probably helps to get used to sleeping. I hit the pillow at around 7:30 and get up at 2:30 for the school run

Definitely try not to eat and drink after 4am and make sure you have a wee.


It isn't easy to be fair. Some of the guys have been doing nights for 25years + and still struggle with their sleep

[littlebasher]

I do one week in five on nights

Finish 7am Sat morning, go home, quick shower and then 2 hours kip.

Then get up and treat it as a normal day, off to bed at 11pm and I'm back into a normal sleeping pattern

[andy118run]

I can't offer any amazing tips to help you, but know exactly how you feel. I've worked a pretty miserable mix of shifts (as a nurse) for a good 10 years now and my sleep pattern when on nights is pretty much as you describe. As are most of my colleagues (some are a little better, some a little worse). So don't think there's anything wrong with you. I just came to terms with the fact that whenever I do nights the quality of my life will considerably deteriorate for that period of time.

[fjord]

BenM77 said:

How many nights do you do in a row?

I do 7 nights in a row which probably helps to get used to sleeping. I hit the pillow at around 7:30 and get up at 2:30 for the school run

Definitely try not to eat and drink after 4am and make sure you have a wee.


It isn't easy to be fair. Some of the guys have been doing nights for 25years + and still struggle with their sleep

Only 2. We used to work 4/5 which made sleeping at the end of the week a piece of cake, but now, 2 days just isn't enough to get in a pattern with.

[BenM77]

fjord said:

BenM77 said:

How many nights do you do in a row?

I do 7 nights in a row which probably helps to get used to sleeping. I hit the pillow at around 7:30 and get up at 2:30 for the school run

Definitely try not to eat and drink after 4am and make sure you have a wee.


It isn't easy to be fair. Some of the guys have been doing nights for 25years + and still struggle with their sleep

Only 2. We used to work 4/5 which made sleeping at the end of the week a piece of cake, but now, 2 days just isn't enough to get in a pattern with.

I think that's probably where the problem is mate. 2 shifts is not enough to get used to the flip.

Try with the tips already given about eating and drinking. They might help

[TheInternet]

fjord said:

Only 2. We used to work 4/5 which made sleeping at the end of the week a piece of cake, but now, 2 days just isn't enough to get in a pattern with.

Much easier getting back to normal if you haven't broken the usual cycle. If I was doing just two I'd give myself the bare minimum of sleep during the day and grab ~15 mins at 3-4am if at all possible, makes a massive difference.

[Mr Pies]

I've been doing a 3 shift patter for nigh on 12 years now. I finally cracked nights about 3 years ago, here is what I do.

On the night before my first night shift, I force myself to stay up till about 2-3am, sometime a bit later. Watch a DVD, play xBox or whatever. I find then when I go to bed I'll naturally wake up about 11/12am.
Then when I've finished my first night shift, I'll take a Nytol. You'll wake up feely a bit groggy for a couple of hours, but after that the rest of the week is easy.

For me a good sleep after that first night shift seems to set me up for the week. I go the gym everyday after waking up as well, sometimes I'll even feel like grabbing an extra hour before going in to work.

I appreciate this can't be done for everyone because of family commitments etc.

[bennyboydurham]

Blackout curtains so the room is inky black. And leave a fan or similar running so there's some white noise to prevent you being woken by the sounds of 'daytime'.