I'm not sure if what I experience is normal or not. Over the past few years I've had a hard time staying awake in general behind the wheel if I'm driving for longer than 1/2 hour - 45 minutes. During the day it's easier, but even if I get a good night's sleep, I have to work on consciously reminding myself to stay awake. It only happens to me while driving.
I rotate day/nights 12 hour shifts and commuting after a night shift is extremely difficult. Taking a brief nap before heading home only makes it worse. I have tried: blasting the radio, singing along, eating ice, chewing gum, coffee 1/2 hour before my shift ends, rolling the windows down and sticking my head out, putting on the a/c, making myself freezing cold so that I'm too uncomfortable to want to drift off, eating breakfast in the car on the way home. I mean, you name it and I've tried it...and it makes no difference. I can literally feel sleep coming over me and a heaviness in my brain, and there's not much I can do about it. I drift off at red lights until a car behind me honks, I start falling asleep behind the wheel during the drive and my body jumps as I wake up quickly. I will also slam on the brakes in the middle of driving as I wake up thinking I'm about to hit something, but I'm nowhere near anything. Last year I fell asleep driving home after an overnight double and hit a snow bank 1/2 mile from my house. Thank God there was a blizzard and no one else on the road. I don't do overnight doubles anymore because of that, but it still doesn't solve the problem. I swerve at least once every morning, everything starts getting surreal, and often I don't remember driving home or I feel like the drive is a dream even though I know I'm awake, if that makes any sense. It's even started happening after day shifts, but nowhere near as bad as driving home after a night shift. The only thing that keeps me awake is if I come close to getting in an accident and I feel the adrenaline rush. That usually lasts long enough to get me close to home before it starts happening again. I'm so afraid I'm going to get seriously hurt or seriously hurt someone else. I live too far to use public transportation, and I've even thought about giving up the specialty I love to get any job close by, but there aren't many hospitals right near me and the ones that are, aren't hiring anyway.
Has anyone experienced this before or is there something wrong with me? Does it get better with time? I've been commuting after night shifts for about 18 months and it isn't getting better. Does anyone have other tips/tricks that have worked for them? I can't have a lot of caffeine or use energy drinks because I have a congenital heart condition. Thanks in advance, and please, no flames. I'm aware what I've shared is dangerous and I'm coming here for advice because I feel at a loss. I have to work, and commuting with someone else isn't an option, I live about 45 minutes northeast of my work and everyone lives in the city or south of.
I know you said you couldn't afford a motel but have you talked to motels or are you just going off the normal nightly rates? I have known several nurses who have worked as travel nurses with a long commute rather than actually relocating and there is generally a hotel or two that offers a special rate for them that makes it very affordable. I know one place charges $10 a night when their normal rate is $70 or $80. They get a great deal because they are regular customers and book their stay when they get their schedule. Maybe you can't find something like this, perhaps you would rather go home every day but figured I'd mention it. If you haven't heard of anything like that where you live, start calling places that offer weekly rates.
Okay, just an idea that whacked me up side the head...
Do you get that irresistible sleep urge anywhere else OTHER than the car? I had a coworker who was having that kind of problem, kept getting his CPAP tweaked, thinking it was his sleep apnea. Turned out his car actually was burping something back into the car's passenger compartment -- carbon monoxide, I think -- and he was actually suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning. His mechanic found it during some engine work.
Okay, just an idea that whacked me up side the head...
Do you get that irresistible sleep urge anywhere else OTHER than the car? I had a coworker who was having that kind of problem, kept getting his CPAP tweaked, thinking it was his sleep apnea. Turned out his car actually was burping something back into the car's passenger compartment -- carbon monoxide, I think -- and he was actually suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning. His mechanic found it during some engine work.
Nope, only in the car, but it usually only happens on the drive home. Did his happen on the way to work too?
can you just switch to Night shift all together. just cancel out all the days. i'm going to start my 12 hr night shifts... maybe i'll take a shuttle that goes from my house to campus after reading your story..
Since your doctor diagnosed you with a medical condition, was he willing to write you a note stating that for your health, it was important that you switch to day shift until they were able to medically treat you? I used to get blinding, crippling migraines on night shift, and my neurologist wrote me a note to take me off of night shift until we fixed my meds. Could your doctor take you off of night shift until you complete the 30 day event monitor and they determined if you could safely take Provigil?
Oh my goodness, caliotter, how embarrassing/funny! You must have lived in a small town for them to have had time to do that!!
