Working night shifts - bad sleep

Arsenal2019

Hi guy

ive been working a role which involves occasional night shifts and have done so now for a number of years

however, I have been struggle to sleep after night shifts - which involve getting home for around 7am and I have only been able to sleep until around 10-11am and I feel awake. This seems to have gotten worse recently. 

This then has a knock on affect for my night shift the following night and I left feeling unbelievably tired on that shift as I have had very little sleep as sometimes I have been able to nap in the afternoon

csn anyone recommend anything which may help me have a better sleep? I doubt very much I’d be prescribed sleeping tablets from the doctors for this but I cannot seem to do anything to help

ive tried over the counter herbal tablets and they’re useless

thank you   

elsien

What are you doing in the way of exercise in between shifts? It’s about having the some of same routines as you do when you’re not on nightshift, but at different times.
A relative used to come home, have a couple of hours,  get up, get on with some normal daily activities and then have another longer  sleep later in the day. Other people prefer to try and work it so they still have all their sleeping in one go.
And also think about your environment, for example is your bedroom dark enough for you not to be woken by the light outside?  Are you on your phone when you can’t sleep,  because that will make it worse. What about noise levels, and do you need earplugs?

I do think it’s probably about more about routines that work for you rather than something to knock you out. 

amanda1024

You could still try talking to your doctor. But also, swapping between day and night shifts is fairly well known to have sleep/health issues - can you talk to your employer about the impact it’s having on you?

MattMattMattUK

This is one of the problems with night shift patterns in general. In a normal day job one comes home from work and winds down for several hours before bed, where as plenty of night shift workers try to go to sleep immediately after work, then go to work after being awake after for several hours, the reverse of how people usually manage working life, which is a contributing factor to sleep issues, as well as attention issues at work as they are already fatigued by the time they start due to having been awake for many hours.

Main tips are blackout blinds, ear plugs if there are noise issues, using sunglasses when returning from work to not be overly stimulated by daylight, making sure one gets enough exercise to be physically tired and general good sleep hygiene. 

Arsenal2019

elsien said:

What are you doing in the way of exercise in between shifts? It’s about having the some of same routines as you do when you’re not on nightshift, but at different times.
A relative used to come home, have a couple of hours,  get up, get on with some normal daily activities and then have another longer  sleep later in the day. Other people prefer to try and work it so they still have all their sleeping in one go.
And also think about your environment, for example is your bedroom dark enough for you not to be woken by the light outside?  Are you on your phone when you can’t sleep,  because that will make it worse. What about noise levels, and do you need earplugs?

I do think it’s probably about more about routines that work for you rather than something to knock you out. 

Hi! 

Morning shifts - just as you’d expect after any mon-fri 7/3 shift
afternoon shifts - I usually go bed straight away
nights - I try to bed straight away too 

the room is pitch black due to black out blinds and curtains and noise levels are also low! 

I’ll go gym or keep myself busy before night shifts so that I’m tired for when I even get to work.  Sometimes I’ll even get up at 7-8am on days I am on night shifts so that I’m up for 24 hours- sometimes that doesn’t even work!!

I’ve heard the idea of having alcohol but have not yet tried that …

Arsenal2019

amanda1024 said:

You could still try talking to your doctor. But also, swapping between day and night shifts is fairly well known to have sleep/health issues - can you talk to your employer about the impact it’s having on you?

Nights are essential in the role so unfortunately I very much doubt there’s anything the employer can do hahaaha. 

Arsenal2019

MattMattMattUK said:

This is one of the problems with night shift patterns in general. In a normal day job one comes home from work and winds down for several hours before bed, where as plenty of night shift workers try to go to sleep immediately after work, then go to work after being awake after for several hours, the reverse of how people usually manage working life, which is a contributing factor to sleep issues, as well as attention issues at work as they are already fatigued by the time they start due to having been awake for many hours.

Main tips are blackout blinds, ear plugs if there are noise issues, using sunglasses when returning from work to not be overly stimulated by daylight, making sure one gets enough exercise to be physically tired and general good sleep hygiene. 

Hi thanks for the reply. 

I do try doing all of whose which you stated, minus the sunglasses and ear plugs and I cannot sleep with anything in my ears.

I just hear that my colleagues all seem to sleep fairly soundly yet I’m awake after 3-4 hours 

elsien

Arsenal2019 said:

elsien said:

What are you doing in the way of exercise in between shifts? It’s about having the some of same routines as you do when you’re not on nightshift, but at different times.
A relative used to come home, have a couple of hours,  get up, get on with some normal daily activities and then have another longer  sleep later in the day. Other people prefer to try and work it so they still have all their sleeping in one go.
And also think about your environment, for example is your bedroom dark enough for you not to be woken by the light outside?  Are you on your phone when you can’t sleep,  because that will make it worse. What about noise levels, and do you need earplugs?

I do think it’s probably about more about routines that work for you rather than something to knock you out. 

Hi! 

Morning shifts - just as you’d expect after any mon-fri 7/3 shift
afternoon shifts - I usually go bed straight away
nights - I try to bed straight away too 

the room is pitch black due to black out blinds and curtains and noise levels are also low! 

I’ll go gym or keep myself busy before night shifts so that I’m tired for when I even get to work.  Sometimes I’ll even get up at 7-8am on days I am on night shifts so that I’m up for 24 hours- sometimes that doesn’t even work!!

I’ve heard the idea of having alcohol but have not yet tried that …

Maybe that's the bit you need to start playing around with - going to bed later or having two sleeps. Or go to the gym after your nightshift instead of before.  You mentioned earlier about a later nap but it was unclear quite how that works for you?
Also think about what you are eating and drinking, and when - do you need to change the times you are drinking coffee, for example if you have one when you get home? 

Rotating shifts are said to be the worst ones for impacting on sleep. Could you change your sleep pattern on the afternoon shifts by and hour or two to be more in sync with the night time ones?

Arsenal2019

Maybe that's the bit you need to start playing around with - going to bed later or having two sleeps. Or go to the gym after your nightshift instead of before.  You mentioned earlier about a later nap but it was unclear quite how that works for you?
Also think about what you are eating and drinking, and when - do you need to change the times you are drinking coffee, for example if you have one when you get home? 

Thanks again. 

I’ll usually sleep till 11ish then try have a nap between 4-7. Which can work sometimes but only if noise levels aren’t too high as in an extremely light sleeper.

pinkshoes

I worked permanent nights for 3 months and HATED it!

I have never been good at sleeping (I'm still rubbish) and night shifts nearly sent me crazy with insomnia!

My only solution was going for a run once I got home followed by a hot shower, reading in bed, then some sort of radio program to send me off to sleep. I also played white noise in the background which helped. On a good day I got about 6 hours! 

bamboo_socks

When I was younger I used to sleep 9-5, with a wee break, easy. Now I'm like you and am awake late morning. I try and have later nap but with others in the house it's really hard. Luckily I only do two nights in a row, maximum, so can just about manage it.

I'm going to try getting some exercise and going to bed a bit later, as well as having a more productive lunchtime. Thanks for the tips!