Working night shift, difficulty sleeping during the day! - Page 4

Ok, I'm having difficulty sleeping on my nights off. Anyone else having this problem? I am rarely sleepy on my 12 hr night shifts. I am home and in bed by 0800 and sleep until 1600. I use blackout curtains, loud box fan and also keep my eyes closed if I have to make a potty break. I have a terrible time sleeping on my nights off - very fragmented sleep. I've been experimenting with getting up earlier on my 1st day off. For example, I got up at 1500. But fell asleep during a movie with my family that night. Went to bed at 0000 but woke up at 0500! Stayed in bed until 0700 trying desperately to sleep. Got up & went about my day. Took a 2 hr nap that afternoon. Still dozed off while watching tv with the family that night. Went to bed at 0000 & fell fast asleep. But woke up at 0300!!! Toss & turned for about 45 min. Then got up, took a melatonin & read until 0500. Slept until 1000. Heading back to work tonight. Anybody else experiencing this? Any suggestions? I love my job but want to love my life when I'm home. Soooo frustrated!

Could you be peri-menopausal? That whole fragmented night sleep was almost the death of me in my early 50s.

I have never been able to work night shift. I would suggest to get off the night shift or are you working nights because of babysitting issues? Even second shift would be better than night shift if you cannot tolerate the night hours. I feel for you.

@mom2kidzz I have the same problem! Basically just with my first night off. I've been working 3 twelves for a few months now. I have no issue coming home, going to sleep, and sleeping all the way until I have to wake up for work. On my last day I sleep only about 5 hours, and by midnight I'm tired. Then I can only ever sleep until 2 or 3am? Shouldn't I be super tired and sleep more? It's so frustrating. So I get up for a few hours and usually go back to bed for 4 more hours in the early morning. After this one crazy night I'm usually back on a normal schedule involving normal sleep until the next week. Any ideas of what I can do?

Yeah, I have the same problem. Always wake up in the middle of the night on my 1st night off even though I'm exhausted. Sometimes I take one 5mg melatonin & two 25mg benadryls. That does help. If I wake up, I stay in bed & read with a booklight or watch Netflix on my iPhone (using earbuds) so I don't wake my husband.