My apartment complex was near a great big highway patrol substation and I saw that at least a few of them lived there. The stretch of highway was near where the San Bruno explosion and fire took place last week. The highway patrol lived on that stretch of highway south of San Francisco so they had plenty of time to get used to my regularly traveling car (my broken tail light helped too!) Shall we also mention speed limit?
Since your doctor diagnosed you with a medical condition, was he willing to write you a note stating that for your health, it was important that you switch to day shift until they were able to medically treat you? I used to get blinding, crippling migraines on night shift, and my neurologist wrote me a note to take me off of night shift until we fixed my meds. Could your doctor take you off of night shift until you complete the 30 day event monitor and they determined if you could safely take Provigil?
Chloe, funny you mention the migraines. I had them from age 6 through 17 or 18, then they died down. When I started night shift, they came back but different than they were when I was younger. One night I got one out of the blue. It started as a black hole in the middle of my vision, I just couldn't see what was in front of me in that spot but I could see everything around it, and it would progress to white lightning flashes and what looked like tiny 3 blade metal fans spinning in my peripheral vision, followed by a dull to progressively severe headache and a feeling of surreality. I started having them about two days a week. When I switched to evening shifts for 4 months they didn't go away so I started back on Topamax, a drug I took when I was younger for my migraines. I stayed on for six months and tapered off this past spring. Lost 22 lbs, and now I only have those migraines maybe once a month.
As far as writing a note, I'm not sure my work would allow it. I may have to take the time off. Everyone HAS to rotate day/night, and if I don't then there's a gap where my shift would be. We don't have the staffing right now to fill it, open night shifts usually mean every nurse on the floor has to pick up an extra patient. Five vented kids can get dicey. The nurse from my cardiology office said they want to see what my cardiac activity shows during a night shift and what happens during the day off after a night shift, especially if I'm going to start the Provigil. This whole situation is sucky because I actually really don't mind working nights. It beats getting up at 5am to fight Boston traffic and it can be a nice switch up. If I can't work nights I'm afraid my work will tell me I need to find another job.
I get drowsy in the car all the time! It is horrible!
I know you said you can't just take a quick nap in your car b/c you wake up groggy and it makes it worse - but could you just crash for like a few hours in your car or some place in the hospital? I sleep in my car for a few hours all the time, when the need arises.
I live in MI too - and it gets fricken cold! I have blankets in my car! I look like a homeless person! LOL!
Could you even just sleep in your car or other close location until you are safe to drive - be it 2...3....4...hours?
can you just switch to Night shift all together. just cancel out all the days. i'm going to start my 12 hr night shifts... maybe i'll take a shuttle that goes from my house to campus after reading your story..
I could, but that wouldn't help because even when I worked straight nights at my old job I still had this problem. It was part of the reason I left that job. My commute became almost 3 hours when they started construction and I was falling asleep when it was just 1 hour....I almost considered moving into the empty wing at that hospital, kind of like what Callie did in Grey's Anatomy...however, I don't think my cats would've appreciated it.
Could you even just sleep in your car or other close location until you are safe to drive - be it 2...3....4...hours?
Good luck!
I think it would just be a vicious cycle of choppy sleep and sleep deprivation to break up my sleep pattern like that. I can't sleep well anywhere but a dark room and my bed. Even the times I've tried catnapping in the car I can't get into a real sleep mode and feel the sun on my eyes, which is probably what makes me even more tired when I wake up to drive. If I wake up to go to the bathroom during the day and see the bright sunlight, it's over. I'm awake and up for good. I'm careful to remember to close all the blinds and curtains, and to not look at the clock or start thinking about anything. Get up, pee, straight back to bed. The more I see these solutions that work for people, the more I start to feel like there's something wrong with me. It shouldn't be this hard.
My apartment complex was near a great big highway patrol substation and I saw that at least a few of them lived there. The stretch of highway was near where the San Bruno explosion and fire took place last week. The highway patrol lived on that stretch of highway south of San Francisco so they had plenty of time to get used to my regularly traveling car (my broken tail light helped too!) Shall we also mention speed limit?
Were they doing it to keep you safe, or to bust you?
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I know you said you couldn't afford a motel but have you talked to motels or are you just going off the normal nightly rates? I have known several nurses who have worked as travel nurses with a long commute rather than actually relocating and there is generally a hotel or two that offers a special rate for them that makes it very affordable. I know one place charges $10 a night when their normal rate is $70 or $80. They get a great deal because they are regular customers and book their stay when they get their schedule. Maybe you can't find something like this, perhaps you would rather go home every day but figured I'd mention it. If you haven't heard of anything like that where you live, start calling places that offer weekly rates.